The history of Speakeasies - the culture, the impact and the modern era.
Uncover the allure of hidden bars and craft cocktails, experience the mystery and charm of the Speakeasy themed culture.
Speakeasy: A secret or hidden bar that illegally sold alcohol during the 1920's Prohibition era in the United States. Today the nostalgia lives on as modern speakeasies aim to recreate prohibition style establishments. Complete with secrecy, intimacy and innovative craft cocktails.
Speakeasy Fun Facts
"Speak Easy"
Secrecy & Concealing
Cultural Hot Spot
Kate Hester's saloon outside Pittsburgh in the 1880s is often credited as the earliest recorded speakeasy, even before Prohibition. The story goes she would constantly tell her rowdy customers to "speak easy, boys!" when they got too loud, worried the police would shut down her unlicensed hidden bar. The name stuck and spread.
Cultural Hot Spot
Secrecy & Concealing
Cultural Hot Spot
During Prohibition, speakeasies became more than just hidden bars. They were cultural hotspots where Jazz music really took off. Women and men could socialize together freely (which wasn't common in regular bars before) and people from different social classes and races sometimes mixed together.
Unusual Locations
Secrecy & Concealing
Secrecy & Concealing
Today, modern speakeasies are totally legal but keep that secretive, mysterious vibe for fun. There might be hidden bar behind a fake phone booth, through a secret bookshelf, or in an unmarked basement. Other speakeasies operate in funeral homes, hidden walls, flower shops, candy stores and more.
Secrecy & Concealing
Secrecy & Concealing
Secrecy & Concealing
Many speakeasies required passwords, codes or handshakes to enter a secret passage. Some of New York's most famous current bars were once speakeasies, including the "21" Club, which had an ingenious system of levers that could dump liquor bottles down chutes if raided.