Cowboys' drink. Interesting facts about cowboys. Cowboys are not bandits, but ordinary workers

When we hear the word “saloon,” we are immediately reminded of scenes from some American western: the double revolving doors swing open, and the silhouette of a cowboy appears on the threshold - he is wearing a large hat and worn leather pants, a revolver in his holster, and a bandolier around his belt. The cowboy looks around the darkened hall with a dull gaze, where the same “cow boys” are sitting, and, jingling his spurs, approaches the bar, where he orders a glass of whiskey... This episode was so often used in westerns that in some the moment became a movie cliche. In the parody film trilogy "Back to the Future 3", the main character Marty McFly at a bar orders not whiskey, but a glass of ice water...

History and origin

As you might guess, the word “saloon” comes from the French “salon”, which, in turn, is derived from the word “salle” (“room”).

The first reliable mention of a saloon dates back to 1822. An establishment in Brown Hole, Wyoming that served fur trappers was called a saloon. As settlers moved into uninhabited areas of America, new towns were formed, in which there was no entertainment other than drinking in the evenings. At first, alcohol was sold by nomadic traders who traveled from village to village in covered carts, which were used not only as a means of transportation, but also as improvised trading tents. Their assortment was small: homemade whiskey or moonshine, burnt sugar, smoking and chewing tobacco, and the like.

As new towns grew, permanent saloons began to open in them. Like all buildings, at first they were located in hastily put together huts or even dugouts. There is a known case when a saloon was opened in the hull of an old sailing ship, washed ashore by a storm! The interior of the first saloons was quite ascetic. In the summer it was hot in them, in the winter they were heated by a wood stove.

By the late 1950s, the term "saloon" became common for places where alcoholic beverages and food were sold. However, rough cowboy slang sometimes gave them their own nicknames: “watering trough”, “bughouse”, “shebang”, “cantina” and "gin mill"

As the population of the towns grew, saloons gradually merged with hotels and hotels with saloons.

Often in cowboy towns that did not yet have their own town hall, saloons were the only public place. In them, the townspeople learned all the latest news, which often had time to acquire colorful details and gossip. In Westerns, you can often see wanted notices posted in saloons for dangerous criminals with the inscription “Wanted.” Politicians of those years often used saloons to buy votes in elections. And in factory towns, saloons were a kind of labor exchange - there you could find work, permanent or casual.

From the simple urban architecture, saloons usually stood out with a wide, massive porch. Above the entrance to the saloon there was a bright sign with some exotic name, like: “Bull's Head”, “Holy Moses”, “Antler”, “Big Tree” or “Red Dog”.

At the entrance, visitors were greeted by double swing doors, which gave the establishment a unique flavor. In cowboy films, these doors were repeatedly used in fight scenes and shootouts; The bandits flew through them especially beautifully. Surely you have at least once thought about why saloons have such doors? Without an answer to this question, an article about saloons cannot be complete!

Why do saloons have doors like that?

Due to their shape resembling the wings of a bat, these doors received the nickname “batwing doors”. Sometimes in films they look small and decorative, but in fact, they were quite large and massive - for an adult they reached the shoulder and ended somewhere at the level of the knees.

There is still no consensus on their functional purpose and where this fashion came from. There are a lot of versions, and each of them has some truth. Some believe that this form of doors simultaneously protected the saloon from road dust flying from the street and, long before the advent of air conditioners, made it possible to ventilate the room from heat and thick tobacco smoke.

The door, divided in two, opened equally well in both directions. This effect was achieved by a tight spring or double reversible hinges with slots beveled in different directions, which invariably returned the doors to their original state. Therefore, the tipsy visitor did not need to think about which side to open it from - push or pull. This was convenient, because the flow of visitors in the evenings was endless, and an ordinary door would have worn out much faster. So the establishment saved a lot on the carpenter’s services!

