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23-07-2019, 12:24
Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site (https://boakandbailey.com/2019/07/victorian-pubs-hazy-beer/)
You start with Victorian pubs and up pondering hazy IPA and mild – that’s just how this game goes sometimes. One of the things researching pubs has made us think about it is how certain things come in and out of fashion.
It’s hard to believe now but that heavy Victorian look people expect in the Perfect Pub – carved wood, cut glass, ornate mirrors – was seriously out of fashion for half a century.
Look through any edition of, say, The House of Whitbread from the 1920s or 30s and you’ll find story after story of modernisation. In practice, that meant ‘vulgar’ Victoriana was out; and a plain, clean, bright look was in.
https://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/greyhound_balls_pond_road.jpgSOURCE: The House of Whitbread, October 1933. Slowly, though, Victorian style became cool again. We’ve written about this before and won’t rehash it – Betjeman (https://boakandbailey.com/2014/03/the-snug-bar-preservation-society/) and Gradidge (https://boakandbailey.com/2017/10/extraordinary-gentleman-brand-new-victorian-pubs-roddy-gradidge/) are two key names – but did stumble upon a new expression of the phenomenon this week, from 1954:
Thirty years ago the Albert Memorial was only admired by the extremely naïve and old-fashioned; today, it is only admired by the extremely sophisticated and up to date. Thirty years ago the late Arnold Bennett was thought eccentric, and even a little perverse, to take an interest in papier-mâché furniture with scenes of Balmoral by moonlight in inlaid mother-of-pearl. Today tables and chairs of this kind command high prices in the saleroom and are the prize pieces in cultivated living-rooms. It is, in a word, once more ‘done’ to admire Victoriana. The slur of the old-fashioned is merging into the prestige of the antique.
That’s from a fantastic book called Victorian Vista by James Laver who turns out to be an interesting character. A historian of costume and of fashion more generally, he is best known for inventing ‘Laver’s Law’ which sought to explain how things come in and go out of style:
Indecent | 10 years before its time
Shameless | 5 years before its time
Outré (Daring) | 1 year before its time
Smart | ‘Current Fashion’
Dowdy | 1 year after its time
Hideous | 10 years after its time
Ridiculous | 20 years after its time
Amusing | 30 years after its time
Quaint | 50 years after its time
Charming | 70 years after its time
Romantic | 100 years after its time
Beautiful | 150 years after its time
This certainly works to some degree for pubs: Victorian pubs were naff in 1914, charming by 1950 and the best are now practically national monuments; inter-war pubs have recently become romantic after years in the wilderness; and we’re just begging to collectively recognise the charm of the post-war.
Naturally, though, with trends a constant topic, we couldn’t help test this on beer styles.
For example, does it map to the rise of hazy IPA? We definitely remember it seeming indecent and think we can now discern it’s decent into dowdiness.
Or 20th century dark mild, maybe? We’ll, not so clearly, because it reigned for years, even decades. But we could adapt Laver’s commentary on Victoriana:
Thirty years ago mild was only admired by the extremely naïve and old-fashioned; today, it is only admired by the extremely sophisticated and up to date. Thirty years ago CAMRA was thought eccentric, and even a little perverse, to take an interest in weak, sweet, dark beer. Today beers of this kind are the prize pieces in cultivated taprooms.
Mild might be in the romantic or charming phase, then.
This works best for specific sub-styles and trends, though. IPA? Too broad. West Coast IPA? Maybe.
And for beer, in 2019, Laver’s language isn’t quite right. Maybe this is better:
Ridiculous | 10 years before its time
Bold | 5 years before
Hyped | 1 year before
Hip | ‘Current Fashion’
Mainstream | 1 year after its time
Boring | 10 years after
Interesting | 50 years after
Classic | 70 years +
It doesn’t really work, does it?
But it’s a been a fun prod.
