Public houses, inns, taverns, alehouses, & ordinaries in the 18th century

This page links to interior and exterior scenes from 18th century taverns and inns. I've included some images of related establishments as well.

Elsewhere on this site, you can find my notes on 18th century beer and 18th century mead, including period recipes.

There are also pages on material culture related to 18th century taverns, such as blue aprons, bowling games, punch bowls, and wall art. There’s also a page on coffeehouses.

You can find a page on medieval taverns and alehouses on my old website.

Some additional artwork of interest: A victualler, or, Publican : erected out of his own implements without [the] assistance of Nature (after 1757).

Additional Resources

This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated

The Colonial Tavern: A Glimpse of New England Town Life in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

The Tavern in Colonial America

Taverns, Alcohol Selling and Women

A Study of Taverns of Virginia in the Eighteenth-Century with Special Emphasis on Taverns of Williamsburg

Gene Mitchell on the taverns of Williamsburg

How Colonial Taverns Were Like a Physical Internet

Inn Civility: Urban Taverns and Early American Civil Society

Taverns and Drinking in Early America

There are several related articles on JSTOR, including:

The men consequently think it no more than reasonable that they should sometimes take a little rest. We staid here at the Inn, where the host kept ale and brandy for sale, and into which the men of this village very often came, to pass some hours over some Pint beers. There were seen, sometimes both before and after dinner, a number of labouring men and others killing time in this way. Still, the evenings after six o’clock were especially devoted to this, after the carls had finished their regular labour and day’s-work. I often wondered how some of them could have their means of subsistence in such a way, the more so because ale and brandy were here very dear; but most of all I wondered over this, that folk who could only provide food for themselves, their wives, and children, out of daily wages, could spend time and money in this way. It was, however, not unusual to see many sit the whole day at the inn.

from Peter Kalm’s account of his visit to England, 1748

Interiors

In the tavern, 17th or 18th century

Young couple in a rural tavern

Figures in a tavern or coffee house, c. 1725 or after 1750

Interior of an Inn by Egbert van Heemskerck the Younger, first half of the 18th century

A Rake’s Progress: The Rose Tavern by William Hogarth, c. 1732-1735; see Hogarth’s Modern Moral Series for a description of what's going on in this scene

The Wapping Landlady and The Humours of a Wapping Landlady, c. 1743

The Seduction

The Power of Music and Beauty, c. 1750s

Sea captains carousing in Surinam by John Greenwood, c. 1752-1758

The Humours of an Election: An Election Entertainment by William Hogarth, 1754-1755

Interior of the Tavern of Ramponneau, c. 1758

Interior of an inn with a musician

Tavern interior by John S C Schaak, 1762

A satire on Vice and Folly, 1766? - note the tavern-keeper’s tally board

Settling the Affairs of the Nation (and another version)

Jonathan Wild by Paul Sandby, c. 1770

The Pretty Bar Maid, 1778

Pub interior by Léonard Defrance

Officers recruiting in an inn by Léonard Defrance

The Contrast, 1783

Long Sermons and Long Sieges are apt to Lull the Senses, 1784

Card players in a tavern by Jan Ekels, 1784

Smithfield Sharpers, or the Countrymen Defrauded, 1787

The country club by William Dickinson, 1788

Inn interior with a woman and baby, 1788

Scene at the inn by Aleksander Orłowski, 1794

Inside of a Country Alehouse, 1797

Characters in a Village Alehouse, 1797

Country Characters: Publican, 1799-1800

Interior of a country inn by George Morland

Caricature Ornaments for Screens by George Cruikshank, 1800

Rainbow Tavern in Fleet Street in 1800 by Thomas Rowlandson

A new way to find out a customer!! by G.M. Woodward, 1800

Bachelors Hall, 1800

Knavish Pat — A Tale, 1804

A French Ordinary, 1804

Exteriors

Even when they appear in satirical illustrations, these exterior scenes are useful for looking at the architecture of 18th century inns as well as the details of inn signs. Several of these establishments are serving customers outdoors.

Hob continues dancing in spite of his father by John Laguerre, c. 1725

The Village Party by Pieter Angillis, 1727

A Harlot’s Progress: Moll arrives at the Bell Inn by William Hogarth, 1731

De Misleyden by Cornelis Troost, c. 1739-1750

Bob-cherry, 1746

The stage coach, or, The country inn yard by William Hogarth, 1747

An Exact Representation of Maclaine the Highwayman Robbing Lord Eglington on Hounslow Heath on the 26th of June 1750

Beer Street (1751) and Beer Street (1759) by William Hogarth

Satire on false perspective by William Hogarth, 1754

The Humours of an Election: Canvassing for Votes by William Hogarth, 1754-1755

Winter landscape by Rienk Jelgerhuis, 1765

A Rescue or the Tars Triumphant, after John Collett, printed 1768