21. Americans Downed Massive Quantities of Alcohol
Early in America’s life as an independent country, the tolling of bells at 11 AM and 4 PM was known as “grog time”. Since 1782, soldiers of the US Army received four ounces of whiskey every day, as part of their ration. In towns and cities, it was commonly understood and accepted that most workers would not show up for work on Mondays, because they were too hungover from a weekend bender. In the countryside, Johnny Appleseed had scattered seeds in Indiana and Ohio that produced apples that were quite inedible, but when fermented, they were quite drinkable as hard cider.
There were at least fourteen thousand distilleries in America by 1810, and they were hardly able to keep up with the demand. By 1830, the average consumption rate for American adults was seven gallons of pure alcohol per year. Seven gallons of pure alcohol is a lot of booze. It is the equivalent of 1.7 bottles of 80 proof liquor per American adult – male or female – per week, or about 90 bottles per year. Since millions of American adults did not drink, the alcohol consumption of those who actually drank was significantly higher than the national average for all adults.
