Six O'clock Swill - The Rush To Drink

The Rush To Drink

The six o'clock closing time was introduced partly in an attempt to improve public morals and get men home to their wives earlier. Instead, it often fuelled an hour-long speed-drinking session, as men raced to get as drunk as possible in the limited time available. An unintended consequence was that glasses were saved during the hour after quitting time until the last call came for drinks. Then, the emptied glasses could be refilled. "The bartender didn't carry your glass to the tap. He carried a pistol-shaped spigot hitched to a long tube and squirted your glass full where you stood."

Read more about this topic:  Six O'clock Swill

Famous quotes containing the words rush and/or drink:

    ... feminism is a political term and it must be recognized as such: it is political in women’s terms. What are these terms? Essentially it means making connections: between personal power and economic power, between domestic oppression and labor exploitation, between plants and chemicals, feelings and theories; it means making connections between our inside worlds and the outside world.
    Anica Vesel Mander, U.S. author and feminist, and Anne Kent Rush (b. 1945)

    Here we’ll strip and cool our fire
    In cream below, in milk-baths higher;
    And when all wells are drawn dry,
    I’ll drink a tear out of thine eye.
    Richard Lovelace (1618–1658)