La fée verte de la Belle Époque
The bans, the bootleggers, the posters and the bottles of absinthe, told from the record.
Stories about absinthe, told from newspapers, court records, patents and the posters themselves, with every fact cited so you can check it. Wormwood was a medicine long before it was a drink. The drink came out of a Swiss valley around 1800, and by 1915 Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States and France had banned it. A lot of what gets repeated about it was never true, and these stories say where.
Before the green fairy
A Roman chariot prize, chapter one of the great herbal of 1542, a Swiss village, and an army story that began as a guess.
Read the storyWormwood on trial
The science that convicted absinthe was done on dogs with a needle. Then five countries banned it, and in 2008 a lab opened the old bottles.
Read the storyThe night the Doubs ran green
Lightning hit Pernod Fils in 1901, the river caught fire, and two days later the absinthe came up out of a cave twelve kilometers away.
Read the storyGreen, white and pink
Paris ordinaire coloured with dye, the clear Swiss spirit of the ban years, Czech absinth without anise, and the Swiss court that ruled nobody owns the word.
Read the storySpoons, fountains and glasses
Christofle silver of 1888, leaf and lettered spoons, six tap fountains and the Old Absinthe House bar in 1900 and today.
See the galleryAbsinthe posters
Privat-Livemont, Cappiello and the rest, from 1862 to 1913, plus the Swiss ban vote and a 1913 film called Absinthe.
See the posters"Vintage" means nothing on eBay
Eight sellers, one brand new glass, and the word vintage in every title. How to read a listing before you pay for one.
Read the guideThe real spoons are in France
Two "antique" spoons on eBay US, both new. Forty six on eBay France. Where to search, the French words to use and what to ask a seller.
Read the guideQuick answers
Is absinthe legal in the US? Does it make you hallucinate? How do you drink it? Answered in two lines each, with the record behind them.
Read the answersAncient Whisky
Prohibition whisky: George Remus, Old Overholt and Andrew Mellon, fake Johnnie Walker, and a tool that dates an old bottle from its tax strip.
Go to Ancient WhiskyOne poster a month
A poster from the golden age of absinthe once a month, with the story of who drew it and where it hung. Nothing else.
One email a month. No ads in it, and you can unsubscribe from any one of them.
Who writes this
Bryen Beglinger collects old spirits. He has a journalism background, and history is his passion. He got started when one of his best friends died of an aggressive cancer and left him a small group of vintage liquor. That got him into the history of the old spirits trade. He also writes Ancient Whisky, about old American whisky.
He is a Realtor in San Diego, with 25 years selling homes there: www.sdhomesellers.com.
Sources
- Every story lists its own sources at the bottom, each linked to the record. The pictures and why each one is free to use are on the image rights page. For example, the Library of Congress newspaper archive: chroniclingamerica.loc.gov