A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
Speakeasy bars in the United States date back to at least the 1880s, but came into prominence in the United States during the Prohibition era (1920-1933, longer in some states). During that time, the sale, manufacture, and transportation (bootlegging) of alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the United States, due to the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Speakeasies largely disappeared after Prohibition ended in 1933. The speakeasy-style trend began in 2000 with the opening of the bar Milk & Honey.
Speakeasies were “so called because of the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police or neighbors”. Although failing to account for earlier usage outside the U.S., The New York Times attributes the term to saloon owner Kate Hester, who ran an unlicensed bar in the 1880s in McKeesport, supposedly telling her rowdy customers to “speak easy” to avoid attention from authorities, which has become a common American anecdote. Many years later, in Prohibition-era America, the “speakeasy” became a common name to describe a place to get an illicit drink. Different names for speakeasies were created. The terms “blind pig” and “blind tiger” originated in the United States in the 19th century. These terms were applied to establishments that sold alcoholic beverages illegally, and they are still in use today. The operator of an establishment (such as a saloon or bar) would charge customers to see an attraction (such as an animal) and then serve a “complimentary” alcoholic beverage, thus circumventing the law.
From the beginning the speakeasy was relatively small with little or no entertainment involved, but through gradual growth it popularized and expanded to many different areas with new additions of entertainment and eventually made the speakeasy one of the biggest businesses during Prohibition. In many rural towns, small speakeasies and blind pigs were operated by local business owners. These family secrets were often kept even after Prohibition ended. In 2007 secret underground rooms thought to have been a speakeasy were found by renovators on the grounds of the Cyber Cafe West in Binghamton, New York. Speakeasies did not need to be big to operate. “It didn’t take much more than a bottle and two chairs to make a speakeasy.” One example for a speakeasy location was the “21” Club in New York. This is one of the more famous of the speakeasies and operated until 2020. The “21” Club was only part of a series of businesses owned by Charlie Berns and Jack Kriendler. They started the business in Greenwich with a place called “The Redhead” and later moved onto the next operation “The Puncheon Club”. The “21” Club was special because of its system to remain under the radar. It was a unique system that used a doorkeeper to send a warning to the bar that it was in danger and the bar would transform into an ordinary place through a mechanism. The speakeasy spread all over New York with businesses such as the “Bath Club” and “O’Leary’s on the Bowery”. “The Bath Club” had musicians perform in their place to keep it unique. This idea of musicians spread throughout the speakeasy business and soon enough many of them had musicians. Beer flats were a residential version of the more upscale speakeasy, and were common in the midwestern United States.
