Consumption..then and now.

[Jono]

Here is a great site if you want to know how your state or region compare with others...

http://alcoholism.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=alcoholism&cdn=health&tm=11&f=10&su=p284.9.336.ip_p736.8.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.niaaa.nih.gov/Resources/DatabaseResources/QuickFacts/AlcoholSales/consum03.htm

In 1880, the average American adult consumed 2.4 gallons of spirits annually. And even though Americans consumed more beer (11.1 gallons annually)

In 2005...the U.S. average was 1.19 gallons of beer, .36 gallons of wine and

.7 gallons of spiritis..all types...overall...2.24 gallons per capita.

So..the average American in 1880 drank far more...at least 13.5 (+wine?) compared to 2.24!

Wow...our ancestors must have had beer an most meals and frequent shots of whiskey....or maybe gin and vodka in different regions....I assume wine was a luxury item.

[ratcheer]

They didn't have much else to do to entertain themselves.

Tim

[Jono]

I know it was common in certain immigrant areas...like German..for the workers to drink beer at lunch. Also, as the water supply was not always trusted...beer probably was safer....though it is a diuretic.

I found this book online...regarding beer in Britain around 1880..probably similar to U.S.

http://books.google.com/books?id=fL1DxEzoHUMC&pg=PA125&lpg=PA125&dq=beer+consumption+1880&source=web&ots=gtAv6qpmGo&sig=H3VqlfAUlqB-0nbGRFpDwBfvegs&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

"beer did much more than quench thirst, dull fatigue and the pangs of hunger. It was associated with manliness and viritility, and in its principal locus, the public house, with conviviality, fellowship, class and occupational identity."

http://www.beerhistory.com/library/

Some Beer facts....this section re 1879:

http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/1879.shtml

#1 Brewer...George Ehret..NY

#2 Philip Best...later PBR...Milwaukee

#3 Bergner and Engle....Philadephia

#4 Joseph Schlitz...Milwaukee

#5 Conrad Seipp...Chicago

#6 P. Ballantine & Sons..Newark

#12 Anheiser Busch...St. Louis

#15 Boston Beer Co...Boston

Beer riots were common in Europe as price fixing started to spread....it came to the U.S. as a tool of political power...resulting in an episode known as the Chicago Beer Riots...or Chicago Lager Beer Riots...Know Nothing party (English) vs German/Irish immigrants.

http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/greggsmith5.shtml