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Chapter 1 THE TAVERN: A BRIEF HISTORY There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn. —James Boswell (Boswell 1830, 305) James Boswell, an 18th-century Scottish biographer, observed in the above quotation a truism that captures the essence of the tavern, an insti- tution that has been a consistent presence in the human experience since the beginning of civilization. Its importance as a mainstay in nearly all societies has been noted by archeologists, and it has frequently found its way into the narratives of the earliest forms of literature. Boswell explains the tavern’s allure, but society has often found it to be a problematic presence as well. In ancient Babylon, for instance, we find evidence in Hammurabi’s Code of the first known dramshop laws, some of which required the death penalty for vestals (nuns) caught in taverns (Harper 1904, 119). This draconian statute, part of the first known list of statutes ever produced by any civilization, represents some of the first rounds fired in society’s long struggle to regulate this mirthful and yet problematic space. Though in most societies the tavern has been a consistent presence, and large numbers of citizens have partaken in the consumption of intoxi- cants in them, a paradox exists as demonstrated in Hammurabi’s Code. The tavern is an inevitable presence, but it is one that is viewed with suspi- cion. What has troubled many about this space has not changed much over millennia, nor have the reasons these spaces are patronized. As a business and as a social space, taverns have always been sites where merriment and despair have comingled. Taverns are spaces that enhance community while also creating communal discord. This work will examine the Amer- ican tavern from the outside in, but first we will consider in this chapter a brief history of this unique social space.