Thanks everyone for all these interesting replies "A woman might stand at the entrance and call to husband inside to come home (before he got too drunk!),"
Funny I can remember my mother doing this at the doorway of the Holy Ghost in West Warwick every year at the feast. Didn't think much of it at the time. :-) Lexi On Apr 11, 2:27 pm, "Sam Koester" <[email protected]> wrote: > This is interesting. The situation you describe is exactly what I found in > Australia many years ago. Being an American woman, I was very curious as to > what went on in the men’s side of the place so, I got a job behind the bar > there. (Found it odd that I could work behind the bar but; not enter through > the men’s door!) Nothing went on except for guys laughing and talking and > enjoying their booze. All rather mundane stuff. I didn’t realize this > practice went on anywhere else in the world. Interesting…..Sam in Ca > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > [email protected] > Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 7:54 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Help with translation and identification > > In a message dated 4/10/2009 8:01:12 AM Eastern Daylight Time, > > [email protected] writes: > > Lexi/Marilyn, > > That's what George said...the men's entrance was because of the liquor. > > You never know with pictures. I had one that I took around for a few years. > I was helping a man at my FHC in Los Angeles on his Portuguese lines. We > never found a connection (yet). He asked me to come over around Christmas > and meet his parents from RI. I came with old photos. His father > identified some of the people in the photo! > > My guess is that like so many of these little village establishments, this > was a combination general store/tavern "tasca" or "taberna". In those days > women NEVER went inside a tasca. It was strictly a place for men. A woman > might stand at the entrance and call to husband inside to come home (before > he got too drunk!), but going inside was not OK if she valued her > reputation. The idea of a woman standing at the bat downing cachaças with > the best of them was a scandal. These general stores-taverns were generally > 2 room affairs, one for the store and the other for the tavern. There was a > connecting door so that the owner could go from one room to the other and > tend to business single handed on both sides. > > In case you find this arrangement strange, here in New England (Billy's Café > on Bedford Street in Fall River comes to mind) always had a "Lady's > Entrance" The front of the bar was exactly that: a bar with stools, some > tables, a TV, a pool table, etc. It was just for the guys. The Lady's > Entrance brought you to the back room, a "lounge" with booths. Billy's is > still there, and still has the back entrance, now called a "Family Entrance" > for those who are there for a meal in the lounge and not just a few frosties > in the front. By the way, Billy's still serves the best chouriço plate this > side of the Mississippi. A Happy Easter to all! > > John --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
