Visit The Pub Curmudgeon site


Compiling the list of “pubby” features spurred me on to put together a list of things that were once commonplace in pubs, but which are rarely if ever seen nowadays:
  • Fish tanks
  • Blokes coming round selling cockles and mussels
  • Electric diaphragm pumps
  • Ashtrays
  • Upright pianos
  • Bottles of pale and brown ale
  • People drinking “splits” such as light and bitter
  • Premium kegs such as Double Diamond and Worthington E
  • Carlsberg-style straight sided tankards
  • Babycham and Cherry B
  • Nip bottles of barley wine
  • Wrought-iron “features” dividing different sections*
  • Little bags of “cheese and biscuits” alongside the peanuts
  • Jars of pickled eggs
  • A glass case at the end of the bar containing stale cheese and ham rolls
  • Chicken or scampi in a basket
  • Plain triangular sandwiches made of sliced bread
  • Retired military pub bores (in fact pub bores in general seem to be an endangered species)
  • Outside toilets
    Customers (hides)

Any further suggestions?
* there’s one of these in the Tiviot in Stockport, which in many respects is like stepping back into the 1950s



More...