1771 the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
"my companion at the press drank every day a pint of beer before breakfast a pint of beer at
breakfast with his bread and cheese a pint between breakfast and dinner a pint at dinner a pint in
the afternoon after six o'clock and another when he was done with his day's work" when we think of
breakfast today I'm not sure that many of us are thinking about beer bread and cheese to start the
day off right where we have something like cereal with milk or maybe we have a donut and coffee or
a big breakfast eggs bacon you know hash browns a breakfast for a workman maybe somebody working in
the city here in a print shop in the 18th century what was his breakfast every day a pint of beer
loaf of bread and cheese this was a very common kind of thing to eat in the 18th century
sometimes we think about people drinking beer in the 18th century and we think
they're drinking it because the water isn't safe I don't think that is necessarily true in this case
they're drinking beer for breakfast and beer all day long because they like it because they think
that's what they ought to be drinking there are even circumstances here when we read uh
deeper into this section where they think beer makes them strong in fact strong beer
makes them strong they had different kinds of beer in the 18th century and small beer which would be
very low alcohol that was drunk by everyone children and women alike
they had the normal beer and then they had strong beer they had more alcoholic content and they
thought strong beer made strong men so let me set the stage for exactly where Benjamin Franklin is
when he's writing this he's in London he's working at a print house he's probably about 20 years old
and here he goes he says "at my first admission into this printing house I took to working at
press imagining I felt a want of bodily exercise that I'd been used to in America where press work
is mixed with composing I drank only water the other workmen near 50 in number were great
guzzlers of beer on occasion I carried up and downstairs a large form of types in each hand
when others could carry but one in both hands they wondered to see from this and
other several instances that the water American as they called me was stronger than themselves
who drank strong beer they had an ale house boy who attended always in the house to supply the
workmen and my companion at press drank every day a pint before breakfast a pint at breakfast
with his cheese and bread a pint between breakfast and dinner a pint at dinner a pint afternoon about
six o'clock and another when he was done with his day's work I thought it a detestable custom
but it was necessary he supposed to drink strong beer that he might be strong to labor"
Benjamin Franklin tries to convince these men that the amount of money that they're spending
on drinking beer all day long three quarters of a gallon a day could be better spent in other
ways and that they would and they were spending a lot almost a third of their income on their
beer every day that there was a better way I don't think any of them were convinced they continued to
drink their beer while the very frugal let's call Benjamin Franklin continued to drink his water
this workman's breakfast that we're talking about of beer bread and cheese got me thinking about
"Primitive Cookery" which was a cookbook that was meant for workmen in the city how they could
eat less expensively and listed in the back are 70 meals that would be very very inexpensive
and here's number four bread and butter and a glass of fair water or pint of ale
make a good meal and here's number five bread and cheese does the same and a pint of water or ale
and salads eaten with either only washed without oil salt or vinegar they make wholesome food
maybe number six water gruel seasoned with salt only and eaten with bread and butter by biting
and supping in this excellent food it breeds good blood and causes it to circulate freely
so let's try out this this workman's breakfast what's it going to be like yes I've been working
at my press and the press work is hard work he's you know he's turning this great big giant crank
uh and it isn't like he says here um it isn't like dainty work they're composing they're just setting
type onto the page uh so that they can print out these pages but the pressman
they're doing hard work so I've been hard at work it's time for breakfast I've probably been working
an hour and a half two hours I've got my bread and my cheese probably just had it in my pocket
you know and the ale boy comes in from the ale house next door and he's got these big jugs of ale
and he's pouring him into probably tankard so he doesn't have a nice glass like I do but here we go
our bread and cheese
that's a nice nice smooth ale
very tasty you don't want too much fizz in your ale and it's probably nice and warm so
you can get that flavor you don't want your beer too cold and then you can't taste it
maybe I need a stronger ale because I need to work harder tomorrow or later today you know
you're carrying these types he's got he talks about the forms of types and so there's a big
box and it's got the letters all all set out and these letters are made of lead and there
is just like a box big box of lead is what it is that you're carrying up and down the stairs this
is hard work Benjamin Franklin he can do it one on either side but I probably need strong beer so
I can lift up those boxes of lead isn't it funny that here in the 18th century uh
he uses the term great guzzlers of beer that's right out of the 18th century guzzling beer
one of the stories that really catches my mind and I want to dig a little deeper on this is the ale
house boy imagine this this boy that works and he works at the tavern next door and he spends
all his day running back and forth delivering ale to these workmen at the print house there's more
than 50 here I don't know if that's split between the two floors both the pressman and the people
are that are composing but regardless um you know he's delivering ale all day long that's all
he does and he probably only does it for tips for this you know very very small amount of money but
you know whoa here comes the alehouse boy you know here I'm gonna get my drink filled up
that's a story to be told a few years ago I had the opportunity to be part of a documentary on
beer brewing here in America and it had a historical hook into it very interesting
if you want to check that out it's called beers of joy and you can find it on amazon
journals and other books like the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin really help us understand some
misconceptions that we have about the world of the 18th century that idea that you know maybe the
only reason why people drank beer all the time was that the water wasn't safe well this this doesn't
seem to point to that whatsoever it really seems to point to the idea that they're drinking beer
because they want to be drinking beer and there are lots of things like that as we dig
into different writings of the 18th century the autobiography Benjamin Franklin is a great one
for learning a lot about that he's he's really explaining the world of the 18th century in a
way that we can mostly comprehend and understand if you want to check out we're working through
the autobiography Benjamin Franklin as a book club in live streams if you're interested in this book
club we're doing it at four eastern time in the afternoon on Wednesdays make sure to check that
out and thanks for joining us today as we savor the flavors and the aromas of the 18th century