TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch

Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

Toward the end of the sixteenth century, Leonhart Rauwolf, an Augsburg physician, traveled
through the Near and Middle East. He noticed that the Turks and Arabs were consuming a hot,
blackish beverage much as Europeans drank wine and beer. In his book Journey to the Lands
of the Orient, published in 1582, Rauwolf wrote: "Among other things they have a good drink
which they greatly esteem. They call it 'chaube': it is nearly as black as ink and helpful against
stomach complaints. They drink it from earthenware and porcelain cups early in the morning,
also in public places without any hesitation. But they take only small sips of it and then pass
these cups around, for they are seated next to each other in a circle. To the water they add a
berry the natives call 'bunnu' which, but for its size and color, resembles bay tree berries,
surrounded by two thin hulls. This drink is very common among them, so that one finds quite a
few who serve it in the bazaar, as well as shopkeepers who sell the berries there."

It is difficult to determine precisely when coffee was introduced to Arabic culture. According to
legend, Mohammed was cured of narcolepsy with coffee. There are indications in Arabic
medical literature that coffee was used medicinally as early as the tenth century. But in the
Islamic world, too, it became a popular beverage relatively late, certainly no earlier than the
fifteenth century.

Although the dating may be vague, the logic of coffee drinking for Arabic-Islamic civilization is
incontestable. As a nonalcoholic, nonintoxicating, indeed even sobering and mentally
stimulating drink, it seemed to be tailor-made for a culture that forbade alcohol consumption and
gave birth to modern mathematics. Arabic culture is dominated by abstraction more than any
other culture in human history. Coffee has rightly been called the wine of Islam.

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TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

Until the seventeenth century, coffee remained a curiosity for Europeans, mentioned in
accounts of journeys to the exotic lands of the Orient. They could not imagine consuming a hot,
black, bitter-tasting drinkmuch less with pleasure. It reminded them too much of hot pitch,
which was used in medieval times for battle and torture.

SPRIG OF COFFEE TREE WITH BERRIES

One of the earliest botanically exact illustrations, published in 1716 in
La Roque's Voyage de 1'Arabie Heureuse, one of the exotic travel
accounts popular in that period.

The situation changed around the middle of the seventeenth century. Suddenly a whole set of
hitherto unknown exotic substances became fashionable. Together with chocolate, tea, and
tobacco, coffee made its entrance upon the stage of European luxury culture. It appeared in
several different places at once, then spread in a quasi-strategic pattern of encirclement: in the
south it surfaced in the Levantine trade centers, Venice and Marseilles; in the north, in the
transshipping ports of the new international trade, London and Amsterdam. From these
bridgeheads it quickly conquered the hinterlands. Around 1650 coffee was virtually unknown in
Europe, at most used as medication. By about 1700 it was firmly established as a beverage,
not, of course, for the entire population but certainly among the trend-setting strata of society.

Court aristocracy added coffee drinking as one more flourish to its cult of luxury. Coffee

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TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

became as fashionable as the new chinoiserie, or the young blackamoor kept as a sort of
mascot in one's retinue. Essentially it was not the drink itself that mattered to court society but
how it could be consumed, the opportunities it afforded for display of elegance, grace, and high
refinement. The porcelain that was created expressly for coffee drinking at the court was what
mattered mostjust as all aspects of life in an absolutist regime were determined by the forms
of court ceremony. Form replaced content.

THE ARISTOCRACY'S FASHIONABLE BEVERAGES

Coffee, tea, and chocolate appealed to court society of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries not only as exotic drinks, but also as
occasions for self-display. The exquisite service and the young
blackamoor who served it were basically more important to
aristocratic taste than the items consumed. (Portrait of Madame
Dubarry by Decreuse.)

3 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

DRINKING COFFEE "A LA TURQUE"

During the Rococo period, people loved to dress up and surround
themselves with objects in the oriental style. This masquerading
extended from Chinese porcelain rooms to little blackamoors serving
the beverages newly in vogue. As this engraving by Chodowiecki
shows, some even went so far as to dress up in "native" costumes to
drink their coffee.

Bourgeois society of the same period regarded coffee in a different, quite contrary light. Not
form, but substancethe drink was the focus of interest. The thing itself, in this case,
consisted in the actual physiological properties and effects ascribed to coffee. Were one to list
all the properties they believed inherent in coffee, the result would be an amazingly motley
catalogue of often mutually contradictory virtues. Here is just a small sampling: Coffee is good
for colic, it fortifies the liver and the gall bladder, brings relief in cases of dropsy, purifies the
blood, soothes the stomach, whets the appetite, but can also decrease it, keeps you awake, but
can also induce sleep. It cools "hot" temperaments, but on the other hand it warms up "cold"
ones, etc. Coffee, in other words, was viewed as a panacea. There wasn't a positive effect it
was not credited with. If we wade through the jumble of properties most commonly imputed to it,
however, we come up with two which are actually one and the same: sobriety and the power to
sober up a person. In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century medical literature as well as in the
general view, coffee was perceived as primarily a sober beverage, in contrast to previously
known drinks, all of which were alcoholic. The lateseventeenth-century middle classes
welcomed coffee as the great soberer. The coffee drinker's good sense and business efficiency
were contrasted with the alcohol drinker's inebriation, incompetence, and laziness, most clearly
in texts from seventeenth-century Puritan England. " 'Tis found already," wrote James Howell in
1660, "that this coffee drink hath caused a greater sobriety among the Nations. Whereas
formerly Apprentices and clerks with others used to take their morning's draught of Ale, Beer, or
Wine, which, by the dizziness they Cause in the Brain, made many unfit for business, they use
now to play the Good-fellows in this wakeful and civil drink."

A Backward Glance:
The Significance of Alcohol before the Seventeenth Century

It would be difficult for us nowadays to imagine the crucial role alcoholic drinks played before
the hot, nonalcoholic beverages (coffee, tea, and chocolate) assumed their permanent place in
the European diet. The former were consumed as both a semiluxury to be enjoyed and a
nourishing staple. Medieval people drank copious amounts of wine and beer, especially on
holidaysand holidays were quite numerous then (in Paris, for instance, 103 holidays were

4 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

observed in the year 1660), including church consecrations, weddings, baptisms, burials, and
"blue Mondays." On workdays beer and wine were a regular part of the meals.

Prior to the introduction of the potato, beer was second only to bread as the main source of
nourishment for most central and north Europeans. "Some subsist more upon this drink than
they do on food," wrote Johann Brettschneider, alias Placotomus, in the year 1551, referring not
to hard-core drinkers, but to average folk: "People of both sexes and every age, the hale and
the infirm alike require it." An English family in the latter half of the seventeenth centurythe
period when coffee drinking was catching on among the upper classesconsumed about three
liters of beer per person daily, children included. Although large breweries already existed by
then, beer brewing was still a part of housekeeping, like bread baking and slaughteringone of
the housewife's duties.

The best way to get a sense of how pervasive beer was in the seventeenth century, and often
even in the eighteenth, is to remember that breakfast as a rule consisted of beer soup, a
now-forgotten dish. In rural areas of Germany such soups were still prepared as late as the end
of the eighteenth century. The following recipewhich already shows a considerable degree of
refinementcomes from that period: "Heat the beer in a saucepan; in a separate small pot beat
a couple of eggs. Add a chunk of butter to the hot beer. Stir in some cold beer to cool it, then
pour over the eggs. Add a bit of salt, and finally mix all the ingredients together, whisking it well
to keep it from curdling. Finally, cut up a roll, white bread, or other good bread, and pour the
soup over it. You may also sweeten to taste with sugar."

How unusual the new hot beverages must have tasted to palates accustomed to the
ubiquitous beer! The following passage from a letter written by Duchess Elisabeth Charlotte of
Orleans illustrates this clearly. Of German origin, and more popularly known as Liselotte von der
Pfalz, she complains about the taste of the three new drinks in fashion at the court of Versailles:
"Tea makes me think of hay and dung, coffee of soot and lupine-seed, and chocolate is too
sweet for meit gives me a stomachacheI can't stand any of them. How much I would prefer
a good Kalteschale [a cold soup, often prepared with wine and fruitTrans.] or a good beer
soup, that wouldn't give me a stomachache."

But it was the ritual function of alcohol, above and beyond its nutritional function, that explains
what we now regard as the excessive consumption of alcohol in preindustrial societies. Drinking
rites are of course still very much with us today. Drinking to someone's health, clinking glasses,
the obligation to return another's toast, drinking as a pledge of friendship, drinking contests,
etc.these are rites and obligations one cannot easily evade. To earlier societies they were
even more obligatory.

5 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

BEER AND HEALTH

Due to its nutritional value and low alcohol content, beer has been regarded since the dawn of
history as the "good" alcohol, as opposed to stronger things like liquor. Where beer reigns,
people are content, well nourished, and happy. What William Hogarth expressed for an entire
society in his famous engraving Beer Street (see p. 155) is similarly summed up by this portrait
of a beer drinker by Martin Engelbrecht. The original text reads: "Balm to my breast as summer
nears, / I do not quaff thee, noblest draught, / 1 sip thee, that my
mind stay clear."
Drinkers would work themselves into a state of intoxication that was not merely the result of
the alcohol imbibed. It was also psychological in origin, fueled by the frenzy engendered in
outdoing yourself offering toasts.

A drinking bout, once under way, usually ended only when its participants lost consciousness.
To withdraw earlier was viewed either as an insult to one's drinking companions or as an
admission of weakness on the part of the one who "chickened out." Observing a German
drinking bout in the sixth century, the Roman author Venantius Fortunatus wrote that the
participants "were carrying on like madmen, each competing in drinking to the other's health,"
and that "a man had to consider himself lucky to come away with his life." This essentially holds
true also for the Middle Ages and for Germany up to the sixteenth century. Today competitive
drinking to the point where participants lose consciousness is to be found in only a few social
settings (rural weddings, Oktoberfest, student fraternities, etc.). It was a normal occurrence in
the life of the preindustrial world.

One account of such a drinking contest in 1599 demonstrates how little things have changed
in the thousand years between the Old,,Germanic society and that of the sixteenth century:
"These drunkards are not satisfied with the wine they have in front of them, but contend with
one another using drinking vessels as they would spears and weaponry. The foremost among
them attacks, launching a round of drinks. Soon thereafter he bids those across the room to
drink. Others are soon enlisted to join in on all sides with glasses and goblets. These guests
and drunkards contend with each other, man to man, in pairs: they must swallow half, then all of
a drink in one gulp, and without stopping to take a single breath, or wiping their beards, until
they sink into a complete stupor. . . . And just as soon as two heroes emerge victorious, these
men guzzle in competition with each other. And whoever is the winner and has best stood his
ground carries off the prize. Sometimes the ones who drink the most are awarded honors and
presented with trophies as well."

