In Mixed Company: Taverns and Public Life in Canada.

Here’s proof that the addition of a great cover does not transform a doctoral thesis into a book for general consumption. Roberts’s work earns an A+ for academic research, content, and the integrity of her cites and sources, bibliography and index, but definitely needs improvement for readability.

The work applies a magnifying glass to taverns—also known variously as inns, hotels, public houses, or coffee houses—as they operated in Upper Canada (now Ontario) from approximately 1800 to the mid-19th century. Some surprising information is revealed, along with a fresh interpretation of the role of taverns in the province’s social development.

Taverns, obviously, were open to the public, places licensed to sell liquor by the glass or pint (“small measure”), and required by law to provide food, lodging, and stabling. As such they attracted not only travellers but also locals of every age, gender, social status, colour, and culture. At the same time this diverse society was milling about in the tavern’s public spaces, the tavern keeper’s family members were carrying on their daily lives under the same roof. Any “impulse to separation” of either private/public space or of genteel customers from the common folk often became lost due to “unrelenting spatial promiscuity.” Translation: It was crowded.

Roberts’s meticulous research packs the book with wonderful details: locations, architectural styles, rates, furniture, services and amenities, activities, and regulations. Taverns were key transportation nodes, places where those travelling by carriage or stage could have their horses looked after while their own needs for refreshment, meals, and rest were taken care of. They were also social centres for the local community, places to read newspapers, smoke, exchange news, tell stories, enjoy music and card games, perhaps take part in a dance, hear a political or temperance speech, transact business, place wagers, or even watch a circus-like travelling show. The informal atmosphere created by the pervasive culture of drinking positioned the tavern as a place where social bonds were developed and strengthened. As an important public space in the community, taverns were pressed into service as locations for meetings, courts, and inquests, and served as a base for horse races and wrestling matches.

Sources for the work include travelogues, wills, journals and diaries, letters, and newspapers of the period. They support an academic study that is invaluable in pulling together detailed information on a central feature of our heritage.