The strange world of beer

Each issue we’ll feature some of the stranger and funnier stories as well as all sorts of other nonsense in association with the Little Beer Company

Beer history

If you thought heavy handed Government legislation, streets awash with drunken people and drinking binges were just a thing of modern times, then think again.

A new exhibition running at the National Archives in Kew – DRINK: The History of Alcohol (1690-1920) – looks at four centuries of boozing culture.

It traces the social, economic and health impacts of alcohol, looking at the ways successive governments have attempted to regulate the industry – from official measurements to stamping out smuggling.

One of the great things for the beer enthusiast is to delve in and see how much we still have in common with our beer swilling ancestors.

Let’s face it, until you actually find out how much George IV spent on alcohol when visiting Scotland in 1822, you are never going to know how much of a party he had.

Another great artifact to look out for is a letter written in October 1830 by Norfolk magistrate Lt Col Mason to the home secretary, Robert Peel, condemning the recently introduced Beer House Act (1830) that abolished the tax on beer and allowed pubs to open for 18 hours a day.

The exhibition’s curator Philippa Glanville believes the introduction of the Beer House Act was a genuine attempt by authorities to improve the plight of the working classes.

“Spirits were viewed as deleterious, whereas beer was considered to be nutritious and health,” she said.

The exhibition will run until March 2007.

Head case

We have all seen the amusing baseball cap fitted ou.....

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By Dominic Roskrow

Section : Beer Matters

Page number : 38