6 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

BEER
BREWING
Until
well
into
the
nineteenth
century,
beer
brewing,
like
slaughtering
and
bread
baking,
was
a
part
ofwe
housekeeping.
The
illustration
by
George
Cruikshank
(top,
facing
page)
shows
one
ofshown
these
outdoor
home
breweries.
Comparing
the
dimensions
of
the
casks
with
those
in
the
illustration
ofthe
apresence
brewery
from
the
sixteenth
century
by
Jorg
Amman
(bottom,
facing
page),
see
how
little
has
changed
over
the
three
centuries.
ALCOHOL
AND
THE
MILITARY
nineteenth
daily
Beer
ration
and,
century.
consisted
later,
liquor
From
of
were
two
a
pounds
part
decree
of
of
the
bread,
regular
byaround
Wallenstein
one
food
pound
rations
(above)
of
meat,
of
Europe's
we
and
see
four
that
armies
pints
a mercenary's
until
of beer.
the huge
The
inescapable
of
beer
in
military
life
is
in
an
barrels
illustration
of
beer
(next
fill
page)
left
of
third
a1632
bivouac
of
the
from
the
end
of
the
sixteenth
century:
three
picture.

THE
TAVERN
HOSTESS
Well
the
seventeenth
century
beer
was
generally
served
by
women,
attesting
to
its domestic
origins.
Incase
particularly,
"Ale
Wives"
became
folklore
figuresas
ininthe
of facing
Elinor
Rummin,
whose
portrait
appears
on
the title
page
of
aEngland
book
that
Henry
VIII's
court
poet,
Skelton,
dedicated
to
her
1624
(top,
page).
PORRIDGE
EATER
consumption.
probably
of
especially
themhave
In
daily
theinto
nourishment.
painting
beer
Dutch,
their
soup.
by
painting
nutritional
Jacob
Before
The
massive,
of
Jordaens
potatoes
and
seventeenth
physiological
heavy
(1593-1678)
entered
body
centuryand
the
explanation
types
(bottom,
European
that
are
facing
in
Jordaens's
diet,
the
seen
high
this
page),
insoup
beer
north
Porridge
thewas
and
"porridge"
European,
a
beer
Eater
major
soup
issource
in
one
fact
of

7 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

ELISABETH
CHARLOTTE
D'ORLEANS
Also
known
as
Liselotte
von
der
Pfalz
(1652-1722)
and
for
her
letters
from
Versailles
to
Germany,
in
which
she
complains
of,
among
other
fashionable
innovations,
the
bad-tasting
new
beverages
coffee,
tea,
and
chocolate.
(Painting
by
Hyazinth
Rigaud.)
The
expression
sermons,
truth,
of
outside
staggering,
through."
historical
sixteenth
increase
To
wanton
account
be
one
in
sure,
was
reality
century
Such
and
would
the
drunkenness
of
falling
just
scarcely
there
a
surrounding
books.
descriptions
new
as
have
quoted,
was
into
opinion
was
view
Ifto
not
the
possible),
the
and
increasing
assume
written
of
actual
mud,
towns
passed
image
should
moderation
gluttony.
their
by
alcohol
but
leave,
that
this
off
criticism
be
a
rather
legs
Tubingen
"When
sixteenth-century
as
propaganda
taken
they
articulated
consumption
realitywhich
splayed
the
of
go
with
the
these
attitude
weaving
city
aout
literature
grain
ingates
drinking
a(which
wide
toward
central
barrage
isfrom
of
to
Johann
are
enough
salt.
created
say
was
customs
side
drinking.
closed,
Europe
of
They
that
already
Georg
pamphlets,
tofor
were
what
side,
reflect
in
and
a
saw
coach
the
Sigwart,
so
to
changed
stumbling
those
atime
sixteenth
be
not
huge
sudden
caricatures,
to
taken
so
who
pass
is
that
much
in
itself
and
explosion
as
live
century.
the
anliteral
anto
foundation
were
relationship
regulate
This
the
new
the
leading
in
attitude
between
relationship
both
Reformers,
realms
developed
the
of
individual
for
man
above
the
during
to
development
alcohol.
and
all
the
Martin
God
Reformation.
In
as
Luther.
so
of
aprofessor,
doing
capitalism.
personal
The
Its
the
Reformation,
chief
one,
Reformation
representatives
at
the
same
redefining
was
laying
and
took
the
an
advocates
essential
pains

CARICATURES
OF
GLUTTONY
AND
DRUNKENNESS
Following
the
Reformation,
medieval
eating
and
drinking
customs
came
under
critical
A
flood
of
polemical
tracts,
and
caricatures,
especially
against
immoderate
drinking,
was
released.
The
drunkard
isp.
usually
portrayed
as
an
animal,
with
the
head
of
an
ape,
a Philocothonista,
donkey,
orfire.
a
pig,
and
with
bird
claws
and
similar
appendages.
Equally
popular
in
these
illustrations
issatires,
the
moment
when
the
imbiber
"throws
up."
Frequently
the
scene
is
presided
over
by
"Demon
(top,
facing
page),
who
was
seen
in
those
times
as
both
the
cause
and
the
incarnation
of
vice.
Sequence
ofAlcohol"
illustrations:
Frontispiece
from
Sebastian
Franck's
widely
circulated
diatribe
On
the
Abominable
Vice
of
Drunkenness
(above).
Title
page
from
Matthiius
Friedrich's
Against
Demon
Alcohol
(top,
facing
page).
Heywood's
Hans
Burgkmair:
The
Table
or,
of
the
the
Wealthy
(bottom,
facing
page).
Title page from Thomas
Drunkard
(top,
36).

lasting
drinking
effects.
Calvinist
joie
preached
alcoholism),
would
However,
de
remain
results.
vivre
Nor
contests,
churches
tirelessly
the
were
yet
and
a
The
movement
fool
who
the
had
of
against
numerous
his
Protestant
also
seventeenth-century
apostles
to
whole
be
coined
to
"Demon
repeatedly
moderation
life
prohibitions
ethic
moderation
the
long.
Alcohol"
proverb
were
renewed,
in
against
Holland
still
the
(a
themselves
"wine,
inextricably
sixteenth-century
Age
obviously
toasting
and
women,
of
Reformation
England
the
joined
rituals,
having
and
sort
were
song"without
in
of
descriptive
intended
failed
a
did
thoroughgoing
person
to
not
bring
to
have
achieve
to
like
forth.
put
which
especially
Luther,
an
for
Puritans
Medieval
the
end
a
desired
who
man
to
the
the
habits.
basis
sharper
could
Any
satisfy
Obviously
new
substitute
to
replace
new
It
restraints,
make
hot
would
needsotherwise
beverages
conditions
the
itAle,
for
take
possible.
old
the
a
higher
ones.
tried
in
that
only
the
That
and
degree
For
reached
Puritan
sixteenth
itof
came
without
would
of
would
Europe
ideology
with
work
be
century
substitutes
a
unacceptable.
have
disciplineand
more
in
the
were
to
highly
have
seventeenth
the
not
a
developed
yet
These
new
"Demon
also
ripe
kind
traditions
requirements
centuryabove
atook
for
new
society
Alcohol,"
of
any
appealthat
group
would
and
change
but
of
were
economy,
not
beverages
all,
some
fulfilled
disappear.
coffee.
in
itmaterial
drinking
must
by
that
The
Great
Soberer
sense
Puritan
in
1674:
and
poets
awakened
industryso
seized
a
on
drowsing
seventeenth-century
theme,
humanity
as
for
from
example
coffee
its
alcoholic
in
the
following
stupor
would
to
anonymous
middle-class
have
it.
poem
The
common
English
published
the
sweet
Poison
of
the
Grape
Had
acted
on
the
world
aterm
general
rape;
Drowning
our
Reason
and
our
souls
In
such
deep
of
large
o'erflowing
bowls,
Heaven
When
foggy
in
Pity
.seas
.the
.Spirits,
leavying
up
mighty
trains
Of
muddy
vapours,
had
besieg'd
our
Brains,
Then
First
sent
amongst
us
this
All-healing
Berry,
quicker,
Coffee
Relieves
arrives,
that
the
memory,
grave
and
revives
wholesome
the
sad,
Liquor,
That
heals
the
stomach,
makes
the
genius
And
cheers
the
without
making
mad
.to
.the
.condemn
see
sent
nourishment
clears
suddenly
Another
tavern
night
coffee
youths
the
air,
with
clouds
two
dethroned,
fulfill
wallowing
of
fewer
the
hundred
the
this
of
flash
noblemen
brain,
the
historic
the
'twixt
of
years
imagination
which
monstrous
truth
mission
casks
later
sprawled
.true
unlike
.Treacherous
."
and
the
and
as
tavern
nineteenth-century
other
wenches,
the
in
their
the
sobering
is
spirits,
gloomy
gutter
dethroned,
is
dethroned.
heightens
.propaganda
agent
.weight;
.existing
Coffee,
which
poet-historian
of
which
an
purity
Fewer
the
even
entire
sober
illumines
and
half
liquor-drenched
epoch:
Jules
lucidity;
drink,
aability
century
the
Michelet
"Henceforth
the
coffee,
reality
mighty
earlier
songs
would
of
which
things
is
had
on
to
people
evidence
new
in
seen
those
the
drunk
drink
clear
However,
1671
alcoholic
gambling
hot
eye."
a
the
who
too
cup
who
(Traitez
beverages.
following
to
much
are
of
beverages,
in
were
the
table
coffee,
not
contrary.
wine,
Nouveau
already
seventeenth
fully
episode:
one
Itnot
whereupon
he
had
intoxicated.
evening
but
was
Sylvestre
drunka
et
many
above
"Coffee
curieux
confusing
century,
after
editions
he
an4.beyond
Dufour
One
popular
sobers
du
returned
dinner.
cafe,
coffee
hearts
of
and
was
my
you
belief
He
du
translations
to
friends
was
that
with
up
the
the,
was
even
instantaneously,
author-editor
itnot
diamonds.
game
et
losing
was
who
only
du
today,
credited
throughout
with
chocolat).
had
considerable
considered
in
Ia
had
spite
and
completely
with
too
or
Dufour
him
compiler
Europe
of
in
the
much
areal
all
any
sums,
aside
sober
pharmacological
claimed
sober
event
after
wine
of
and
because
drink
a
to
its
head
book
sat
itis,
sober
had
to
sobers
in
publication
down
have
contrast
on
him
and
having
up
the
at
up

