Chicago and Malort: A Bitterly Beloved Tradition
Chicago and Malort is a match made in heaven. Or hell. Probably hell. I’ll leave it up to you. Still, most any Chicagoan can probably recall the first time they tasted Malort. I can distinctly recall the evolution of my friend’s facial expressions – naive curiosity, then horror, then confusion, and finally bitterness as the aftertaste lingers. […]
Through the Side Door: Women and Drinking in Early Chicago
On July 1, 1872, the Chicago Tribune published a story titled “A Man Chains His Wife in a Heavy Weight, and Burns Her Mouth With a Poker to Prevent her Drinking.” Woah, right? Discovering that led to me becoming intrigued by the topic of women and drinking in Chicago’s early history. Eliza Martin’s husband punished her for […]