Speakeasy
Carol from Old Mission
asked about the word speakeasy. A speakeasy was the name given to a club or
establishment that sold liquor illegally during Prohibition (1920 – 1933).
The import of the word
is harder to pin down. One theory is that patrons of a speakeasy were
instructed to speak quietly when inside so that neighbors and the police
wouldn’t know what was going on. I don’t buy in to this one because I’ve never
been in a quiet room occupied by people who were drinking. In addition, neighbors
always know when shenanigans are
going on in an adjoining building. Strangers lining up one by one or two by two
all through the night would certainly attract attention. It would soon become
an open secret.
A second theory is that
to enter a speakeasy, patrons needed to know a password, and that they needed
to say the password in a guarded tone to the doorman (Kaiser Wilhelm sent me) to prevent passersby from hearing it.
A third theory is that
patrons never talked about it openly except with very good friends because it
was a secret that no one wanted to jeopardize. Easy in that case would signify
covertly.
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