8 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

of
coffee
onto
them
it.
to
A
borne
was
have
classic
another
out
properties
instance
by
series
modern
itthey
of
could
of
the
scientific
attributes
placebo
not
possibly
findings.
which
effect?
possess,
the
Itcoffee,
seems
seventeenth
but
that
which
people
century
they
of
themselves
that
ascribed
era
perceived
to
projected
coffee,
none
becomes
"antierotic
had
gathering
idea
substance
to
title:
Inconveniencies
LIQUOR.
expressed
deserts
impulse
their
That
one
how
If
clerics
we
in
hand,
"The
antipuritanical,
of
pamphlet
this
mind
examine
coffee
whence
behind
who
clearer.
Presented
place
Women's
coffee,
how
that
in
here
no
as
lived
the
reduced
powerful
this
of
another
that
uncertain
accruing
an
was
Michelet
which
intellectuals
women
in
complaint:
the
Petition
should
antierotic
to
unhappy
celibacy.
the
the
women
sexual
at
of
coffeehouse
to
terms
were
last
speaks
Right
these
use
against
their
notion
drink
berry
the
and
replaces
energies,
In
of
the
rebelling
Honorable
supposed
SEX
1764
this
English
in
center
was
argument
is
Coffee,
fear
the
time
from
culture
aevolved
at
sexual
much
passage
that
even
against
broadside
for
coffeehouses
the
to
were.
the'Excessive
properties,
Representing
coffee
be
discussion.
that
of
more
time,
to
arousal
Keepers
brought."
the
the
that
coffee
caused
and
direct
would
Enlightenment,
increasing
point
follows
the
with
on
of
makes
In
to
Use
It
and
of
make
this
the
a
seventeenth-century
stimulation
is
Publick
impotence.
great
the
easy
concrete.
of
Liberty
other,
period
patriarchalization
"men
that
section
sensation
to
the
Consideration
impotent
how
Drying,
behind
excluded
identify
of
[as]
of
coffeehouse
Ithim
VENUS."
quoted
the
unpuritanical,
was
unfruitful
the
Enfeebling
intellect."
in
the
shows,
regarded
recommended
women,
London.
England
projections
above
of
sociopolitical
The
the
society.
as
as
on
Grand
those
text
What
the
and
indeed
as
Its
the
aof
in
he
not
have
more
declared
Coffee
hard
always
generally,
to
as
itopposition
their
recognize
been
beverage
favorite
the
the
Protestant
the
battle
drink.
ideological
sobriety
cry
ethic,
of
puritanical,
defined
forces
and
coffee
behind
coffee
ascetic
as
this
the
movements.
this
means
reorientation.
way
of
and
curbing
English
then
Sobriety
wholeheartedly
the
Puritanism,
sexual
and
abstinence
urgesit
and
is
be
well-suited
pharmacology
standard
judgment
leading
confirms
but
rationalistic
organized
was
There
wrong
modern
in
behind
all
is
the
this.
twentieth-century
to
at
any
rationalistically.
no
to
viewpoint
bourgeois
itthe
see
the
important
European
doubt
all.
The
subsequent
confirms
same
only
seventeenth
that
this
that
time
age.
areas
this.
civilization
coffee
aspect
originated
Rationality
depression."
study
that
The
The
of
is
century
itman
material
very
of
caffeine
states,
makes
to
as
it.
a
in
point
and
For
large
itsaid
was
It
life.
itthem
in
coffee
is
accountability
enhances
at
period.
degree
the
coffee
these
The
which
clearer,
century
from
undeniably
absolutist-bureaucratic
properties
Work
affects
an
itin
"mental
was
the
ideologically
and
of
characterize
in
seventeenth
fully
the
rationalism,
itmotivation
the
has
stimulates
activity,
that
central
inserted
newly
other
make
freighted
speeds
the
burgeoning
nervous
century
properties
not
into
mental
coffee
state
bourgeois
only
European
drink.
perception,
was
system.
on.
the
activity
in
that
factories
philosophy,
Modern
beverage
built
Yet
spirit
made
culture
without
As
itclocklike
on
would
and
that
athe
the
was
itIn
so
body.
mental
the
office,
uniformly
regularity
walks.)
In
and
sought
human
which
The
this
open
achieved
functioned
seventeenth-century
his
connection
as
to
physiology,
Itto
sky.
is
and
of
fulfill
working
well
perfectly
Kant,
chemically
regularly
as
spiritually
in
his
coffee
whose
position
middle-class
transforming
accord
obvious
physical
as
functioned
and
neighbors
a
was
with
bourgeois
clock.
that
ideologically.
pharmacologically
lifestyle.
sedentary.
itthe
this
to
(The
new
allegedly
as
worked
conform
new
was
Medieval
athis
first
demandsa
historically
way
distinguished
The
With
example
increasingly
set
with
of
ideal
what
man
their
life
its
significant
that
own
and
that
did
rationalism
rationalistic,
watches
the
from
hovered
with
physical
work
comes
requirements.
principle
his
drug.
would
by
to
and
head,
before
work,
his
middle-class,
mind
of
Itthe
the
affect
precisely
spread
rationality
past
his
for
The
is
Protestant
workplace
the
the
centuries
result
was
through
most
famous
timed
entire
forward-looking
entered
to
was
ethic
function
part
daily
organism.
was
by
the
aof
under
his
body
body
the
as
Arguments
for
and
against
coffee
ways,
progressives
quite
available
proved
this
as
In
wasting
sense,
the
welcome.
depending
seventeenth
for
be
time
not
work.
acoffee's
productive
to
After
itself.
on
drink
And
how
all,
century
chief
any
inasmuch
itthis
resource,
promised
property,
coffee
people
felt
as
about
would
or
nothing
judged
that
time
what
progress
be
of
is
stimulating
money,
almost
we
less
today
effect
than
in
as
to
the
might
of
to
great
quote
the
first
coffee
lengthen
mind
call
a
place.
Benjamin
sin
on
amen
and
for
and
first-rate
the
For
keeping
human
intensify
Franklin,
optimistic
puritanical
efficiency
one
body
the
coffee
middle-class
awake,
time
in
bourgeois
factor.
various
indirectly
was

TITLE
PAGE
AND
FRONTISPIECE
TREATISE
Available
1671
onthree
in numerous
editions
and
translations,
this
book
afrom
Lyon
businessman,
Sylvestre
Dufour,
became
aThe
sort
of bible
of
theby
new
hot
beverages.
It was
a compilation
ofof
many
already
in
wide
circulation
concerning
coffee,
tea,
andthe
chocolate.
frontispiece
shows
the
drinks
inOF
theDUFOUR'S
hands
figures
personifying
their
respective
nationalities:
on
left,
thetexts
Turk
or

Arabwide,
with
coffee
(which
then
still
drunk,
like
teathe
from
a coffeepot;
small
handleless
bowl);
center,
the
Chinese
withthe
tea;
on
right,
the
Indian
withbulbous
chocolate.
Inwas
front
of them
stand
the
appropriate
containers,
already
in their
familiar
forms:
pear-shaped
the
teapot;
slender,
oval
chocolate
pot
with
its
accompanying
stirrer.

