Did People Drink Coffee in the 1920s? (Solved & Explained!)

Yes, coffee was extremely popular in the 1920s. In fact, most people ordered coffee with their dinners during this decade! Part of this is due to the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States at the time, and part of it is due to the growing popularity of coffee at the time as well. 

There’s a lot to know about the popularity of coffee in the 1920s and during other time periods as well. Read on to find out everything you need to know about if people drank coffee in the 1920s!

Did people drink coffee in the 1920s?

Yes, coffee was definitely around in the 1920s. In fact, coffee has been around in the US since the colonial days. It’s rumored it was even brought across the sea from Europe with the original Jamestown settlers. However, it wasn’t very popular until far after that and didn’t really take off until the 20th century. 

Coffee was widely available by the 1920s though and could be purchased at restaurants, and by itself from on-the-go coffee stands or as a grocery. 

Was coffee popular in the 1920s?

Coffee was very popular in the 1920s. Not only was it popular, but it was the go-to drink that people ordered with their meals at restaurants in the 1920s. The majority of diners from cheap hole-in-the-wall food spots to the fanciest places in the nation were all drinking coffee with their meals. 

A lot of this was due to the affordable price of coffee in restaurants, as it was often at this point in time only around 5 cents per cup. This combined with it being a new and fresh beverage made it explode in popularity in restaurants and households across the country. 

Why was coffee popular in the 1920s?

One of the major reasons coffee was popular in the 1920s, as mentioned above, is that it was fantastically cheap even for the era. With a cup being only about 5 cents, getting a cup of coffee was as easy as having a nickel in your pocket. This made it the go-to beverage for Americans across the country. 

Another reason is that coffee is a pretty strong drink. In the wake of the prohibition of alcohol that came with the 1920s, Americans were looking for a replacement. Although it doesn’t have the same inebriating effect as alcohol, the strength of coffee as a beverage and the effect it has on the body made it a suitable replacement for Americans in that era. 

Did people drink coffee with their meals in the 1920s?

Yes. Not only was it common to drink coffee with your meals in the 1920s, but it was also easily the most popular beverage to drink with meals, especially in restaurants. It would remain this way for a long while also until World War II came around and the price of coffee increased and the ability to get it was hampered. 

When did coffee come to the US?

Coffee came to the US with the original Jamestown settlers in 1607. However, it was very unpopular at the time, as the settlers vastly preferred tea. 

Coffee became more popular in the colonies in 1773 when the Boston Tea Party and ensuing boycott of tea due to the Tea Act of 1773 imposed by the English crown made it an issue of patriotism to drink coffee rather than tea. This was the beginning of coffee’s real foothold in the colonies (which would later become the United States). 

However, coffee didn’t become truly popular until around the turn of the 20th century, which we will get into just a little further down! 

Was coffee popular in the 1800s?

Coffee began to gain more steam as a popular beverage in the 1800s for a number of reasons. Firstly, in Providence, RI, it began to be used to reform alcoholics as a way to give them a sort of replacement beverage to alcohol. As mentioned earlier, this technique would be seen on a wider scale during the prohibition era. 

Coffee remained relatively unpopular still until the 1890s when restaurants started including them on the menu for around 5 cents a cup, a price which would remain until around 1930 and caused the popularity of the drink nationwide during the 1920s. 

The 20th-century coffee explosion

Coffee became so popular in quick-lunch eateries and restaurants around the nation that the import of coffee tripled at the turn of the century. By 1904, there were horse-drawn to-go coffee carts popping up around the nation, as well as seats in restaurants with specially designed coffee cupholders. 

Safe to say, coffee was a craze that was sweeping the nation, and from this point on, the US would only become a larger and more prolific consumer of coffee, eventually taking the place they do today as one of the world’s top coffee consumers. 

Was coffee available during the great depression?

Yes, coffee was available during the great depression. However, the price in restaurants was raised to about 10 cents a cup. However, this didn’t stop the popularity of the drink from growing. By the 1930s, around 98% of American families were coffee drinkers. Even children were drinking coffee in this era, with 15% of children under age 16 indulging as well.

Was coffee available during World War II?

Coffee became less popular during the war, but not by choice. It was simply a matter of the rations that had been allotted to American families. Every American over 15 years old was allotted one pound of coffee annually. 

Was coffee different in the 1920s?

Regular coffee has pretty much always been brewed the same way, and by the 1920s it was not uncommon to add things like milk and sugar to the brew. However, as time moved on, brewing techniques and different coffee drinks like espressos and lattes would become available. However, for the time being, Americans would be forced to stick to the good old fashioned cup of joe.