by Anita Mae Draper
This is a continuation of my 19th Century Coffee Taverns post which detailed the workings of the British coffee public houses of the later part of the 19th century. In this post, I'd like to open the door of one American coffee house of the same period.
Much like their British counterparts, the coffee houses of North America were started by churches and Bible societies intent on spreading and living the gospel. They physically followed the scripture in Matthew 25:44,45 (NIV) “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’"
One of New York's neediest areas in 1885 was near the pier to Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt Island) in the East River. The cigar-shaped 120-acre isle beneath the Queensborough Bridge extends 1.75 miles and is 750 feet across at its widest point. The city of New York purchased the island from the Blackwell family in 1828.
In 1832, the main building of the Blackwell's Penitentiary was erected. A few years later in 1839, New York's first publicly funded lunatic asylum opened on Blackwell Island, which happened to be the first mental institution in the United States. In 1854, the Small-pox Hospital was erected to accommodate one hundred patients - the only hospital in New York devoted to small-pox cases. And then during the 1860's before the New York Foundling Hospital opened, New York's foundlings were entrusted in the care of poor women living in the Almshouse on Blackwell's Island.
Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum |
So what does this all have to do with a coffee house? Well, according to the The Coffee Public-House News and Temperance Hotel Journal, Dec 16, 1885, there were 42 'liquor saloons' within 3 squares of the pier where released convicts, and convalescents landed from Blackwell's Island. A Mar 4, 1884 New York Times article confirms saying "There were 47 rum-holes put where they could be reached by discharged prisoners from Blackwell's Island. They were no sooner landed when they were ensnared in these dens of iniquity.”
In 1879 the New York Bible and Fruit Mission hoped to combat this problem and offer an alternative to those very people coming off the island. Their new building contained a coffee house with meals (restaurant) on the main floor "where meals were served all hours of the day with prices within the reach of the poor". It was reported that people from all classes and in all states of health stopped at the coffee house for a meal or rest.
In one year the Mission Coffee House served 79,925 people which ranged from free meals supported by donations to meals for the hospital patients.
As manageress of the Mission Coffee House, Mrs. E.O. Conger sold refreshment (commutation) cards at a 10% discount. (I'm researching the origin of these cards and hope to have more info soon.)
This refreshment card worked the same as they do now . . . A waitress would hand the customer a check (bill) with his menu items listed. He/she would take it to the cashier who would punch the monetary amount out of the card. The customer would then keep the card for the next meal or until all the numbers were punched. This system served the purpose of giving a discount to return patrons and it relieved the need of carrying cash and perhaps being tempted to go into another establishment for some other liquid refreshment. The Mission Coffee House cards could be used for $3.30 worth of meals. This could keep a customer in meals for a week.
Along with the meals, the building contained a chapel and provided cheap lodging and free access to a reading room and bath. All patrons were invited to the meetings in which there were 196 conversions over the course of one year.
Mission coffee houses like this served a real need in the community. The main opposition seemed to be the people who said the food was good, but keep religion out of the building. If not for that, it would seem to be a success story, except like the coffee-public houses in Britain, the cheap, non-profit meals took their toll and by 1890, the mission was almost $2,000 in debt. My research hasn't uncovered what happened to it after that.
Blackwell's Island/Roosevelt Island fascinates me. Do you have any stories to tell about it, either first or second hand?
Credits:
http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/blakwel1.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50F16FB3A5F15738DDDAB0994DB405B8484F0D3
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/4/581
The Coffee Public-House News and Temperance Hotel Journal, Dec 16, 1885
View Roosevelt Island on Qwiki
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Anita Mae Draper is retired from the Canadian Armed Forces and lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan, Canada with her hubby of 30 plus years and 2 of their 4 kids. In 2005, Anita Mae decided to return to writing and make it a priority in her life. She writes old west stories set on the prairies of Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. Her characters are strong because the land demands it. Anita Mae likes to write characters who sit up and notice when that special person God’s chosen just for them walks by. The story is all about the courtship between the two main characters. But it won’t be an easy path. And if they don’t know about God at the beginning of the book, they will by the end. Anita Mae has semi-finaled in the Historical Romance category of the ACFW's 2011 Genesis contest and finaled in the Inspirational category of the 2011 Daphne du Maurier, the 2011 Fool for Love, the 2011 Duel on the Delta and 2009 Linda Howard Award of Excellence contests. She’s currently waiting to hear the phone ring and have someone say they want to buy Emma’s Outlaw. Meanwhile, she’s working on another story and trying to keep her imagination in check. A pathological picture taker, she usually has a photo or two of her western world on her blog at http://anitamaedraper.blogspot.com/