9 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

ON
THE
HEALTH
OF
SCHOLARS
The
titleand
especially
the
subtitle
(And
Others
Who
Get
Little
Exercise
in
the
Course
of
Their
Work)of
this
much-read
book
by
the
French
physician
Tissot
is
evidence
of
a
new
lifestyle
preoccupied
people:
the
nonphysical
activity,
sitting
in
the
office
or
studying
all
day.
The
century
of
the
Enlightenment,
which
in
its
first
half
was
interested
only
in
the
human
mind,
in
its
second
half
turned
its
attention
to
problem
of
what
effect
this
monopoly
of
mental
activity
would
have
on
the
rest
of
the
body.
our
eighteenth
from
material
quite
naturalist,
people
this
their
night"
the
concentration
Rousseau's
This
body,
own
account
interests),
time
skeptical
another
(author's
simple
awake
interest
ill-used,
than
or
for
centuries.
ideal
the
[coffee]
example,
matter.
yet
and
to
artificially.
on
they
italics).
health
(on
explicitly
manipulated
persuasive
of
maintaining
labor
nature
do
the
might
Carl
However,
of
This
saw
not
efficiency.
part
Yet
human
hostile.
von
be
and
warrant
coffee's
already
of
argument
he
bodies
considered
their
Linne,
wine
that
at
sees
beings,
Where
the
Linnaeus's
lives
our
is
clearly
main
merchants,
that
or
some
same
echoed
for
attention;
Carolus
and
must
such
pay
useful
virtue
coffee
shows
problems,
time,
health,
the
remarks
in
pay
views
much
Linnaeus,
by
brewers,
modern
prevailed
but
there
price.
an
for
those
and
were
the
inkling,
progress
as
reflect
were
who
criticisms
environmental
its
the
who
innkeepers,
solely
the
during
advocates
also
following
indeed
are
a
set
great
in
view
the
compelled
different
the
a
of
higher
eighteenth-century
a
expression
that
independent
form
seventeenth
and
knowledge,
sentence
did,
consciousness:
is
groups
viewpoints,
worth
of
in
related
to
greater
its
work
of
shows:
ability
upon
representing
writers
of
vested
and
to
into
the
ranging
saving
to
that
"On
the
price
keep
are
itais
thought.
"presence
condition";
rhythm,
out
Half
Hahnemann's
the
a
problem
which
century
Coffee
of
but,
mind,
consists
he
creates
raised
after
argument
goes
alertness,
Linnaeus,
by
in
an
on,
an
controlling
"artificially
these
against
alternation
and
Samuel
effects
empathy
coffee
the
heightened
of
Hahnemann,
human
are
wakefulness
more
are
unhealthy,
all
organism
fully,
sense
elevated
the
because
and
in
of
homeopath,
with
that
being,"
more
sleepiness.
stimulants
they
concisely
than
according
throw
paraphrased
in
It
a
and
(and
is
life
healthy
worthwhile
to
clearly
off
this
Hahnemann;
its
natural
in
the
natural
itwas
1803)
works
same
to
hear
:of
than
experiences
sluggishness
lo
an
cross
sluggishness,
quickly
"In
and
unpleasant
usual,
the
and
almost
behold,
vanishes
first
peevish,
probably
an
wrested
moments
immediately.
and
this
coffee
sensation
unpleasant
with
stiffness
unpleasant
and
everyone
from
dispels
this
or
compels
of
first
medicinal
After
Nature
in
sensation
heaviness
this
the
quarter
fatigue
who
a
us
limbs;
natural
full
takes
does
to
drink;
day's
of
hour
seek
and
quick
mind
its
less
but
not
sleepiness
fatigue
of
place."
work
the
unpleasant
live
than
waking,
movements
and
we
in
body
fully
in
an
must,
our
vanishes,
especially
entirely
roused
with
feeling,
mental
are
rest
the
our
difficult,
consciousness,
primitive
and
and
natural
and
this
when
nature,
sleep.
an
physical
discomfort
waking
artificial
state
approach
slacken
This
thinking
of
powers
occurs
gloominess,
peevishness
sprightliness,
nature
of
and
of
mind
is
sleep,
makes
hard.
earlier
grow
But
alazy;
us
period
of
that
express
coffee
concerning
days.
used,
Faculty
With
coffee.
coffee
therefore
documents
It
that
works
in
Hahnemann
regarded
of
is
ideas
which
However,
precisely
Medicine
give
drinker's
centuries
coffee,
does
require
that
us
coffee
should
coffee.
a
not
strike
attitudes
body
the
we
of
itproperties.
sense
already
some
was
was
the
hold
are
language,
be
Let
us
and
University
formulated
read
first
entering
up
explanation.
as
from
us
had
in
both
begin
discovered
more
light
expectations,
effects
which
quite
nonscientific
strange
the
of
with
as
in
of
a
Marseilles.
we
realm
medical
today's
evidence
ithow
It
similar
a
has:
is
as
can
passage
and
worth
of
by
the
deduce
beverage,
awareness
scientific
concepts
familiar.
today's
of
It
conscious
the
describes
the
from
trouble,
what
contemporary
medicine.
Of
knowledge.
standards,
that
aby
we
of
course,
paper
coffee
and
find
the
no
for
the
longer
problem
unconscious
these
that
delivered
route
If
their
the
we
But
the
attitude
old
coffee
now
speak
images
description
that
seventeenth
caused
to
medical
in
people
return
isn't
1679
and
fears,
follOws
clearly
and
the
by
awareness
to
texts
before
in
of
fantasies
with
the
issue.
the
to
those
how
through
and
us
effects
which
the
and
enter
Furthermore,
they
rising
wakefulness
paralysis,
listless
fluid,
"The
keep
[and]
the
to
profuse
as
the
bloodstream
a
all
the
riverbed
brain.
that
the
they
impotence
entire
burned
pores
the
endanger
Through
in
body
nerve
they
particles
of
midsummer,
ensue.
the
falls
sweep
fluid
these
the
body
prey
itcold
dries
brain;
And
properties
carries
along
dilated
to
becomes
because
up;
after
the
all
with
when
and
most
they
the
ita
acidic,
the
so
lymph
itnecessary
possess
frightful
ash
have
cannot
impede
blood,
contained
all
dried
emaciation."
parts
such
be
well
which
the
replaced,
up
sleep-inducing
of
in
its
has
violent
the
coffee
drain
fluid
by
body
general
and
force
this
the
induces
are
its
point
kidneys.
that
animal
depleted
prostration,
convolutions,
such
grown
when
forces
persistent
of
they
as
their
from
report.
concept
viewed
body,
It
is
of
in
What
and
secondary
here
this
condemned
view
matters
is
that
of
concern
things,
a
are
body
as
the
a
is
will
to
notions,
substance
a
us
go
fluid-filled
that
to
rack
images,
coffee
which
body;
and
should
and
ruin
drains
a
sick
ideas
when
be
and
body,
condemned
that
its
desiccates
fluids
one
are
presented.
that
are
in
[vital]
is
drained
this
dry.
medical
fluids.
The
off.
principal
Coffee
A
expert's
healthy
is
the
some
medicine
for
word.
generally
product
rather
(Viererschema).
Judging
fluid
so-called
extent
Even
intersects
or
of
had
to
well-being
sap:
his
into
mood
also
humoral
its
body
humor.
the
classical
origin
in
or
fluids.
eighteenth
the
and
state
medicine
in
The
eighteenth,
the
illness
medicine.
Here
of
present
Greek
mind.
century
the
that
by
According
gauging
classical
despite
meaning
and
Both
was
"humor"
Arabic
popular
are
the
the
doctrine
of
based
to
concurrent
traditions,
"humor"
did
proportions
humoral
not
Europe
on
of
necessarily
the
the
derives
medicine,
deriving
rise
so-called
in
temperaments
of
the
body
of
from
modern
seventeenth
its
refer
ameant
fluids
four,
name
this
person's
to
original
medicine.
is
fold
even
the
from
a
characteristic
scheme
century
mood
comic,
touches,
the
sense
Humoral
Latin
but
and
of
or
the
quite
word
the
to
an
The
warm
each
moist,
choleric
phlegm,
The
equal
temperaments
combination
and
fourfold
producing
temperament;
which
number
moist,
scheme
is
warm
sanguine
cold
of
of
are:
body
and
black
recognizes
and
sanguine,
fluid,
moist,
temperament;
dry,
bile,
The
temperament,
producing,
which
choleric,
four
body
and
body
is
dry,
fluids
yellow
cold
melancholic,
of
fluids
and
and
course,
and
are:
bile,
cold
which
property,
dry,
blood,
which
and
a
and
phlegmatic
correspond
yellow
moist.
is
we
phlegmatic.
warm
get:
bile,
In
a
and
blood,
melancholic
temperament.
summary,
to
black
four
dry,
The
which
temperaments
bile,
producing
properties
that
temperament;
and
is
means
warm
phlegm.
a
are:
and
for
and
included
designations
properties
represents
to
and
as
calculations
aand
and
the
part
for
linked
attempt
of
the
the
ages
for
to
entire
could
to
a
the
create
of
particular
man,
ordering
nature
be
infinitely
a
nutrition,
universal
temperament,
of
of
the
the
extended
world.
and
heavens'
medicine,
so
body
on,
beyond
cardinal
which
fluid,
understand
body
were
etc.
points,
fluids
In
each
short,
the
for
and
in
the
human
turn
the
temperaments.
seasons,
fourfold
assigned
body
in
scheme
relation
certain
It
were
substance,
different
contained
animated
Not
the
obvious
surprisingly,
most
temperaments.
the
all
for
varied
the
phlegmatic
difficulties.
its
properties
sobering
seventeenth-century
temperaments:
Finally,
Opinions
(the
and
of
sanguine
the
antisoporific
its
fourfold
varied
itadherents
cheered
was
medicine
as
scheme,
effects
held
to
the
agreed
whether
to
melancholy,
tried
were
and
be
on
to
the
coffee
itproducing
the
observed
fit
was
"normal"
coffee
empty
subdued
therefore
was
into
in
a
formula
healthy
cold
equal
this
the
an
or
scheme.
appropriate
choleric,
that
measure
temperament).
warm,
coffee
dry
But
and
among
or
remedy
there
moist
the

GROCERIESGOODS
FROM
THE
COLONIES
merchants
These
so-called
show
how
promotion
the
new
slips
semiluxury
(advertisements)
goodscoffee,
of
eighteenth-century
London
spice
unheard
tea,
and
of
chocolate
only
a
century
along
earlier.
with
sugar
and
tobaccocreated
an
assortment
of
commodities
inspection,
coffee
phlegm,
quoted
indeed,
thought
thereby
order.
French
vital
through
the
on
effect
At
"heavy-bodied,
sides
blood."
forces
first
on
Dufour
was
above
physician
regardless
robbed
in
its
associated
glance,
those
[i.e.,
the
warmth
Finally,
fade
however,
thought
wrote
turns
seventeenth
of
who
the
away."
this
the
Tissot
stout,
Diderot's
and
of
phlegmatic
to
up
that
with
are
stomach]
canonization
we
whether
bear
again
effectiveness,
The
"thin
wrote
coffee
the
can
and
a
and
English
phlegmatic
Encyclopedie
glean
special
and
strongly
the
in
is
temperament
"dries
eighteenth
his
lost;
bilious."
again
author
of
from
physician
work
coffee
relationship
up
the
phlegm-congested
thins
in
temperament.
seventeenthall
is
nerves
The
any
emphasizes
centuries
the
arguing
as
cold
of
Health
Benjamin
number
panacea
mucous
its
and
are
toconsidered
very
one
for
that
irritated,
moist
of
and
What
of
or
the
foundation.
moistures,
is
of
Scholars:
Moseley
coffee
persons,"
other
against
quite
eighteenth-century
the
fluids."
especially
we
acquire
body
meaningless.
dried
find
coffee.
spoke
"Viscous
The
and
whereas
Some
fluids,
in
out
a
benign
eighteenth-century
the
certain
descriptions
of
It
the
examples
namely,
negative
"coffee,
was
phlegm,
itcoffeehouse
body's
effect
On
medical
has
motility,
generally
circulation
closer
a
mucus
which
coffee
evaluation
are
which
phlegm
and,
deleterious
texts
and
in
has
or
lines
the
that
of
and
dry
process
one
another
these
writers
To
and
respect,
sum
judgments.
who
desiccating
positively,
coffee
as
up:
disastrous.
championed
the
In
beans
the
desiccation
Let
one
substance.
seventeenth
us
underwent,
This
might
anticipate
the
simple
draining
of
well
the
This
and
assume
and
a
equation
view
bit,
of
eighteenth
which
the
and
through
was
that
body,
has
removed
state
surely
a
centuries
a
specific
coffee
and
outright
reedy
associated
their
conservatives
was
ideological
explanation.
coffee
that
natural
being
itmedical
with
was
was
assessed
moisture,
position
who
the
middle-class
viewed
actual
viewed
underlay
their
negatively
as
roasting
an
this
fluids.
progressive
extremely
same
each
and
If,
inwas
of
in
type,
temperament.
beer
middle-class
direct
same
the
was
necessarily
breath.
observation,
seventeenth
the
nations).
basic
Remember,
was
resulted
source
century
taking
Beer,
of
after
in
according
the
anyone
nourishment
hefty
all,
phlegmatic
that
bodies.
who
to
up
the
regarded
in
until
Popularly
temperament
the
nutritional
the
diet
the
introduction
(at
beer
mucus-rich
science
least
as
and
the
in
phlegm
of
England
natural,
the
body
day,
new
were
as
and
God-given
as
warm
mentioned
Holland,
well
only
beverages,
as
healthy,
simple
the
first
the
fitis
new
saftig
fatal,
natural.
nervousness,
modern
principle
feminine.
Although
say,
concept
must
body
nonfatteningbeverage.
The
principle
the
of
In
be
the
masculinity,
type
this
underlying
notion
in
and
called
seventeenth
medicine.
sense
as
par
so
of
the
conservative
excellence.
forth,
dryness,
coffee
only
reason
patriarchy,
The
offended
natural
and
is
seventeenth-century
was
which
the
eighteenth
This
Dryness
because
asceticism,
one,
the
great
the
was
event
actual
conservative
drying
and
then
they
in
centuries
who
replacement
the
sobriety
antisensuality,
(and
thought
agent
history
writers
still
viewed
sensibility.
at
are
is,
the
of
the
synonymous.
who
in
of
nutrition
medieval
threshold
coffee
any
fact)
beer
in
saw
contrast
Dryness,
semblance
associated
by
as
the
translated
diet
a
of
aimproves
new
phlegmatic,
Dryness
drug
to
the
the
however,
the
low-caloriethat
of
modern
only
with
that
into
sensual
desiccation
is
dried
one
abstraction,
a
the
is
portly,
specific
age.
the
that
and
out
as
the
From
the
Coffeehouse
to
the
Coffee
Party
London's
moved
would
In
1687
remain
his
Tower
or
operation,
1688the
in
business
Street.
which
exact
He
for
named
had
the
date
meanwhile
next
is
itbody
after
not
eighty
recordedEdward
himself:
grown
years.
Lloyd's
successful,
Coffeehouse.
Lloyd
to
Lombard
opened
Several
Street,
a
years
where
later
iton
he
occupations:
to
sort
surpassing
continued
completely
today,
Lloyd's
hear
of
the
information,
the
Coffeehouse
to
largest
shed
latest
those
expandthe
ship
its
trade
derived
insurance
captains,
"Lloyd's
role
soon
news.
as
from
insurance
a
News."
shipowners,
brokerage
evolved
coffeehouse
From
serving
This
time
brokers.
into
coffee.
in
news-reporting
merchants,
to
a
the
meeting
time,
world.
In
One
became
the
Lloyd
sector
place
course
insurance
himself
the
venture
for
of
world-famous
Lloyd's
people
the
ran
brokers.
flourished,
eighteenth
a
clientele
news
in
the
People
institution
service
maritime
its
century
in
profits
went
particular
providing
we
to
Lloyd's
soon
know
Lloyd's
this

