It is estimated that by 1922 (two years into Prohibition) there were 5.000 speakeasies in NYC alone and only a few years later the number raised to 32.000. However, Police Commissioner Grover A. Whalen would say, βAll you need is two bottles and a room and you have a speakeasy,β and put the number closer to 100.000.
The cityβs reputedly wettest street was Fifty-Second between Fifth and Sixth Avenue, where a lady who occupied a guiltless brownstone between two speakeasies was compelled to post the sign, βThis is a private residence. Do not ring.β
Itβs hard to say what were the main characteristics of a speakeasy. There were as many varieties of speakeasies as there were speakeasies. The place where they operated was essential to their manner of existence and their ways of operations.
Speakeasies in cities like New York and Chicago, for example, werenβt really secret places. People knew where they were. Reception clerks in big hotels had business cards ready under the desk to hand out to visitors who wanted an exciting night out.
Many places, especially in the first years of Prohibition, would only offer βsetupsβ. They would serve ginger ale and other mixers and customers would then pour in their own liquor. But as time passed, speakeasies preferred to offer full service and only claim to serve setups if need be.
Quite a few speakeasies were temporary ventures. When they got padlocked by the law, their owner would go to court, pay a fine, go home and open another speakeasy in another place.
Speakeasies tried to operate discreetly, earning a reputation by word of mouth and sometime requiring a secret knock, a password, or the company of a recognised customer to grant admission.
Membership cards were also quite popular. They served a double purpose: admission was reserved to members only and you could stay as long as you wanted. In most cities there was a curfew at 2am, so all public places had to close at that time. But this didnβt apply to private clubs, which could stay open longer. And of course in some places β namely New York and Chicago and other big cities β nobody cared about the curfew.
But the most typical practice was that speakeasy owners would bribe anyone who needed to be bribed and would pay protection.
Protection was usually included in the price of the liquor, which means it was up to whatever gang the owner got his booze from. That would also determine the political connection he would count on. In addition to this, owners had to tip or bribe the local police, the cop on the beat, the occasional prohibition agent who wandered in.
The percentage for protection also varied. In Chicago, it was around 20% of the ownerβs earnings, but it rose (allegedly) to 25% during Big Bill Thompson second run for mayor in 1927.
Managing a speakeasy wasnβt a cheap business.
Ah, thereβs so much to say about speakeasies. Donβt get me started.
RESOURCES
Mary Miley’s Roaring Twenties – Where did the word “speakeasy” come from?
Behr, Edward, Prohibition. The Thirteen Years That Changed America. Penguin Group & BBC Enterprises, London, 1997
Coffey, Thomas M., The Long Thirst Prohibition in America: 1920-1933. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, 1975
Kobler, John, Ardent Spirits. The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. Da Capo Press, New York, 1973
Munford, Kevin J., Interzones. Black/White Sex Districts in Chicago and New York in the Early Twentieth Century. Columbia University Press, New York, 1997
Ogren, Kathy J., The Jazz Revolution. Twenties America and the Meaning of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989
Okrent, Daniel, Last Call. The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. Scribner, New York, 2010

30 Comments
Mee Magnum
I would love to see some of those ‘membership’ cards. Those would be some cool collectibles.
–Mee (The Chinese Quest)
jazzfeathers
I’m sure there will still be some around.
Why did you mention it. Now I want it too!!!!
Jeri Burns
I had no idea there such diversity in speakeasies – and had no idea about ‘setups.’ The payoffs I expected, but the amounts were much less than I would have guessed.
jazzfeathers
Speakeasy life is fascinating. And so hard to reserch, let me tell you.
Because a bit chunk of my story happenes in a speakeasy, I spent a lot of time on this topic. Truely it isn’t always as people expect it.
Barbara In Caneyhead
Very interesting! I have a better understanding of how they operated thanks to this.
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jazzfeathers
I’m happy π
Researching speakeasy life is hell, because no one addresses the matter organically. I had to piece togehter info from so many different places, often combing novels and films, because apparently, everyday life in a speakeasy was taken for granted by contemporary people and isn’t all that interesting for historians.