The doors opened simply, but at the same time, they were always closed, hiding the debauchery that reigned inside from passers-by and angry wives. Cowboy wives literally hated saloons, where their husbands often squandered their wages to the last cent, and even cheated on them with prostitutes. The always closed door prevented women from looking into the saloon from the street.

Although what was inside was hidden from prying eyes, sounds penetrated well outside, attracting passers-by with music and laughter coming from inside. Often the owners seated musicians right at the entrance so that they could attract the audience with their playing. And in the event of a fight or shootout, it was easier to call for help through such a door.

The most exotic version suggests that the rocking door made it possible to recognize the person who approached it by his hat and boots - be it a sheriff or the bandit One-Eyed Jack - and to prepare - for example, to hide the proceeds or take out a revolver.

Even today such doors look very exotic, and even more so in the 19th century - therefore, the “bat” door itself attracted visitors to saloons. The imagination of their owners was inexhaustible: the doors were often decorated with the most intricate carvings, which was also good advertising.

Another exotic hypothesis connects pendulum doors with the Indians - they did not have doors in their wigwams, and any full-length door allegedly seemed to them like a solid wall. And since they were the main drunkards, doors were installed in the saloons that did not completely cover the opening, so as not to embarrass the “children of nature.” However, this was hardly the case - redskins were rarely allowed into saloons, and were mostly shot at there. And it seems absolutely incredible that someone would come up with doors specifically for Indians!

And of course, the swing door made the work of the bouncers easier: by holding back a person’s fall, it reduced the risk of breaking his head.

But how then were the saloons locked? The answer is simple - before the introduction of restrictions on the opening hours of drinking establishments, most saloons worked around the clock and never closed. There were no latches, hooks, or latches on the swing doors. However, in states with a cold climate, for example, in Alaska, during the “gold rush”, saloons had the most ordinary doors that retained heat better.

Interior

The appearance of the saloon depended greatly on who owned it - as a rule, its owners were German or Irish. However, there was also a lot in common.

The first thing that caught the visitor's eye was a long bar counter and a dozen tables located along the walls, where one could dine or play for money. Popular saloon games included poker, craps and pharaoh. Some establishments also had darts, bowling and billiards.

In Irish saloons the bar was standing, and the main drink was whiskey. Women were not allowed there; they could only buy something from the back door.

German saloons, as a rule, had large, bright windows, the bar counter was seated, and the main drink was beer. The food there was more refined, closer to that of a restaurant, and the rules were less strict. Sometimes they even had a family menu. Other ethnic groups - Scandinavians, Jews, Greeks, Italians - preferred smaller establishments and drank less.

NOT movie saloons

Alcohol

The drink was monotonous, mostly of extremely poor quality. In poor saloons, alcohol was mercilessly diluted. Turpentine, ammonia, gunpowder or pepper were added to whiskey. The names of cowboy drinks well reflect both the roughness of the era and their vigorous content: “Tarantula Juice”, “200 Meter Whiskey” (originally “Forty-Rod)” (the name implies that this whiskey is so strong , which kills at pistol shot distance), “Red Eye”, “Coffin Varnish”. The so-called “Cactus wine,” which was made from tequila and the juice of the peyote cactus, was considered a special delicacy.

There were no refrigerators at that time, and beer was rarely colder than room temperature; there was no need to talk about pasteurization. For this incomprehensible word they could have been shot in the saloon!

It was only in 1880 that Adolph Busch began to use refrigeration and pasteurization for his Budweiser beer.

The most popular whiskey among visitors was whiskey (Scotch made from barley or local corn bourbon), which was sometimes diluted with soda, beer, rum and gin. Other drinks were consumed much less frequently and were considered exotic. Whiskey and beer were very cheap and affordable for any visitor. With beer priced at 10¢ and whiskey at 12.5¢ per glass, many cowboys were left with a severe hangover the next morning! However, the salaries were not high - the average herdsman received about 40-50 dollars a month, and some worked for food.