LLOYD'S
COFFEEHOUSE
Founded
toward
the
end
of
the
seventeenth
century,
itman
soon
developed
into
the
business
hub
of
the
maritime
insurance
trade.
A
century
later
"Lloyd's"
itself
became
an
insurance
firm,
moving
into
the
Royal
Exchange,
but
italso
also
continued
to
function
as
a
"normal"
coffeehouse.
illustration
above
dates
from
this
period.
their
underwriters
London's
the
its
This
regular
stock
clients
transformation
exchange.
Royal
in
insurance
began
Lloyd's
Exchange,
decided
to
When,
began
Coffeehouse
rent
enterprise
regular
to
its
at
in
merge
transformation
the
in
end
booths
early
to
the
under
transact
of
world
eighteenth
the
in
a
Lloyd's,
eighteenth
"constitution."
was
when
business.
complete.
century
those
much
century,
As
insurance
as
when
the
The
brokers
century
Lloyd's
former
insurance
underwriters
conduct
advanced,
coffeehouse
actually
agents
their
moved
who
the
would
business
became
had
to
meet
been
in
followed
role
as
Not
ingreatest
the
its
all
coffeehouse
cultural
coffeehouses
such
a
history.
spectacular
played
that
opened
course.
in
the
social
in
Lloyd's
London
and
is
economic
toward
the
great
the
history
exception.
end
of
of
the
the
Yet
seventeenth
its
history
middle
century
epitomizes
class
as
well
the
club.
modern
principal
today's.
women
coffeehouses
entirely
literature
coffeehouse
firseflourished,
coffeehouse
were
commercial
Konditerei-caf
Its
drink
were
clientele,
continued
denied
were
itonly
also
itThe
served.
of
primarily
considered
nature.
access,
far
disappeared
the
longest
[pastry
from
Its
seventeenth
social,
In
places
though
being
the
as
by
shopcafe]
s,eventeenth
the
economic,
first,
elderly
to
on
site
middle
do
and
eclipsed
the
business.
of
ladies
eighteenth
Continent
leaving
these
and
class
and
in
eating
cultural
activities.
the
to
Nor
eighteenth
be
they
century
aside
eighteenth
did
cake,
part
role
were
the
In
of
was
were
has
centuries,
London,
"business"
business.
Viennese
tolerated.
century
nothing
almost
businessmen.
where
politics,
the
In
varietyexcept
by
In
to
have
Vienna
other
do
its
opposite
the
successor,
to
with
art,
In
be
words,
form
the
England
the
and
of
of
anNor
the
the
in The
people.
beverage
period
According
London.
figure
when
The
of
3,000
With
to
number
the
London
documents
a
people,
may
population
seems
was
be,
the
the
the
from
incredible.
number
fact
of
international
600,000
the
remains
period,
of
taverns
(Scarcely
that
that
hub
around
would
of
had
aCoffee
capitalism.
coffeehouse
1700
century
been
have
there
meant
around
earlier,
played
one
1,000.)
when
some
coffeehouse
adrink.
central
Exaggerated
beer
3,000
was
role
coffeehouses
for
the
during
every
though
unrivaled
this
200
suggests,
available,
moderation
was
were
give
to
some
not.
be
The
that
itpatrons
held
were
was
following
to
of
intended
the
aPersons
the
underlined
as
subdued
order
coffeehouse
a
"Rules
public
specifically
and
the
the
space
and
considerate
day
establishment's
code
Orders
was
to
for
serve
and
as
of
coffeehouse:
character:
novel
the
levelit
coffee.
nonalcoholic
as
Although
coffee
was,
House"
proper
in
was
short,
tea
character.
date
manners
as
and
everything
aearly
from
chocolate
Sobriety
1674
were
As
that
the
and
required,
were
and
taverns
name
should
also
talk
Gentry,
Pre-eminence
need
Enter
any,
sirs
Tradesmen,
ifidea
freely,
Finer
of
place;
But
all
first
are
none
come,
ifof
welcome
you
here
please,
Rise
should
hither,
up
Peruse
mind,
to
and
assigne
But
may
our
take
Civil-Orders,
to
without
them
the
next
affront
his
room.
fit
which
sit
seat
down
are
that
these.
together:
he
can
First,
find:
he,
disputes
but
He
whose
not
that
too
be
shall
Complements
much.
quite
any
forborn,
Quarrel
extend
No
here
Maudlin
begin,
So
far
Lovers
Shall
to
drink
give
here
in
each
COFFEE
in
Corners
to
a
mourn,
his
Dish
friend;
t'atone
But
Let
all
the
be
Noise
sin;
brisk,
And
of
loud
so
talk,
shall

THE
ENGLISH
OF
THE
SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY
barely
serves
drinking
remarkable
corresponding
One
recognizable
of
coffee
bowlsstill
the
isearliest
the
tavern
of
calm,
as
a
without
illustrations,
scene
jug
aand
sober
coffeehouse:
that
handlesshow
from
mood
isthe
ina
paintings
no
woodcut
that
way
the
dominates
guests
different
ofpages,
that
from
the
these
1674
same
sitfrom
the
at
men
table
(above),
scene.
period
a beer,
are
as
to
One
at
not
shows
wine,
see
an
drinking
need
inn,
the
or
an
cider
difference
only
and
establishment
beer
jug.
look
or
innkeeper
Only
at
wine.
abourgeois
the
as
Most
phenomenon.
illustration
more
item
hostess-cashier
traditional
and
now
recognizable
thus
typical
inn,
of
appreciate
aout
derived
coffeehouse
directs
ofCOFFEEHOUSE
by
the
its
the
from
coffeehouse,
higher-class
contribution
shopkeeping,
oversees
on
next
a clientele
business.
sales
the
two
further
coffeehouse
counter,
inThis
proof
full-length
the
sales
precursor
that
made
typical
counter,
coffee
wigs.
to
coffeehouse
of
modern
The
the
had
not
buffet,
scene
become
acivilization.
feature
already
from
isthe
dominated
a of
truly
which
becomes
the
In
the
byyet
an

10 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

THE
NUMBER
OF
COFFEEHOUSES
IN
LONDON
ubiquity
England's
Documents
inof
capital.
the
from
city,
Even
around
this
1700
later
cite
map
the
from
existence
the
mid
eighteenth
some
three
century
thousand
gives
coffeehouses
an
idea
of
their
in
although
by
this
time,
coffeehouses
had
to
acommerce.
great
extent
been
replaced
by
private
clubs.
fulfilled
daily
example
middle-class
centuries
political
writersthese
On
newspaper
the
its
and
basis
people
most
the
literary
fulfilled
and
bourgeois
are
of
coffeehouse
important
in
frequented
newspapers,
these
old
the
topicsand
this
associations
modern
activities:
rules
function
social
serving
coffeehouses
the
the
sense,
role:
to
coffeehouse
not
journalism
coffeehouse
read
that
as
only
as
itbeen
aregularly,
would
the
functioned
a
commercial
for
center
not
newspapers
and
of
only
last
and
the
literature.
for
into
to
as
journalism,
seventeenth
communication.
communication
conduct
athe
sort
that
It
twentieth
was
In
of
were
the
business
news
equally
the
seventeenth
and
available
coffeehouse
century.
In
center.
exchange.
eighteenth
important
abut
period
also
there.
Yet
and
and
Lloyd's
that
to
the
centuries
for
eighteenth
The
discuss
two
still
is
had
other
an
no
literally
coffeehouse
coffeehousesnews
agencies
Tatler:
White's
IGrecian;
shall
In
the
offer,
"All
as
Chocolate
early
foreign
are
their
accounts
on
the
cited
eighteenth
any
editorial
and
Grecian.
house;
as
other
of
exchangeshad
the
gallantry,
offices.
century
subject,
sources
He
poetry,
classified
news,
Richard
the
pleasure,
under
shall
of
editors
newspaper
you
be
the
that
Steele,
will
dated
and
various
of
of
the
have
London's
Will's
entertainment,
the
stories;
source
from
from
kinds
editor
coffeehouse;
St
of
weeklies
thus
of
own
of
information,
James's
news
The
we
shall
read
Tatler,
according
used
learning,
coffeehouse;
be
incoffeehouse
under
just
coffeehouses
gave
the
as
under
to
first
the
its
today
which
issue
address
article
and
the
news
quite
what
title
of
the
of
The
as
of
else
the
coffeehouses
bit
then
Defoe,
not
The
the
frequent
as
connection
second
author
they
coffeehouses
are
and
of
home
today;
Robinson
between
journalism.
itdomestic
was
indeed,
more
Crusoe.
coffeehouses
for
For
journalists.
they
or
writers
less
There
were
and
of
The
was
often
the
literature
two
hardly
eighteenth
combined
atof
professions,
least
amy
is
writer
just
in
in
century
metropolitan
a
as
inapartment."
single
of
the
old
course,
the
eighteenth
as
writer,
that
London
were
between
for
century
example,
not
or
as
was
Paris.
distinct
who
every
Daniel
did

11 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

RICHARD
STEELE
(1672-1729)
Steele
edited
and
published
the
weekly
Tatler
in
one
of
London's
literary
and
political
coffeehouses.
by
Sir
Godfrey
Kneller,
1711.)
create
made
conversational
and
process
restoration,
Even
taste,
cliques
only
their
precious.
but
lasting
benevolence
well
it"argumentation."
as
such
literary
may
pamphleteers
had
its
most
aeffect
cultured."
which
on
culture
way
The
well
never
English
important
neither
interest
without
in
into
handed
Royal
be
prose,
small
of
broken
written
doubted
dialogue,
writers
literature
like
to
Society
the
The
things,
direct
a
round
as
prose
Nashe,
away
influence
literature.
English
might
nor
library
whether
effect
of
manuscript
had
men
as
of
from
readers
conversation,
Dekker
osmosis
be
dialogue,
already
and,
learnt
literary
coffeehouses
ofThe
book
the
a(Portrait
coffeehouses.
vehicle
had
protests
or
prose
essays
to
knowledge,
between
started
a
historian
Rowlands,
modeled,
unravel
practised
consequence,
which
for
ofand
of
had
a
their
reality
Sprat,
Laurence
movement
Harold
literary
originated
Itcharacters
quite
on
despite
the
whose
was
cliches
literature
and
studied
Evelyn
clearly,
Routh
their
ideas
here
one
Sterne
their
and
literature:
against
incoffeehouse
style
that,
had
in
coffeehouses
and
describes
simplicity
aim
was
conceits.
on
slipshod
amany
reproduced
or
was
besides
style
coffeehouse
South
was
redundance
probably
a"Until
Diderot,
either
to
of
style,
the
Men
would
follow
practising
true
the
was
and
effect
in
ponderous
in
had
and
for
time
conversation.
helping
discussion
have
of
their
popular
colloquial
only
instance,
confined
phrase;
of
the
ofwritings
this
had
then
the
literary
toor as
is
middle
ways
influence
The
that
seventeenth-century
class,
in
itconversation
would
its
a
role
place
be
as
where
impossible
athe
social
coffeehouses
the
center.
bourgeoisie
to
mention
Itas
was
influenced
them
developed
the
site
all
middle-class
here.
for
new
the
The
public
forms
culture
life
of
commerce
of
the
inthat
so
exerted
eighteenth-century
many
and
this
culture.
and
divers

