Talk:Speakeasy

Pronunciation

Is it pronounced "speak-easy" or "speak-a-see"? 82.11.171.72 (talk) 19:48, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

It's "speak-easy".Wahrmund (talk) 22:22, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Locations

I removed the following list from the Locations section. Wikipedia is not a list of links or an advertising brochure. Where there is a wikipedia article for the listed speakeasies (i.e. they meetwikipedia notability guidelines) then we should include a wikilink but we should not be linking directly to external websites in this manner.

• Bill's Gay Nineties
• Burwood Tap
• Butch McGuires
• Café du Nord
• Club Lucky
• Club Napoleon

• Cotton Club
• Durkins
• El Morocco
• Emmits
• Fanelli Cafe
• Genesius Theatre
• Glascotts Saloon

• Green Door Tavern
• Green Mill Cocktail Lounge
• Halligan Bar
• Hangge Uppe
• House of Shields Saloon
• Jake's Pub

• John Barleycorn Memorial Pub
• Julius'
• Longhorn Caverns
• Lottie's Pub and Grill
• Marge's Still
• O'Donovan's

• Paramount Room
• Patterson House
• Simon's Tavern
• The 21 Club
• The Back Room
• Twin Anchors

Polyamorph (talk) 19:08, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

This is very possibly why they were called "blind tigers"

Apart from the association with blindness (getting blind), which was the effect, the reference to tiger is something unconnected. The card game "Faro", which was played in the old west, subsequently became the main gambling game in saloons/drinking establishments. It would have been played in speakeasies. Not only bootleg liquor, but also gambling was available. Faro games were advertised by a tiger sign. Towns with a lot of gambling/vice were actually called "tiger towns". The tiger of the sign, indicating the availability of a card game, became the colloquial term for the club/casino/bar (speakeasy).

Wikipedia: "The faro game was also called "bucking the tiger" or "twisting the tiger's tail", which comes from early card backs that featured a drawing of a Bengal tiger. By the mid 19th century, the tiger was so commonly associated with the game that gambling districts where faro was popular became known as "tiger town", or in the case of smaller venues, "tiger alley".[6] In fact, some gambling houses would simply hang a picture of a tiger in their windows to advertise that a game could be found within." 86.168.57.151 (talk)

Etymology

I recently edited Speakeasy_(disambiguation) to add the door feature and I couldn't help but think Speakeasies very likely might benefit from a speakeasy in their door that they could open and ask the 'password', &c. So what came first: the saloon or the peephole/speak hole door? I did quick superficial online research and found no sources about this subject. --IP_edits (talk) 23:00, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Term for the peephole?

I once heard a 64-dollar word (French, perhaps) for the peephole in a speakeasy door, but can't remember what it was. Does anyone know it? It would make a colorful addition.

BMJ-pdx (talk) 15:56, 4 October 2019 (UTC)