I've been watching several films from the 1940s and in all of them the characters are drinking. Was this exaggerated in films or was it normal for people to drink throughout the day at the drop of a hat in those times?
shareI've noticed that, too. But have you also noticed that a lot of times, in the old movies, people will order a drink, and then they have to leave, or something, and they leave the untouched drink on the bar or the table they are sitting at? A lot of times they also will throw down some bills to pay for these drinks without waiting for their change! People in the movies paid for a lot of booze they never got a chance to drink.
shareA biography of Zelda Fitzgerald I read was stunning in its documentation of how much people drank in the '20s. Not just alcoholics like F. Scott - everyone in prominent social circles. Drinking before, with, or after breakfast wasn't rare. Cocktails with lunch, midafternoon drinks, more liquor before, during, and after dinner - and even more if there was an evening's entertainment in store. It was just boggling.
So I can't speak for the 40s, but not too long before that the average blood alcohol level would've laid a lot of us flat on the floor!
I'm riffing off another comment sections regarding LAURA. Thanks for the humorous observation. We are entering into the reefer zone era. Drugs were the norm gong way back but alcohol was the "drug" of choice from the 20s to the 70s.
Thanks for your discerning and heartfelt comments. John Poole wyncotecademy . org
They drank and smoked a lot. If you watch the old Johnny Carsons' TV show, all the guest smoked all the time.
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If you watch the old Johnny Carsons' TV show, all the guest smoked all the time.
Smoking was much more common back then than it is now. People could smoke inside any building, including doctor's offices and such. They smoked on buses, at home, in any restaurant, etc.
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JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen
I was working starting in the late 60s and we drank often...not necessarily a lot, just often. I'd have a glass of wine at lunch, we'd go out after work and have a drink. Always drank at parties. I often had a drink when I came home from work. Socializing always included drinking. For some reason, it dropped off in the 90s, probably because I was older and just didn't drink as much.
shareThose where the days eh? Martini or other cocktail before any meal, and smoking everytime and everywhere...I'm surprised they managed to solve anything when they're always drunk!
shareNone of that hard drinking surprises me. It still goes on today. What boggles my mind is that it's hard to believe there was ever such a thing as Prohibition in America. And, that curious experiment somehow managed to "last" about 13 years!
I think tha Americans like to think that the people in movies drink quite a lot. But have you looked closely at British films from that time, and later? 'm more concerned with the amount of smoking in movies. People, and their clothes and living spaces reeked of stale smoke. I remember the reality of that from my own past when smoking everywhere was the norm. Now, living in a town that prohibits smoking in most public spaces, and knowing folks whose vices are less intrusive, I am appalled when I go elsewhere among people who still burn ciggies in restaurants and bars and every place.
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