22. When Hard Liquor Used to be Cheaper than Tea
In the 1730s, Benjamin Franklin compiled a list of contemporary terms for “drunk”, and was able to cite over 200 examples. It was unsurprising, considering how much Colonial America liked alcohol. Even the Puritans loved their booze: In 1630, John Winthrop arrived in Massachusetts aboard a ship laden with over ten thousand gallons of wine, and carrying three times as much beer as water. In the eighteenth century, rum was the most popular drink, and by the 1760s, New England alone had around 160 commercial distilleries. In the countryside, farmers fermented their own hard cider, and most kept a barrel by the door for their family and whoever happened to drop by.
By the early nineteenth century, hard liquor was so plentiful and so cheap, that it actually cost less than tea. For many, Americans’ love of alcohol was accepted as part of the country’s social fabric. John Adams kicked off his mornings with a tankard of hard cider, James Madison drank a pint of whiskey each day, and George Washington kept a still in Mount Vernon. In the early days of the Republic, the tolling of bells at 11 AM and 4 PM was known as “grog time”. Since 1782, US Army soldiers received four ounces of whiskey every day, as part of their ration.
