All about coffee by William H. Ukers

THE COCOA-TREE was originally a coffee house on the south side of Pall Mall. When there grew up a need for "places of resort of a more elegant and refined character," chocolate houses came into vogue, and the COCOA-TREE was the most famous of these. It was converted into a club in 1746. [Illustration: THE GRECIAN COFFEE HOUSE, DEVEREUX COURT It was closed in 1843. From a drawing dated 1809] WHITE'S chocolate house, established by Francis White about 1693 in St. James's Street, originally open to any one as a coffee house, soon became a private club, composed of "the most fashionable exquisites of the town and court." In its coffee-house days, the entrance was sixpence, as compared with the average penny fee of the other coffee houses. Escott refers to WHITE'S as being "the one specimen of the class to which it belongs, of a place at which, beneath almost the same roof, and always bearing the same name, whether as coffee house or club, the same class of persons has congregated during more than two hundred years." Among hundreds of other coffee houses that flourished during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the following more notable ones are deserving of mention: [Illustration: DON SALTERO'S COFFEE HOUSE, CHEYNE WALK From a steel engraving in the British Museum] [Illustration: THE BRITISH COFFEE HOUSE IN COCKSPUR STREET From a print published in 1770] BAKER'S, 58 'Change Alley, for nearly half a century noted for its chops and steaks broiled in the coffee room and eaten hot from the gridiron; the BALTIC, in Threadneedle Street, the rendezvous of brokers and merchants connected with the Russian trade; the BEDFORD, "under the Piazza, in Covent Garden," crowded every night with men of parts and "signalized for many years as the emporium of wit, the seat of criticism and the standard of taste"; the CHAPTER, in Paternoster Row, frequented by Chatterton and Goldsmith; CHILD'S, in St. Paul's Churchyard, one of the _Spectator's_ houses, and much frequented by the clergy and fellows of the Royal Society; DICK'S, in Fleet Street, frequented by Cowper, and the scene of Rousseau's comedietta, entitled _The Coffee House_; ST. JAMES'S, in St. James's Street, frequented by Swift, Goldsmith, and Garrick; JERUSALEM, in Cowper's Court, Cornhill, frequented by merchants and captains connected with the commerce of China, India, and Australia; JONATHAN'S, in 'Change Alley, described by the _Tatler_ as "the general mart of stock jobbers"; the LONDON, in Ludgate Hill, noted for its publishers' sales of stock and copyrights; MAN'S, in Scotland Yard, which took its name from the proprietor, Alexander Man, and was sometimes known as OLD MAN'S, or the ROYAL, to distinguish it from YOUNG MAN'S, LITTLE MAN'S, NEW MAN'S, etc., minor establishments in the neighborhood;[85] NANDO'S, in Fleet Street, the favorite haunt of Lord Thurlow and many professional loungers, attracted by the fame of the punch and the charms of the landlady; NEW ENGLAND AND NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICAN, in Threadneedle Street, having on its subscription list representatives of Barings, Rothschilds, and other wealthy establishments; PEELE'S, in Fleet Street, having a portrait of Dr. Johnson said to have been painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds; the PERCY, in Oxford Street, the inspiration for the _Percy Anecdotes_; the PIAZZA, in Covent Garden, where Macklin fitted up a large coffee room, or theater, for oratory, and Fielding and Foote poked fun at him; the RAINBOW, in Fleet Street, the second coffee house opened in London, having its token money; the SMYRNA, in Pall Mall, a "place to talk politics," and frequented by Prior and Swift; TOM KING'S, one of the old night houses of Covent Garden Market, "well known to all gentlemen to whom beds are unknown"; the TURK'S HEAD, 'Change Alley, which also had its tokens; the TURK'S HEAD, in the Strand, which was a favorite supping house for Dr. Johnson and Boswell; the FOLLY, a coffee house on a house-boat on the Thames, which became quite notorious during Queen Anne's reign. [Illustration: THE FRENCH COFFEE HOUSE IN LONDON, SECOND HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY From the original water-color drawing by Thomas Rowlandson] [Illustration] [Illustration: RAMPONAUX' ROYAL DRUMMER, ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR OF THE EARLY PARISIAN CAFÉS Started originally as a tavern, this hostelry added coffee to its cuisine and became famous in the reign of Louis XV The illustration is from an early print used to advertise the "Royal Drummer's" attractions]