Laver’s Law, Victorian pubs and hazy beer (https://boakandbailey.com/2019/07/victorian-pubs-hazy-beer/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (https://boakandbailey.com)
More... (https://boakandbailey.com/2019/07/victorian-pubs-hazy-beer/)
You start with Victorian pubs and up pondering hazy IPA and mild – that’s just how this game goes sometimes. One of the things researching pubs has made us think about it is how certain things come in and out of fashion.
It’s hard to believe now but that heavy Victorian look people expect in the Perfect Pub – carved wood, cut glass, ornate mirrors – was seriously out of fashion for half a century.
Look through any edition of, say, The House of Whitbread from the 1920s or 30s and you’ll find story after story of modernisation. In practice, that meant ‘vulgar’ Victoriana was out; and a plain, clean, bright look was in.
https://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/greyhound_balls_pond_road.jpgSOURCE: The House of Whitbread, October 1933. Slowly, though, Victorian style became cool again. We’ve written about this before and won’t rehash it – Betjeman (https://boakandbailey.com/2014/03/the-snug-bar-preservation-society/) and Gradidge (https://boakandbailey.com/2017/10/extraordinary-gentleman-brand-new-victorian-pubs-roddy-gradidge/) are two key names – but did stumble upon a new expression of the phenomenon this week, from 1954:
Thirty years ago the Albert Memorial was only admired by the extremely naïve and old-fashioned; today, it is only admired by the extremely sophisticated and up to date. Thirty years ago the late Arnold Bennett was thought eccentric, and even a little perverse, to take an interest in papier-mâché furniture with scenes of Balmoral by moonlight in inlaid mother-of-pearl. Today tables and chairs of this kind command high prices in the saleroom and are the prize pieces in cultivated living-rooms. It is, in a word, once more ‘done’ to admire Victoriana. The slur of the old-fashioned is merging into the prestige of the antique.
That’s from a fantastic book called Victorian Vista by James Laver who turns out to be an interesting character. A historian of costume and of fashion more generally, he is best known for inventing ‘Laver’s Law’ which sought to explain how things come in and go out of style:
Indecent | 10 years before its time
Shameless | 5 years before its time
Outré (Daring) | 1 year before its time
Smart | ‘Current Fashion’
Dowdy | 1 year after its time
Hideous | 10 years after its time
Ridiculous | 20 years after its time
Amusing | 30 years after its time
Quaint | 50 years after its time
Charming | 70 years after its time
Romantic | 100 years after its time
Beautiful | 150 years after its time
This certainly works to some degree for pubs: Victorian pubs were naff in 1914, charming by 1950 and the best are now practically national monuments; inter-war pubs have recently become romantic after years in the wilderness; and we’re just begging to collectively recognise the charm of the post-war.
Naturally, though, with trends a constant topic, we couldn’t help test this on beer styles.
For example, does it map to the rise of hazy IPA? We definitely remember it seeming indecent and think we can now discern it’s decent into dowdiness.
Or 20th century dark mild, maybe? We’ll, not so clearly, because it reigned for years, even decades. But we could adapt Laver’s commentary on Victoriana:
Thirty years ago mild was only admired by the extremely naïve and old-fashioned; today, it is only admired by the extremely sophisticated and up to date. Thirty years ago CAMRA was thought eccentric, and even a little perverse, to take an interest in weak, sweet, dark beer. Today beers of this kind are the prize pieces in cultivated taprooms.
Mild might be in the romantic or charming phase, then.
This works best for specific sub-styles and trends, though. IPA? Too broad. West Coast IPA? Maybe.
And for beer, in 2019, Laver’s language isn’t quite right. Maybe this is better:
Ridiculous | 10 years before its time
Bold | 5 years before
Hyped | 1 year before
Hip | ‘Current Fashion’
Mainstream | 1 year after its time
Boring | 10 years after
Interesting | 50 years after
Classic | 70 years +
It doesn’t really work, does it?
But it’s a been a fun prod.
Laver’s Law, Victorian pubs and hazy beer (https://boakandbailey.com/2019/07/victorian-pubs-hazy-beer/) originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog (https://boakandbailey.com)
More... (https://boakandbailey.com/2019/07/victorian-pubs-hazy-beer/)