BREAKFAST
BEFORE
THE
ERA
OF
WARM
BEVERAGES
The
still
life
Breakfast
Table
by
Willem
Klaesz
Heda
(1594-1679)
(abode)
shows
the
peculiar
intermingling
in
the
seventeenth
century
of
a
still-medieval
cuisine
with
modern
refinement.
The
high
standard
of
culture
is
obvious
from
the
elaborate
goblets,
the
cake,
and
but
not
least,
the
presence
of
aother
pocket
watch.
Yet
at
the
same
time
the
drink
isa
still
one
that
predates
modern
breakfast
fare:
wine.
Itlast
was
only
in
the
nineteenth
century,
after
hot
drinks
were
long
established,
that
dandies
and
snobs
discovered
champagne
breakfasts
and
the
petit
dejeuner
a
fourchette
["early
lunch"
or
"late
breakfast,"
forerunner
our
modern
"brunch"],
i.e.,
breakfast
without
coffee.
of
PARIS
COFFEEHOUSES,
EARLY
NINETEENTH
CENTURY
Newspaper
reading,
chess
playing,
and
discussion
were
the
basic
activities
here.
German
visitors
to
Paris
were
used
to
asmaller
much
quieter
coffeehouse
life.
The
actor
and
all-around
theatrical
figure
Eduard
Devrient,
for
instance,
marveled
in
1839:
"The
way
the
gentlemen
come
in,
hat
on
head,
cigar
in
mouth,
and
throw
themselves
down
stretching
their
out
on
the
nearest
chair,
picking
up
any
newspaper,
ordering
brashly
and
loudly,
all
this
was
incomprehensible
behavior
to
me"
(facing
page).
salon.
for
aesthetic
while
approached
Entree
be
as
In
they
intriguing
the
this
the
The
self-definition
was
went
respect
coffeehouse
plane
eighteenth-century
hostess,
limited
the
to
directly
reconstruct
(however
coffeehouse
the
to
coffeehouse
whereas
of
from
the
was
intellectual
politically
the
the
bourgeoisie.
in
anyone
salon
focal
change
its
was
social
charged
of
point
giants
who
comparable
Madame
in
This
function,
behavior
of
could
a
of
this
life.
part
self-definition
the
De
may
In
pay
of
bourgeoisie
was
to
of
contrast
Deffand
literaturerepresented
his
two
eighteenth-century
have
an
tab
other
aristocratic
been
nevertheless
to
to
could
who
itare
the
institutions,
in
enter
public
had
the
salon,
and
eighteenth
been
a
remained
Parisian
Cafe
coffeehouse.
elite
which
the
an
invited
de
theater
institution.
important
most
Procope.
intellectuals
century),
on
by
an
and
closely
the
ItMoving
locale
would
the
coffeehouses?
setting,
any
of
But
coffee,
coffee.
discernible
what
place
but
It
did
owed
only
coffee
Such
role.
for
its
sociologically,
communication
On
name,
influences
itself
the
have
its
very
obviously
to
i.e.,
hand,
and
do
existence,
sociohistorically.
with
discussion,
the
cannot
these
coffeehouse
to
the
various
be
while
beverage.
explained
The
the
influences
owed
coffeehouse
coffee
by
its
origin
served
exercised
mere
functioned
precisely
in
physiological
itin
by
no
the
to
longer
as
the
a
social
serving
effect
played
aristocratic
Germany
afternoon
afily
When
later
coffee
migrated
almost
drink.
forms
first
Thus
afeet
of
into
full
reached
coffee
centuryfor
the
began
drinking
private
Europe,
its
career
sphere
coffee
need
the
in
middle
not
to
to
be
enter
concern
public
served
class
the
sphere,
drank
us
domestic
at
here.)
home.
itFilms
as
only
Itthan
sphere,
a
took
specifically
in
the
athe
half
as
coffeehouses.
a
centuryand
public
drink,
and
(The
in
and
less
novelty
public
way
termed
conformist,
affirm
began
took
theaters;
each
machines
usecars
essential
comparison
excite
and
created.
diminution
heroic
Here
impact.
into
visible
instance
and
sphere,
the
beginnings;
private
publicly,
is
heroic,
fulfills
The
the
they
character
a
in
imagination,
stabilize.
are
possible
(television).
movement
in
with
They
question
realm
administrative
that,
its
and
then
what
smaller
that
in
with
their
historical
that
merely
domestic
of
in
on
is
became
of
are
comes
Thus,
the
to
some
private,
are
ittiny
things
its
than
that
inviting
changes
in
say,
railroad
own,
distribute
reduced
successors
turn
for
rolenamely,
follows
after
cases
locomotives,
and
privatized
turn
in
is
domestic
example,
ittheateras
incomparably
near
also
the
technological
as
demonstrates
is
with
reality.
they
when
all
asphere
or
a
diminished;
mythical
reduction.
means
the
administer
the
may
consumption.
the
The
they
television
to
family
typical
railroad
of
the
transportation
reshape
be
subsequent
of
more
association.
collective
move
apparatuses,
no
advent
highly
mass
It
automobile.
the
stages
is
change
and
monumental
sets
not
heroic
from
reality
reality
transportation;
The
visible
of
cinema
consumptionand
merely
in
the
private
Cars
revolution
public
of
the
aspect
in
which
i.e.,
dynamic,
(road
television
public
some
history
in
and
systems,
phase
scale
the
is
began
powerful
networks),
sphere
television
crucial
lost,
in
movie
their
of
earlier
but
set
or
of
must
innovations:
so
publicly
dimension
equivalents
that
an
functions
in
nineteenth
only
twentieth
into
wayfirst
screensbut
instruments
to
forms
the
be
innovation
lack
have
speak.
domestic
later
other
termed
living
with
this
have
rather
made
finds
century
that
some
in
century
cases
In
in
movie
power
room.
the
that
can
the
the
the
its
this
to
be
itInof
the
into
with
early
domestic
This
coffeehouse,
the
aamiddle-class
tendency
movement
middle-class
comfort,
toward
coffee
is
Gemiithchkeit.
public
discernible
home,
the
was
life,
idyllic.
to
amarked
politics,
become
powerful
in
the
It
no
literature,
history
a
longer
force
breakfast-time
of
for
exclusively
and
coffee
change,
commerce;
as
and
well.
helping
symbolized
afternoon
In
itthe
its
to
stood
forge
public,
the
drink,
more
dynamic
a
heroic
new
itbreakfast
and
grew
reality.
more
phase,
realm
passive,
for
of
that
breakfast
effects
night's
However,
rest,
of
the
time
we
and
coffeehouse.
and
should
making
in
the
distinguish
its
afternoon.
It
drinkers
between
alert
Breakfast
the
start
and
the
cheerful
of
coffee
two
the
occasions
working
retained
for
the
day,
day
for
traces
drinking
ahead.
formally
of
the
coffee
putting
cultural-historical
at
an
home,
end
to
the
another
soup
coffeehouses.
In
of
earlier
nineteenth
emigre
times,
from
century
the
offering
coffeehouse.
the
a
daily
domestic
morning
Remember
analogy
newspaper
to
that
the
breakfast
supplanting
was
added
coffee
of
to
beer
the
now
breakfast
replaced
taverns
by
ritual,
the
beer
yet

THE
MOTIF
OF
COFFEE
DRINKING
After
its
first
"public"
appearance
in
coffeehouses,
coffee
made
its
way
during
the
eighteenth
century
into
the
private
life
of
the
middleclass
family,
in
the
form
of
breakfast
or
afternoon
coffee.
The
family
gathered
around
the
coffee
table
(or
tea
table)
now
becomes
a
favorite
motif
for
family
portraits.
Here
is
an
interesting
development:
from
formal
portraiture
to
acozy
realistic
coffee
scene.
In
Jakob
Denner's
painting
(1749)
the
family
is
arranged
as
in
adifferent
traditional
group
portrait,
the
coffee
table
and
service
are
random
additions
(above).
In
the
rendering
by
an
anonymous
English
master
(top,
facing
page),
we
find
a
similar
formal
arrangement
of
figures,
combined
in
a
remarkable
way,
with
acoffee
fairly
technical
interest
in
the
coffee(or
tea-)
drinking
ritual
itself:
we
see
all
the
components
of
the
service,
and
each
person
holds
his
cup
in
a
way,
as
though
giving
a
demonstration
of
how
to
drink.
Tischbein's
painting
(bottom,
facing
page)
ishowever,
similarly
bound
to
the
traditional
format
of
the
group
portrait.
Boucher's
relatively
early
(1738)
Breakfast
offers
aFAMILY
more
casually
realistic
scene
(p.
66),
of
a
sort
even
Germany's
Biedermeier
style
was
never
to
achieve,
however
highly
it
valued
depictions
of
scenes
at
the
family
table,
like
those
in
the
pictures
by
Jakob
Milde
(p.
67).

12 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

gathered

13 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

around the coffee table. (Abraham Schnapphuhn, Tea Party.)

