In 1688, a Dutch king took the English throne, banned French wine and brandy, and then let basically anyone distill gin at home. What could go wrong?
This week we're spilling Gin Mania, which historians call the Gin Craze and Londoners called "mother's ruin." By 1730, the city had more than 7,000 gin shops. Many of them were run by women, who were shut out of most other work, and some sold gin anonymously through cat-shaped "puss and mew" slot machines. Birth rates dropped, infant deaths climbed, and crime spiked. Meanwhile, doctors decided gin was full of tiny sharp structures stabbing your body's fibers from the inside.
We get into Hogarth's Gin Lane vs. Beer Street propaganda, why the Gin Act of 1736 flopped and fed a black market in spirits cut with turpentine and sulfuric acid, and how the 1751 crackdown finally ended the craze. Plus: how Victorian gin palaces may have given us the modern bar, and why Gordon's is still on shelves today.
Our last non-spooky episode before Halloween. Pour yourself a beer. History suggests you should.
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