I hope what I put together is vivid enough in my story π
Sara C. Snider
Seems kind of amazing that there were so many of them. Didn’t really seem like a secret, but if you’re bribing the cops and are protected by the mob, then maybe it didn’t need to be. Really quite interesting
jazzfeathers
When we think about speakeasies, we tend to think they were secret, isn’t it? I think they were, but mostly in towns. In the big cities, the situation was quite different.
Tasha
Doesn’t seem like anyone really wanted to enforce Prohibition – it was making them far too much money! π
Tasha
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jazzfeathers
The ones who didn’t make money on breaking Prohibition laws, either hated them or just didn’t care abotu them and so most people didn’t abit to them. In the cities.
As it was often the case, in the Twenties there was still a huge difference in lifestyle between big cities… and all the rest of the country.
Fee
What a wonderful age to be alive in the 20’s must have been. Great post π
jazzfeathers
It was sure an exciting time π
Andrew Leon Hudson
Interesting stuff, all this, JF!
jazzfeathers
Hey, Andrew! Thanks so much for visiting. I’m happy you’re liking my stuff π
Linda
Excellent post and informative. Visiting from A – Z Blogging Event. The variety of posts presented in this challenge astounds me and I would never have thought I’d come across a topic on the Roaring Twenties. It was a breath of fresh air. Thank you for being different π (Linda)
jazzfeathers
Thanks so much for stopping by, Linda. I’m happy you’re enjoying my topic. It’s been fun to research π
Sue Coletta
The Green Mill is a beautiful place. I’d love to visit.
jazzfeathers
In London, there is a speakeasy-like place called the Candlelight because only candles lit the place. You can only enter if you’re dressed up in Twenties attire and if you have an invitation, which you can only get from other customers.
If I can find where is it, I’m going to go! π
Jolie du Pre
I’m glad alcohol is legal now. Frankly, pot should be legal too. (Not that I smoke it.)
jazzfeathers
There has been much discussion whether the Prohibition experiment and its results may have any relevance to the drug market.
Personally… I don’t know.
Tarkabarka
Nowadays people love to use the term “speakeasy” for storytelling slams. I think it is very fitting since the venues are similar π We actually had some story slams in Tennessee in one of the hideouts of Al Capone that is now a bar…
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jazzfeathers
I’m so envious!!! Tell me about it!!! π
Carrie-Anne
Besides the historical images of speakeasies, I’m reminded of the speakeasy scene from the Marx Brothers’ 1932 film Horsefeathers. It’s impossible for me to forget the password is swordfish!
jazzfeathers
The password to my fictional speakeasy – should I tell it? Oh, ok, it’s “The dog is hungry.” Tell the doorman I sent you, he knows me very well π
Alana
I am interested in history, but never knew much about speakeasies except that they existed, and that a restaurant (now closed) where I work in Binghamton had a basement where a speakeasy had once existed. Thank you – this was fascinating. Visiting from A to Z.
jazzfeathers
I was in a bar in Winchester (Massachusetts) last year. In the Twenties, there was a speakeasy in their basement, though it was more a blind pig. A very little room, with a crude counter and a big ice box (it was actually more an ice chamber). It didn’t look anything like what I expected, but I suppose most speakeasies looked like this doring Prohibition.
What did ‘yours’ look like? π
Elizabeth Mueller
Great post! Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment over on my blog!
Though I’ve head of the word “speakeasy”, I’ve always found it peculiar-sounding. I find history fascinating and wonder if, 95 years from now, they would think we are fascinating history. What do you think?
Elizabeth Mueller
AtoZ 2015
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jazzfeathers
Hi and thanks for stopping by π
Well, I don’t know about the US, but here in Europe these years will certainly be remembered. Exciting? I don’t know. Challenging. Definitely so. Fascinating? They may be considered such, because in changing there is always fear, but also fascination.
These are actually reasons why I think Roaring Twenties America was very similar to nowadays Europe in so many things.
Sue Archer
Thanks for the link on where the word speakeasy came from. You’re right, there is a lot to say on this topic! π
jazzfeathers
Maybe one day I’ll do a series of posts about speakeasies. I just may.