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Colonial America Chose Homemade Wine, Beer Over Water |
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Monday, 17 March 2008 |
Pennsylvanians in the 18th century knew that drinking water usually was not a good idea.
Smelling or looking at water from rivers or springs didn't tell them whether it was safe to drink, Dr. Clarissa F. Dillon explained to about 20 people Sunday at the Daniel Boone Homestead in Exeter Township.
And, she said, colonists who did drink water often got sick from it.
"In their minds, it was safer not to drink water," Dillon said.
Instead of water, they drank alcoholic beverages.
Most men, women and children drank beer at each meal, said Dillon, a Haverford Township, Delaware County, resident who holds a doctorate in history from Bryn Mawr College.
"You can imbibe a certain amount on a regular basis and not be impaired," said Dillon, whose talk was part of Women's History Month events at the homestead.
But it's also important to know that everyday drinks didn't contain as much alcohol as today's typical beer, she said. The beer drunk at meals was called small beer, she said.
People in colonial America also drank alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions of cider, along with wine and mead, which is made from honey.
Grapes didn't grow well in Pennsylvania or in England, from which many colonists had come, Dillon said. Some people liked Pennsylvania-grape wine but others didn't.
Imported alcoholic beverages were expensive because of heavy taxes.
So many people in Pennsylvania and England made wine out of plants, including apricots, rosehips (the fruit or seed of a rose) and even turnips, she said.
Dillon gave small samples of colonial-style drinks she'd made herself, including turnip wine. A surprising number of people today actually like it, she said.
"You could always ask (for it) at the state store just to see their faces," she joked.
Turnip wine is just one example of an alcoholic drink that took a lot of work to make.
That task usually fell to women unless they lived in cities and could buy their drinks, Dillon said.
She said she makes alcoholic beverages at home because it helps her understand how women lived hundreds of years ago.
Susan Miller-Speros of Cumru Township, who sometimes cooks colonial-style during events at the homestead, said the same is true for her.
Cooking over a hearth in an old kitchen gives her a feel for what it was like for women who started preparing meals early in the morning, she said.
Copyright (c) 2008, Reading Eagle, Pa. |