LADIES'
COFFEE
PARTY
IN
THE
EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY
A
relatively
rare
theme
in
compared
to
that
of
families
gathered
around
the
coffee
table.
(Abraham
Schnapphuhn,
Tea
Party.)
in It
was
each
drinking
themselves
stock
young
so
never
These
Germany
infatuated
"Woman's
strictly
taking
subject
care
Lessing,
coffee
functions
to
ato
into
her
as
woman's
with
of
reach
Lexicon,"
the
and
Gellert,
turn
comedies
these
coffee,
and
Kaffee-kranzchen,
playing
as
ladies'
symbolic
affair;
hostess,
or
itfinally
that,
is
Picander.
inpainting
Ombre."
"a
eighteenth-century
according
coffee
ifhand,
daily
meanings
itand
were
circles
or
The
"It
in
or
weekly
is
which
certain
to"coffee
dedication
well
the
were
and
the
known,"
definition
gathering
she
coffee-drinking
not
Germany,
party"
members
would
and
inherent
writes
(literally
in
ardor
of
be
Amaranthes'
as
several
divert
in
served
Picander,
evidenced
with
at
"coffee
afternoon
home
and
which
closely
itshared
amuse
in
circle").
"that
Frauenzimmerlexikon,
in
Purgatory,
by
women
coffee-drinking,
general
acquainted
the
many
themselves
The
playlets
would
became
awomen's
coffee
she
woman
women,
of
would
known
with
the
asort
is
ladies'
exclusion
of
the
coffeehouses
prototype.
jokes
coffeehouse
acquired
developments
grow
anticoffeehouse,
is
attempt
numbered,
in
obvious
circlesa
the
more
from
In
eighteenth
talk.
the
lent
that
set
converge
and
another,
the
same
belated
On
up
itself
this
more
aParadise."
male
Kaffeekranzchen
the
surrogate
female
way
and
to
more
other
the
revenge
ridicule
world
nineteenth
the
traits
public
passion
in
Kaffeeklatsch
for
abandons
the
precisely
on
of
the
domain.
that
twentieth
since
the
for
as
original
centuries,
patriarchal
domestic
domestic,
coffee
the
the
because
Thus
or
coffeehouse,
coffeehouse
century,
nineteenth
"ladies'
is
being
the
gossip
to
feminine
coffeehouse
they
be
afternoon
viewed
as
gossip
seen
became
century,
the
the
created
and
counterparts
ladies
days
as
as
circle"
the
coffee
compensation
culture.
a
mere
men's
of
for
parodic
cafe
became
gossipy
male
party
caricatures
is
coffeehouse
to
colonized
debasement
over
society.
men's
functions
literary
the
for
coffee.
butt
of
And
by
cafes
their
talk
as
ofthrow
These
the
of
men's
yet
aparty
has

CARICATURE
OF
THE
COFFEE
PARTY,
NINETEENTH
CENTURY
Coffee
and
Ideology
German
style
eighteenth-century
Paris.
trading
the
Just
lot
west
and
They
as
of
centers
European
the
the
purpose
had,
German
ladies'
drinking
such
as
with
Germany
at
"coffee
as
middle
least
which
Hamburg
was
party"
one
aend
class
too,
coffee
pale
observer
centers,
but
and
was
ever
imitation
was
they
Leipzig
a
since
drunk.
poor
though
noted,
were
of
the
they
imitation
the
Of
hardly
aa
here
Thirty
course,
English
fulfilled
again
comparable
of
Years'
the
social
there
on
"philistine
coffeehouse,
War,
a
French
were
functions
smaller
with
was
coffeehouses
character."
models.
those
evidenced
scale.
similar
eighteenth-century
of
Provincialism,
London
to
Perhaps
in
those
and
of
in
following
Germany,
place
of
cultural
The
the
of
new
"public-heroic"
historian
acoffee
poem,
coffeehouse
where
beverage
"Seventieth
Paul
right
with
period
Hoffman.
from
ambience
the
the
of
Birthday":
coziness
the
start
Heinrich
there
coffeehouse
coffee
and
prevailed
Voss's
was
comfort
in
limited
Idylls
the
England
Gemiitlichkeit
conveys
to
private,
and
atmosphere,
this
in
domestic
of
France
spirit
family
most
the
was
life,"
consumption.
"close
directly,
skipped
according
intertwining
as
over
In
in
to
in
the
Mother
would
stand
over
the
old
stove,
busily
roasting
the
coffee,
In
the
heat
that
rose
from
the
pan,
she
stood
and
stirred
ithad
round
with
wooden
spoon;
sweating
beans
crackled
as
they
browned,
while
spicy
and
fragrant,
aroma
that
rose
from
them
spread
through
kitchen
and
hall.
it tightly
Then
she
between
would
her
fetch
knees,
coffee
mill
down
off
the
mantelpiece,
Pour
in
the
beans
and,
holding
Her
left
hand
keeping
itthe
steady,
she
would
briskly
crank
the
handle.
Thrifty
coarse-ground
as
ever,
she'd
gather
onto
up
beans
grayish
that
paper.
strayed
into
her
lap,
And
then,
finished,
she'd
pour
phenomenon
The
nations
German
England
class
same
eighteenth-century
heroines
German
got
mechanisms
idyllic
of
middle-class
and
English
to
the
sample,
treatment
relationship
France
itWest.
would
names.
German
were
as
Coffee,
had
life
seem
of
ita
at
coffee
were,
assumed
had
to
play
coffee
authors
to
in
itclear
be
fact,
a
not
in
bit
at
the
was
in
those
already
would
and
of
first
the
eighteenth
Western
an
sight.
that
world
that
never
index
been
prompted
made
There
at
urbanity
of
have
century
that
beverage
Germany's
English
was
attained
time.
Lessing,
itThey
was
another,
With
literature
that
in
relationship
not
the
for
any
coffee,
symbolized
yet
eminent
different
instance,
event
the
achieved
the
supreme
to
not
position
motivation
German
to
the
give
for
advanced
power
simple
model
itself.
iteven
his
middle
did
involved.
The
in
for
symbolic
alteration
which
life
On
and
the
began
domestic
other
forms
of
these
as
hand,
of
adifferent
tranquility.
the
symbol
forms;
this
western
they
German
of
public
became
civilization
tendency
life,
germanized,
activity,
from
to
which
partake
business,
at
itidyllic
times
was
of
world
etc.,
excluded
beyond
ended
history
recognition.
also
up
by
as
imitating
entailed
a
symbol
Thus
some
certain
of
coffee,
family
These
economy.
no
from
phenomenon,
of
their
Antilles.
goods
English
entirely:
The
the
problems.
Arabia.
population,
German
as
too
chose
tea.
In
possible,
Indian
For
were
this
When
But
Until
colonial
that
a
relationship
way
intimately
possessions,
that
these
about
coffee
that
itmetropolitan
they
became
is
powers
is,
nations
obeyed
the
path
separate
tied
to
to
let
coffee
indeed
from
such
to
particularly
began
as
the
Germany's
of
topic,
little
that
the
the
as
fundamental
was
become
to
England,
Dutch
seventeenth
the
money
which
further
produce
on
popularity
nonparticipation
the
or
the
as
we
complicated
French.
Holland,
island
principle
daily
possible
itmarkedly
will
independently.
century
of
be
beverage
of
coffee
and
discussing
Java,
of
flow
they
by
mercantilism,
in
France,
switched
would
world
out
political-economic
as
of
obtained
did
The
of
increasingly
further
history,
not
one's
procuring
the
to
Dutch
be
another
French
their
to
own
on.)
aCoffee,
that
import
planted
passing
supplies
coffee
broader
country.
is,
in
drink
problems.
as
the
world
coffee
posed
few
sectors
directly
(The
in
procured
part,
particularly
the
with
policies.
state
Germany,
Dutch
first
aEast
they
monopolies
whole
half
Measures
through
flowed
produced
Germany.
of
which
set
the
of
into
on
middlemen.
eighteenth
had
other
by
not
its
Dutch
Apparently
the
no
sale
only
imported
state
colonies,
and
and
to
century.
In
meet
to
French
this
roasting,
this
restrict
items,
had
way
their
situation
Things
coffers,
to
came
vast
coffee
own
and
satisfy
changed,
sums
even
barely
demands,
under
since
consumption
its
outright
of
demand
affected
the
the
money
however,
scrutiny
but
coffee
prohibition
also
for
followed:
left
German
plantations
coffee
after
the
of
for
mercantile
export
country.
1750.
coffee
higher
of
through
coffee.
of
to
consumption
For
duties
the
third
economic
imports
the
French
nations,
on
together
most
coffee,
and
in

THE
COFFEEHOUSE
In
Germany
the
coffeehouse
had
the
social
significance
of
its the
counterparts
in
Paris,
or
Vienna.
Comparing
illustrations
of
Richter's
Coffeehouse
(above)
and
Classig's
Coffeehouse
(facing
page)
in
Leipzig
with
the
coffeehouse
scenes
from
Paris
(cf.
p.
60),
we
see
atGERMAN
once
how
different
theynever
were.
While
the
Parisian
cafs
have
public
quality
ofLondon,
some
portico-covered
street,
those
inthe
Leipzig
look

14 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

population.
hanging
grapes."
Germany
Germany's
coffee
drank
cheerful.
Dutch]
vessels,
everything,
bits,
writings
sospirits,
economic
like
money
that
too
particularly
Coffee
And
would
the
hallowed
to
It
of
the
high
and
had
this
which
authors
for
following,
memory
was
make
reasons
on
like
wood
to
we
cups
the
be
declared
national
too
Frederick
the
such
cloaked
and
vine,
word
issued
of
for
desire
and
country
its
as
wine,
this
beverage,
economically,
'coffee'
ordinary
destruction
an
Justus
in
the
in
for
new
unGerman
the
ifpoorer,
ideological,
ourselves.
Great
you
can
policy
bishopric
Moser
little
will,
beer.
be
may
himself
but
bowls,
were
for
but
drink,
prefixed,
and
also
A
Send
and
be
Germany
of
classically
no
not
August
were
impressed
Hildesheim:
all
because
in
not
more
the
this
enough
mills,
should
merely
raised
wealthy
were
money
Schlozer
case
reactionary
roasting
the
upon
to
be
because
on
"Men
thus
patriotic,
drink
make
half-brothers
destroyed
for
our
as
declared
machines,
coffee.
of
itself
well
itfellows."
argument.
Germany,
and
the
acceptable
garb.
as
had
flow
and
were
All
to
in
of
The
[drinking]
in
supplanted
be
of
smashed
decrees
our
happy
short,
your
We
money
coffee
"sour
to
nation
the
Fathers
and
against
beans,
to
out
itand
[the
inof
without
remain
the
German
similarity
eighteenth
hotelkeeper
applied
process,
on
sailing
waving
The
the
foreign
attempt
package
ship
an
away
you!"
for,
coffee
and
in
isolated
century.
exchange
taste
carrying
and
Christian
the
sell
to
flavor.
in
received,
reduce
and
ship
chicory
which
episode.
Twenty
sacks
color
problem
Gottlieb
with
This
coffee
itcoffee.
from
was
a
of
between
was
years
An
gesture
coffee,
Forster
and
the
sold.
consumption
entirely
The
later,
Prussian
at
discovery
chicory
In
in
of
raison
the
saw
the
his
different
at
same
the
an
hand.
foreground
background
d'etre
and
state
through
of
height
occasion
time
a
development
coffee
The
of
coffee
of
to
Frederick
of
chicory
prohibitions
caption
a
an
active
had
we
for
German
substitute,
acquired
trying
see
been
coffee
reads,
opposition
eventually
II,
an
out
abeer,
peasant,
and
noted
exotic
six-year
taste
was
namely
"Healthy
the
to
as
graphically
return
coffee
to
led
for
landscape
sowing
far
coffee,
privilege
chicory
ato
and
specifically
back
to
the
substitute.
beer
wealthy
chicory
the
solution
as
presented
coffee.
and
tofind
the
was
grow,
a
He
The
of
to

