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speakeasy
EntityQ616100· pop 25· linked from 952 articles

Also known as blind tiger, blind pig

thumb|upright=1.25|New York's 21 Club was a Prohibition-era speakeasy. A speakeasy, also called a beer flat, blind pig, or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.

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  • Etymology
  • History
  • Varieties
  • See also
  • References
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thumb|upright=1.25|New York's 21 Club was a Prohibition-era speakeasy. A speakeasy, also called a beer flat, blind pig, or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.

In the United States, speakeasy bars date back to at least the 1880s, but came into prominence in the United States during the Prohibition era (1920–1933, longer in some states). During that time, the sale, manufacture, and transportation (bootlegging) of alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the United States, due to the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Speakeasies largely disappeared after Prohibition ended in 1933. The speakeasy-style trend began in 2000 with the opening of the bar Milk & Honey.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “speakeasy” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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