From a typical action movie in the Western genre, one might get the mistaken impression that all cowboys did was shoot at each other in duels, hunt redskins, and spend the rest of their time in saloons, where they had fun drinking, gambling and shooting. In reality, this, of course, was not the case. Shooting in saloons is a popular movie cliche, but smokeless gunpowder had not yet been invented, and it would have been impossible to be indoors while shooting.

From morning to evening, cowboys spent in the saddle, driving cattle. In the absence of railways (and roads in general), the journey could take several weeks. This hard work required great strength (try lassoing a bull or a mustang!) and even greater endurance. That’s why cowboys loved nourishing food that replenished their strength well. The main place in their diet was, of course, meat. The portions were huge by today's standards - for that tiny steak that is served in cowboy restaurants today, a hungry cowboy would shoot the waiter on the spot. But there were no great demands on the quality of the food; it had to be simply edible, no one expected any specialties from the cook.

During the drives, the cowboys ate mainly unleavened biscuits and beef, which, of course, bored them to death. The saloon could "pamper" them with pork, lamb or fried chicken.

The first course was beef tripe stew. As a rule, the side dish was beans or beans. This food was so popular that in cowboy slang the cook was sometimes called a “bean-master.” Due to widespread unsanitary conditions, all food was heavily seasoned with red chili peppers. Instead of bread in the Wild West, they ate corn cakes made from unleavened dough. Tea was expensive; cowboys drank coffee much more often. For dessert there was a pie - fish, chicken or apple.

Entertainment

As an entertainment program, the saloon usually offered live music - a pianist played in the evenings. The battered piano was rarely tuned, which is why the melodies played on it were primitive and monotonous, not requiring more than two octaves. Apparently then the saying was born: “don’t shoot the pianist, he plays as best he can”!

Large establishments had full-time dancers (who often worked part-time as prostitutes). They entertained the audience with the French cancan dance. It is curious that in those days in France this dance was a solo dance, but in England and America it was performed by an ensemble lined up - a corps de ballet. Even small theatrical performances were held in more prestigious places!

A steep wooden staircase led to the second floor. There were residential rooms in which guests spent the night. In some establishments, the second floor was used as a brothel.

As cities grew, so did the number of saloons, which invariably created competition between them. In an effort to attract more visitors, saloons became increasingly sophisticated. If earlier the saloon was a hut, decorated with some kind of hunting trophies, such as a bear skin or a deer head with branched antlers, now you could see paintings, expensive furniture and chandeliers, at that time kerosene, and even tablecloths on the tables.

The bar counter, decorated with carvings, deserved special attention. On the shelves of the bar were Bohemian glasses, figurines, beautiful kegs of beer and all kinds of exotic drinks, including imported ones from Europe.

The skill of bartenders also grew - a certain code of what a bartender should look like and what drinks he should be able to prepare appeared. Ice began to be added to glasses - it was specially bought and stored in a deep cellar, where the temperature was very low and the ice did not melt.

The most popular Soviet western, “The Man from the Boulevard des Capuchins,” reflects precisely that very period in the history of saloons, when they gradually turned from dirty eateries into places of leisure.

Tied-house system

By 1880, there were saloons in every city. For example, in Leavenworth, Kansas, there were about 150 saloons and 4 drinking houses. As the capacity of American breweries grows, they begin to master the British “tied-house” system, in which the company directly owns alcohol bars and sells its products through them.

Even then, the first franchises appeared, when breweries acquired conveniently located buildings for their bars, which they then rented out along with furniture, bowling alleys, billiard tables and other equipment.

The end of the saloon era

And yet, despite its popularity, the saloon was a hot place. Closely associated with prostitution and gambling, drinking establishments often became breeding grounds for crime. There were regular fights and shootouts, sometimes fatal, and other crimes, because of which local sheriffs, called upon to maintain order, often quarreled with saloon owners.

Saloons did not bring joy to wives and mothers either, because they stimulated alcoholism, extracting the last money from their husbands and sons, leaving their family “in the dust.” As a result, many people saw saloons as the root of all evil.

