The Problem with Coffee Houses

During last week's class, I learned a great deal about coffee houses and periodicals.

For instance, the second presentation focused on the popularity of coffee houses in the 18th Century, because they acted as social outlets for various social cliques and businessmen. In fact, they were used as office space and meeting centers for barristers and insurance agents. London became one of the cities with the largest number of coffee houses within its layout. However, housewives began speaking out in opposition to these establishments, because their husbands spent more time there instead of being at home. There were lobbying attemps to get coffee houses shut down, but there were counter-petitions drawn up in response.  Despite the mixed reactions about coffee houses, they subscribed to journals, which were quite expensive for the common individual to purchase. Instead of buying them, people gathered with their peers to read them. Unlike magazines and newspapers of today, these journals consisted of essays, social commentary, philosophical topics, and discussion of current events. It was a shared love of diverse knowledge; the purpose of these journals was to move debates away from the classroom and into coffee houses, tea tables, or closets for further study.

Coffee houses were a major social area for 18th Century men, but they proved to be a problem towards women (and to a degree, the taverns and ale houses). Apparently women had a bigger issue with their husbands hanging out in coffee houses rather than getting drunk. However, the coffee houses were important in getting academic/literary discussions out of schools and universities and into the public setting.