Rare Photos Reveal the Vibrant Culture of Cowboy Saloons in the 19th Century

https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/wild-west-saloon-photos/

by Brajeshwar • 2 years ago

93 20 2 years ago

rarehistoricalphotos.com

d13• 2 years ago

More about the Cobweb Palace: https://www.sanfranciscostory.com/the-cobweb-palace/amp/

ilaksh• 2 years ago

This really makes me want to watch a Western show or movie. I wonder if there is anything like Deadwood that I missed.

Brajeshwar• 2 years ago

In the 90s, video cassette (VHS) rentals were very popular, and a friend's uncle had a parlor for renting. My friends and I spent our days growing up on Rambo, Bloodsports, Shaolin Temples, and the whole range of Westerns. Spaghetti Westerns and Cowboys stayed with me, and when in doubt about what movie to re-watch, I chose Westerns.

I remember in the early 2000s, when Macromedia asked me what are my hobbies or favorite leisure time, when they tried to highlight my profile was, “I like Western/Cowboy Movies.”

COGlory• 2 years ago

Well, I don't know what you've missed, but Godless and Hell on Wheels were both decent. For a modern western, Longmire is pretty good.

_mlbt2• 2 years ago

Tombstone is a classic. Great movie that I've watched dozens of times and it never gets old.

Although he's a controversial man for some of his opinions and beliefs, most of John Wayne's movies are also really good if you don't mind older movies.

throwup238• 2 years ago

Anyone else find it weird that there are basically no women in any of the shots with the exception of the Klondyke dance hall?

Every western themed show like Deadwood and Westworld (lol) has led me to believe there would be a lot more women on the frontier!

pjmlp• 2 years ago

Selection bias of the pictures they decided to show, I guess.

By the way, there is another one with them ridding horses.

hhshhhhjjjd• 2 years ago

Interestingly, women who were not parlor girls or dancers were typically not allowed entry into these establishments.

From the article

mayd• 2 years ago

It is not even slightly weird. Consumption of alcohol by women has always been frowned upon, especially in public houses, not least by women, and survives today in the shaming of pregnant women who drink even the smallest drop of alcohol at any stage of pregnancy. Women were prominent campaigners against consumption of alcohol, especially in the USA, e.g. Woman's Christian Temperance Union, leading to temperance laws in several US states and ultimately the Eighteenth Amendment of the US national constitution which launched the notorious Prohibition Era.

Also, even past the middle of the twentieth century, in the UK and Australia at least, it was normal for there to be a separate "public" bar" in pubs for men only and a "ladies bar" or "saloon bar" where women were permitted entry.

gedy• 2 years ago

They do that to make it more entertaining to watch, but no, there were very few women. Those that were there would stay at home/farms or seen at church.

nunez• 2 years ago

What's incredible besides evidence that these even existed is how little dress shoes have changed since then.

RobotCaleb• 2 years ago

Is it just the little dress shoes that have changed?

BenFranklin1002• 2 years ago

Far better dressed than most men today.

_mlbt2• 2 years ago

That's because picture taking was a rare event in people's lives in the 19th century. It was relatively expensive, there were few photographers, and you had to stay perfectly still for quite a while to get a proper photo. That's why these are all posed pictures as the technology of the time made it nearly impossible to take "action shots" due to exposure times.

Due to all of these factors, people tended to dress up in their Sunday best. If you notice the ladies on the horses in that picture are quite well dressed too.

BenFranklin1002• 2 years ago

I’m not sure the implication you’re making is entirely true. We do have movies from the early 20th century of people going about their day walking down the street in their everyday attire. That time period isn’t too far off from these photos. The men in those videos are far better dressed than the typical tech bro in his jeans and t-shirt.

xhkkffbf• 2 years ago

No smart phones are visible. How did they share memes? How did their mother reach them to make sure they're safe? I can't even....

jessekv• 2 years ago

Some years ago I visited an establishment in the jungles of Central America that looked exactly like Jackson's Bar.

ilrwbwrkhv• 2 years ago

This makes me want to go to a brothel and harvest some fur. Lives were so interesting back then.

dieselgate• 2 years ago

“The dream of the 1890s is alive in Portland”

It’s interesting how time have changed but we can still do the same things (not hunt whales legally, however). From the article it seems like certain establishments wanted a cleaner image and would ban prostitution - so it was still a gray area morally back then.

People still hunt.

FiatLuxDave• 2 years ago

At least two of these saloon buildings still exist. I know because I've been in them, and recognized them from the photographs.

Clancy's in Skagway is now the Jefferson 'Soapy' Smith Parlor Museum: https://www.nps.gov/klgo/learn/historyculture/jeffsmithsparl...

I'm a bit unsure about the picture labeled 'Cowboy Bar, Jackson WY, 1908'. I've been in the Cowboy Bar (now known as the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar https://www.milliondollarcowboybar.com/blog/history-of-the-m...). The dimensions of the room in the picture match the Cowboy bar, but in 1908 that building was a doctor's office and bank (https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/valley/columnists/cowboy-bar-...). If you look closely at the picture, you will notice that the outfits of the patrons, and especially of the bartenders, appear to be from a later era than 1908. The stencils on the bar seem very similar to a picture of the cowboy bar from the 1940s. I suspect that the picture labeled 1908 is actually from around 1940, but I'm pretty sure it is actually of the Cowboy bar in Jackson WY (or Ruby's beer garden, the prior business at that location).

Rare Photos Reveal the Vibrant Culture of Cowboy Saloons in the 19th Century

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