In 1893, the Anti-Saloon League was formed in Oberlin, Ohio, which helped close many establishments. The League insisted on a ban on the production and import of alcohol, promoting its ideas at all levels of government. If a saloon operated longer than permitted hours or used the labor of women and minors, it was immediately brought to the attention of the police. The League's triumph was amendment to the Constitution No. 18 of 1920, which banned saloons, although it was repealed in 1933.

When you hear the word “cowboy,” the image of a courageous John Wayne with a cigar in his mouth, a pair of Colts and a stern look pops into his head, but in fact, cowboy (English cowboy, from cow - “cow” and boy - “guy”) is the name used in the Wild West of the USA in relation to cattle herders.

Interestingly, the cowboy hat was invented by John Stetson in the 1860s. Still popular in the southwestern United States, northern Mexico and the western provinces of Canada.

Rodeo (Spanish Rodeo) is a traditional sport that historically began among Mexican and American cowboys. It is believed that rodeo as an open sporting event first took place in the Texas city of Pecos in 1883.

The era of the cowboy began in 1865, when it was necessary to round up gigantic feral herds of bulls, mainly in Texas, and ended about twenty years later.

Contrary to the prevailing opinion thanks to cinema, cowboys did not fight with the Indians. The Indian Wars, which began in 1864, were fought between Native American tribes and the US Army. At times, the Indians themselves became cowboys, since they knew how to ride and shoot from childhood.

In the so-called cowboy towns there were not enough women and some of the cowboys danced with each other. The one who portrayed the woman tied a handkerchief around his hand.

According to statistics, over the past hundred years there have been no more than 20 thousand representatives of this profession.

About a third of the cowboys were blacks who had gained their freedom after the Civil War but had neither jobs nor property. Another third of the cowboys were Mexicans and a third were descendants of immigrants from Europe.

The work of a cowboy was considered low-paid; he received $25-40 a month. For this reason, it was rare for a cowboy to have his own horse; they usually worked on the master's horses.

A cowboy's earnings were small, and in the winter many cowboys were forced to work on ranches simply for food and a roof over their heads. Cowboys received relatively large amounts of money only for driving cattle. The cowboy spent a significant portion of his money on drinking, and the most popular drink among cowboys was beer, not whiskey, as is usually shown in Westerns.

Cowboys were hired to drive cattle, but the fun began when they returned with the money they earned. Authorities from towns along their route hired bandits to protect the population from rampant cowboys.

There was only one president in American history who was a cowboy by profession. This is Theodore Roosevelt. Early in his career, from 1883 to 1886, he worked as a cowboy.

The first cowboy church was organized in Waxahachie, Texas. Now the cowboy Christian movement is united in the American Association of Cowboy Churches.

December 24, 2015

Would you like to be transported for a day to those times when stern men talked about matters of honor, women were proud and daring, and the real fun was not nightclubs, but country dancing, shooting tin cans and chasing the worst enemy - the Indian?

Why not? Without stereo systems, lights and computer games, people knew how to really have fun! Nowadays it’s not like that: nowadays pathos, glamor and extended body parts “rule”. Therefore, if your birthday is in the warm season, and you want open-hearted fun, here is a good option for Wild West themed parties!

In order not to miss anything important, I suggest this scenario:

1. Time of year and time of meeting.

The optimal time of year to hold a Cowboy Party is summer. Meeting time – 12-14.00. Costumes must be prepared in advance, so guests will only have to put on their outfit and arrive on time. Please note: the most suitable day of the week is Saturday. Surely your party will turn into a daily marathon of entertainment, so Sunday will serve as an excellent healer and “sleep” before Monday!

2. Invitations.

Be creative, but don't overthink it. Draw the attributes of the holiday (cowboy hats, boots, funny Indian) or print out a coloring book for children with suitable characters.
For the invitation base, use scrapbooking paper (in country colors) or regular craft paper.
Write the text with a liner (capillary pen) or colored felt-tip pens.