COFFEE
Frank
The
Kirchbach
youngIDYLL
Goethe
(b. 1859).
at the coffee table, as depicted in the late nineteenth century by the painter

COFFEE
TAXES
AND
COFFEE
"SNIFFERS"
This
etching
by
Johann
Gottfried
Schadow
(1764-1850)
(top)
alludes
to
the
Prussian
tax
on
coffee,
which
put
a
stranglehold
on
imports
in
the
latter
half
ofchauvinistic
the
eighteenth
century.
The
nineteenth-century
painting
The
Coffee
Sniffer
by
Katzenstein
(bottom)
depicts
ahow
coffee
raid
by
Prussian
customs
officers
of
the
same
period.
These
government
agents
were
popularly
known
as
"coffee
sniffers."
its
version
the
The
obverse
certainly
Again
lower
ideological
everyday
earlier
of
itwas
being
price;
more
was
the
attempt
psychology
old
not
intensely
a
rather
disguise
discussion
enough
to
chicory
participate
is
flawed
of
all
merely
the
about
rejection
too
was
expression.
German
apparent.
at
depicted
to
the
least
point
of
relative
petty
everything
symbolically
up
Ersatz
as
the
bourgeoisie;
a
wholesomeness
healthier
economic
west
in
the
acquired
European)
choice
which
necessity
lifestyle
of
than
became
a
coffee,
remarkable
of
was
of
coffee.
the
anow
coffee
its
western
This
chief
given
significance
substitute
in
was
consumer.
nations
a
this
further,
a
case
later
and
(its
in
ersatz
Chicory
this
beverage
coffee
coffee
coffee
drunk
without
might
was
in
a
look
such
sham,
Germany
and
aterm
and
conflicting
taste,
until
self-deception.
itabout
was
awareness.
not
1760
the
For
was
originaland
no
the
matter
genuine
no
article,
one
hot,
could
black,
imported
ever
and
drink
from
coffeelike
abroad.
this
asThe
esteem
coffeepot:
drank
coffee,
lower
substitutes.
Real
such
middle
ersatz
coffee
the
others
once-important
superior
coffee.
class's
was
family
developed
the
When
heightened
that
to
aristocrat
ersatz
drank
finally
through
coffee.
genuine
"bean
of
ability
postWorld
coffee
the
coffee"
The
to
"bean
nose,
discriminate
and
German
vanished
War
coffee"
as
commoner's
itcoffee
IIwere,
petty
prosperity
between
assumed
from
bourgeois's
through
everyday
only-on-Sunday
the
led
higher
the
smell
to
social
aroma
aspeech,
status
democratization
ofthough
coffee
self-esteem
given
than
beverage,
together
and
those
off
by
its
with
and
of
who
the
and
real
the

TITLE
PAGE
FROM
BONTEKOE'S
TREATISE
ON
TEA
The
Dutch
Cornelius
Bontekoe,
who
practiced
his
profession
in
Prussia,
was,
along
with
Sylvestre
Dufour,
the
most
tireless
champion
of
the
new
beverages
in
the
seventeenth
century.
He
was
especially
taken
with
tea.
"We
recommend
tea
to
the
entire
nation,
to
all
peoples!
We
urge
every
man,
every
woman,
to
drink
itcouple
every
day;
ifphysician
possible,
every
hour;
beginning
with
ten
cups
a
day
and
subsequently
increasing
the
dosageas
much
as
the
stomach
can
take,
and
the
kidneys
can
secrete."
Bontekoe
recommended
that
the
take
up
to
fifty
cups
aBasically,
day!
Contemporaries
assumed
he
was
paid
for
these
panegyrics
by
the
Dutch
East
India
Company,
which
dealt
in
tea.
England's
Shift
from
Coffee
to
Tea
itEurope.
in
only
goods
socioeconomic
state
viewed
statistically:
At
the
the
be
imposed
next
that
as
regarded
turn
Half
factor
a
half-century
passed
sort
of
a
in
customs
century
the
renegade,
the
in
of
as
the
through
eighteenth
Robin
period
approximations,
eighteenth
later
40
barriers
Hood,
challenging
million
between
customs,
coffee
century
on
defiantly
pounds,
century,
played
luxury
1650
not
of
the
Great
course.
helping
goods,
and
power
only
more
and
Britain
1700
a
the
The
than
subordinate
of
or
the
smuggler
goods.
the
was
Genussmittel,
British
statistics
apeople
200-fold
bureaucratic,
one
Smuggling,
tea
was
to
of
role.
of
imports
their
the
increase.
the
asick
the
Tea
major
significant
time
enjoyment.
absolutist
smuggler
totaled
though,
had
comprised
coffee
These
supplanted
social
181,545
was
state.
came
consumers
numbers
an
only
type:
Since
to
important
pounds,
it.coffee
those
be
To
a
can
the
of
neither
economic
and
This
economic
supplanting
a
reason
history.
was
of
transformation
coffee
responsible.
Its
complexity
by
tea
in
Itinstitution,
in
is
remains
England
English
suggested
an
still
tasteas
unsolved
here
remains
only
has
yet
an
by
been
unexplained
fascinating
a
proposednor
of
problem
instances.
phenomenon.
some
in
cultural
purely
Surely
first
passing
a
plantations
Like
different
also
all
fad
imported
European
basis.
in
but
their
rather
As
Arabian
own
nations
we
an
colonies,
have
everyday
coffee.
that
seen,
began
to
When
the
eliminate
to
French
itsmuggled
drink
became
the
the
and
coffee
flow
various
clear
of
in
Dutch
cash
the
that
countries
seventeenth
coffee
to
cultivated
Arabia.
had
was
the
their
not
century,
coffee
going
coffee
the
to
bean
supplied
be
English
just
on
aput
on
at
trade
foreign
remains.
was
In
this
still
with
exchange
independent.
light
Itmysterious
Arabia,
was
the
not
substitution
payments.
the
cultivated
sole
differences
Yet
of
by
tea
then,
the
when
for
British
the
being
coffee
one
economic
themselves,
considers
the
seems
trading
situation
England's
where
partner
but
rather
English
was
own
and
identical
imported
solution
the
tea
article
came
to
from
to
that
from,
in
the
question.
China,
of
problem
the
riddle
which
of

15 / 16

TWO: Coffee and the Protestant Ethic

Written by Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Monday, 25 February 2013 00:00 -

ENGLISH
FIVE-O'CLOCK
TEA
AT
THE
OF
THE
NINETEENTH
CENTURY
(Drawing
by
Rowlandson,
1817.)
This
Company,
other
could
It
strength
fixing
the
It
is
would
eighteenth
quite
much
hand,
itsee
be
firmly
was
ratio
obvious
be
which
can
surely
beyond
in
between
century
be
English
run
has
who
said,
as
an
by
the
rightly
ahot
got
in
essential
coffee
independent
however:
taste
contest
scope
order
shortchanged
been
even
and
to
of
between
the
come
called
this
tea.
to
merchants.
English
this
in
up
ainstinctively;
in
establishing
aday.
state
with
the
multinational
to
tea
trace
Yet
process.
an
within
trade
other
explanation
tea
the
was
development
The
factors
concern
on
state.
the
into
East
the
for
monopoly
were
modern
The
English
and
India
the
earlier
in
of
middle-class
disappearance
Company's
play
the
terms,
market
of
English
the
toofor
the
East
and
trade,
enterprises.
competition
position
tea
ultimately
instance,
India
of
trade
coffee.
on
the
in
cause
4
eighteenth
shillings.
price
Without
centuries,
or
century
A
and
aprice
couple
fourth
difference
7
for
shillings.
knowing
The
the
we
of
century
of
actually
the
shift
price
can
is
the
quantity
Around
assume
more
in
the
of
quotations
taste
cheaper
strength
tea
cheaper
than
1680
thus
required
with
from
compensated
to
of
will
continued
any
a
varieties
today's
use,
the
pound
help
for
precision:
even
coffee.
to
standards
and
of
cost
to
convey
tea
though
for
rise
coffee
Therefore,
in
8ittea
cost
by
to
higher
London
how
the
10
that
more
11
brewed
shillings,
smaller
to
hard
an
than
expensive
in
tea
12
infusion
1662
in
italso
shillings;
at
is
amount
the
the
the
to
price
a
seventeenth
describe
pound
of
expensive
start
to
tea
of
at
buy
required
coffee.
of
the
requires
of
by
the
even
beginning
coffee
absolute
ones
eighteenth
and
to
However,
this
steep
about
cost
24
eighteenth
possible
to
weight.
tea.
between
ajust
36
the
the
third
through
significant.
beverages
[Genusskultur]
reached
and
substance
system
English
alert.
spleen.
stomach,
eaters
is
The
especially
eighteenth
It
shift
of
offers
stimulation
.was
text
the
with
.described
meat.
improves
.one
(caffeine)
by
from
It
Itwas
night,
from
good
does
coffee
banishes
relief
the
first
centuries
Itfrom
coffee
1660
is
new
without
for
not
which
against
revolutionized
digestion,
good
drinking.
was
sustaining
begin
to
describes
tiredness
felt,
against
mattered
found
tea,
doing
beverages.
violent
to
What
as
and
whatever
compare,
in
injury
wakefulness.
itfactor
and
the
nightmares,
by
is
both
headaches
were,
so
the
especially
coffee,
effect
cleanses
much
to
Itbook
nineteenth
tea
the
is
one's
for
aBEGINNING
and
of
deciding
to
matter
not
instance,
and
One
body."
the
apt
coffee.
eases
aTranslated
as
major
century
vertigo.
seventeenth
vital
for
infusion
ofthe
causes,
follows:
namely
a
stout-bodied
with
Tea
fluids
change
revision
brain
proved
It
the
is
causes
"It
may
that
and
sufficient
supplanting
makes
and
within
provided
of
the
chemically,
not
people
the
eighteenth
strengthens
the
very
liver.
have
athe
new
to
disappearance
culture
that
allow
same
body
as
of
It
been
historical
fortifies
medieval
the
well
central
centuries.
of
one
active
stimulating
the
drastically
seventeenth
consumption
as
to
memory.
the
great
nervous
plateau
work
and
of
Anof
It
quoted
like
different
of
cannot
pharmacologically
We
the
most
two
be
is
tastes,
coffeehouses
taken
that
said
the
prefers
of
coffee
the
properties
as
one
third
well
is
and
of
practically
of
the
as
of
tea
the
of
the
culturally,
period
are
tea
advertisements
new
considered
are
atea
served
matter
exotic
practically
was
quite
tea
drinks
of
in
"six
for
as
tandem,
distinct
the
introduced
the
well
of
one,
same
London
as
from
as
coffee.
half
as
part
into
coffee
those
a
coffeehouse
dozen
of
Even
Europe.
the
and
same
today,
tea.
Chocolate,
Garway's,
family,
other."
despite
The
text
and
This
their
which
which

16 / 16