The Old-Time Saloon: Not Wet - Not Dry, Just History - Softcover

Ade, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 022641230X ISBN 13: 9780226412306

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2016

Synopsis

Fancy a tipple? Then pull up a stool, raise a glass, and dip into this delightful paean to the grand old saloon days of yore. Written by Chicago-based journalist, playwright, and all-round wit George Ade in the waning years of Prohibition, The Old-Time Saloon is both a work of propaganda masquerading as “just history” and a hilarious exercise in nostalgia. Featuring original, vintage illustrations along with a new introduction and notes from Bill Savage, Ade's book takes us back to the long-gone men’s clubs of earlier days, when beer was a nickel, the pretzels were polished, and the sardines were free.

About this title

About the Author

Born and educated in Indiana but a long-time Chicagoan, George Ade (1866-1944) was a prolific journalist, a Broadway playwright, and a humorist whose newspaper columns, Fables in Slangand Stories of the Streets and of the Town, were syndicated nationally, collected in books, and produced as films, some of which Ade directed. Bill Savage is associate professor of instruction in the Department of English at Northwestern University, as well as a bartender emeritus.

Review

“Undersized but never puny, . . . great for carrying in your pocket or purse, at the ready when you need escape or inspiration. . . . Here’s a gem for gentlemen and gentlewomen who enjoy a tipple.” (Sarah Murdoch Toronto Star)

“[One of the] 'Books we can’t wait to read: The back half of 2016 edition.' . . . In the early twentieth century, Ade was one of the funniest newspapermen in Chicago. In The Old-Time Saloon, originally published in the depths of Prohibition, he looks back with great nostalgia on the glory days of the nineteenth-century saloon.” (Aimee Levitt and Tal Rosenberg Chicago Reader)

“[One of] '21 Chicago-Themed Gifts That Your Friends & Family Will Actually Like.' . . . This book is a re-release of Chicago writer George Ade's infamous, heartfelt paean to tavern culture of the 1800s, written during the twilight of Prohibition, with a new introduction by his modern-day drinker-wit Bill Savage. A great call for the historical-minded tippler on your list.” (Chicagoist)

“Do you have a favorite bar? Perhaps a tavern? Maybe a lounge with some cozy comforts? Humans have gathered close for a libation or three for millennia and many wonderful conversations have ensued as a result. George Ade, noted Chicago journalist, wrote about his own experiences with such gathering places in his 1931 book The Old-Time Saloon. Recently, the University of Chicago Press reissued this delightful tome with thoughtful annotations from Chicago’s own Bill Savage.” (Max Grinnell The Urbanologist)

“A staff favourite food book for 2016. . . . Originally published in 1931 and republished this year with modern footnotes and annotations, this book looks at The Noble Experiment of Prohibition in America during what would be its waning years before repeal. Ade delivers in personal detail his thoughts on the role of the saloon in turn-of-the-century America, and the efforts by ‘drys’ and ‘wets’ alike to use the saloon to justify their stance on Prohibition.” (Chip Walton, associate digital producer Splendid Table)

"It is easy to forget . . . the passions provoked in those days by the issue of temperance and 'strong drink.' . . . An amusing period piece by a writer who could be very, very funny." (Chronicles)

“Ade writes the present little volume as an expert to inform the young of the sin and wickedness they missed by being born too late.” (New York Times)

“Ade amuses with his dry humor on a wet topic. . . . The book discusses every phase of the saloon and every type of saloon, from the ornate and opulent place, like the Waldorf or the Knickerbocker, to the dive on the corner and the old-fashioned roadhouse.” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

“Much about nineteenth-century saloons may have been sordid and squalid, but Ade knew how to find their charm, even their joy. He’s a wonderful reading companion—and I bet he would have been pretty great to drink with, too.” (Daniel Okrent, author of "Last Call")

“Ade was an American humorist who wrote literature for daily newspapers, back when such a thing could be imagined. He wrote vividly about the middle of the country when it was up-and-coming, expectedly dowdy and unexpectedly modern—he stands right between Booth Tarkington and Ring Lardner. And Ade did more for capitalization than anybody since Swift. . . . He was poet laureate of the live ones, and a distant ancestor of Rocky and Bullwinkle.” (Luc Sante HiLobrow)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 022641230X
• ISBN 13: 9780226412306
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Savage Bill