Greet guests by forcing them to introduce themselves at gunpoint. You can come up with a password, something like: “I am Walker, Texas Ranger!”, and for the Indians: “I am the leader of the Cheyenne tribe!”

3. Take care about costumes!

Naturally, for everything to look natural in the spirit of the Wild West, everyone must be prepared both externally and internally. That is, be cheerful, loud and always ready to pull a pistol from a holster or an arrow from a quiver.

Read more about images.

Cowboy man: jeans, sew on fringed overlays, wide leather belt, plaid shirt, neckerchief, cowboy hat. Cowboy-style leather boots are desirable. If they are not there, choose shoes with long toes: what if the boots are hidden under wide jeans?

You can also add characters such as sheriff(what without a servant of the law?)
And bandit(who, of course, is wanted for a hefty reward!).
Cowboy woman: almost everything is the same: jeans or denim shorts (skirt), a plaid shirt (or a blouse with a deep neckline and ruffles), cowboy boots, wide leather bracelets, a gun holster or a rough belt, “natural” makeup (but red is allowed pomade). Hair is loose or braided in two braids. A cowboy hat would also be appropriate.
If girl "not a cowboy", replace some elements with a similar country style: a knee-length or floor-length skirt, a thin blouse (light or colorful), maybe a denim vest or jacket. The hairstyle is the same.
Indians: these costumes are more difficult to construct. The ideal option is to rent it. You can try to make an outfit from scraps of brown fabric (preferably suede) and any available material (feathers, bright jewelry, paints...). Perhaps there are sandals with high ties. Pay due attention to your makeup! This is half the image.
In case the invitees suddenly do not find some small but important attributes - stock up and be ready to hand them over at the entrance.
To better get used to the role, invite guests to watch several films - classics of the relevant theme (westerns): “Buffalo Bill and the Indians”, “Pancho Villa”, “The Long Haul”, “The Lone Ranger”, “Once Upon a Time in the West”, “Good , bad, evil”...

4. Venue and decoration.

The ideal place for a Wild West-themed party is a cottage (in cowboy parlance: “family ranch”). The holiday will be noisy and loud.

You will have to work hard, since the area that needs to be prepared is very large. A room in a country house, or an equipped tent should be decorated with red flags, wildflowers and spikelets should be placed in vases made of vines, and bright feathers can be added. If you can organize a counter in the style of a retro bar, it will be a wonderful highlight of the party! Hang retro curtains. Cover the furniture with tablecloths of a characteristic color: red and white checkered or retro flowers. Bales of hay will look harmonious both in the yard and near the festive table (this is not European-quality renovations for you!).

Hang something like lasso, cowboy hats, horseshoes throughout the area, and place rows of tin cans or beer bottles on the fence.
At the entrance to the courtyard, hang a large "Wanted" poster with a photo of one of the guests (see who will choose to play the bandit). Be sure to indicate the amount of the reward (preferably in kopecks: so many zeros, but real if the Hero demands the entire amount). Organize a couple of beautiful targets (easy to make from polystyrene foam and paint it), and also place cacti throughout the yard (of course, from polystyrene foam, draw the needles with a marker - it will turn out very funny!). On the street, conditionally divide the territory into half cowboys and Indians. For cowboys, a haystack and wooden benches. For the Indians - a wigwam and a fire. All this can also be easily built using a simple scheme.
Organize colorful retro posters.

5. Music.

Entertainment is necessary and important. First of all, it's loud music. Remember how much space is occupied by waving your arms and skipping, which they call dancing! By the way, it wouldn’t hurt to watch a couple of videos before the holiday; it will be great if many people pick up the songs, the dances, and the spirit of the reckless people! Suitable tracks will be hits from: Anne Murray, Gene Watson, George Strait, selectively songs by Madonna, Pink, as well as tracks from the mentioned films!

6. Entertainment.

We start talking about competitions a few hours after the start of the celebration: let the public adapt and get used to the roles. If we talk about two warring “groups” (cowboys and Indians), who today decided to reconcile for the sake of a common friend (the birthday boy), then the competitions must be chosen correctly. Cowboys and Indians must compete, otherwise the specialness of such an unusual company will be lost. I offer the following options:

Competition "Who is more". Two teams throw into tin cans. The team with the most coins in the bank wins.

Competition "Bullseye". The cowboys take turns firing five shots from children's pistols, the Indians from a bow (it is quite possible that the bow will be a problem - stock up on darts!). Each one has his own target. The one with the most “wounds” wins. If both teams hit (all five times), then the one who hit closer to the center of the target.

Competition "The candle was burning." Two people (one from each team) must put out three candles using a water pistol from the same distance.

Competition "Drive me, horse." Each team has a horse and a rider (a guy and a girl, respectively). It's simple: we run to the fence and back. The fastest horse wins. In the second option, two participants must ride a wooden toy horse. (26-2)

Competition "In Search of Treasures". Give two teams a poorly drawn map that they must use to find the treasure. Whoever figures it out faster takes the treasure. A bottle of good alcohol acts as a treasure.

The team that scores more points receives a gift. Let it be something edible, otherwise it’s hard to please 5-6 people at once. If the award is for one person, it could be a modern cowboy-style hat, a leather belt or a flask.

Be sure to think about what songs you can sing around the evening fire. Or maybe your company loves scary or just interesting stories...

7. Menu and drinks.

Cowboys, like Indians, are a people with an appetite. Save the light appetizers for a French-themed party. Coarsely chopped meat, barbecue, baked chicken thighs, shish kebab, balyki, and ham will be popular here. Stews and pilaf with vegetables in large containers are also suitable.
Don’t be afraid to add some spice to your dishes – it’s appropriate today! Drinks also require a choice. Cowboys go great with tequila, whiskey, beer and (yes!) milk! The latter is generally their native drink. But the Indians have their own favorite “drink of the gods” made from cocoa beans and various spices. In short, make them cocoa; without it, the Indians did not have a single feast.

Finally. Don't forget to take a lot of photos. They will certainly turn out to be exclusive.

Let your friends appreciate your hard work and you'll have a great time kicking your heels off the hardwood floor and shouting that "if there's no meat in the roast beef, it's not roast beef" or "The sheriff doesn't care about Indian problems"!

People imagine cowboys based on the films they watch. Most of the films with cowboys are American-made, and their cinema really likes to invent something and remake it in its own way. Cowboys are not really what American cinema imagines them to be.

If you remember all the films that you managed to watch about cowboys, then probably in each of them there were shootouts when someone challenged his opponent to a “Duel”. In fact, this practically never happened, and cowboys did not have violent temperaments. Cowboys did not carry weapons, ropes, and sometimes even horses, since this cost a lot of money. Cowboys carried weapons with them only when there was a need to move cattle from one pasture to another in order to protect them from criminals.

Cowboys are not bandits, but workers

Cowboys did not shoot out every day with bandits and sheriffs, they monotonously did the same job day after day. They repaired old fences, looked after the livestock and the territory. There is another fun fact: cowboys in films are never black, however, in reality, 2/3 of all cowboys were black.

Favorite drink of cowboys

Cowboys really loved going to the bar and spending a good half of the money they earned there, but they didn’t have enough for whiskey. Cowboys preferred to drink beer after a hard day's work. This is how American cinema turns reality upside down, forcing cowboys to be seen as cool.

Cowboy without a horse

As we found out, the cowboys were not rich, they didn’t even have their own weapons. Where do such hard workers get the money for a horse? Only a few cowboys had horses, but they were given them by their employers. No cowboy could afford to buy a horse on his own. The cowboy's job was to inspect the territory and guard it; this could also be done on foot.