{"product_id":"every-home-a-distillery-alcohol-gender-and-technology-in-the-colonial-chesapeake-paperback","title":"Every Home a Distillery: Alcohol, Gender, and Technology in the Colonial Chesapeake - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSarah H. Meacham\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this original examination of alcohol production in early America, Sarah Hand Meacham uncovers the crucial role women played in cidering and distilling in the colonial Chesapeake. Her fascinating story is one defined by gender, class, technology, and changing patterns of production. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlcohol was essential to colonial life; the region's water was foul, milk was generally unavailable, and tea and coffee were far too expensive for all but the very wealthy. Colonists used alcohol to drink, in cooking, as a cleaning agent, in beauty products, and as medicine. Meacham finds that the distillation and brewing of alcohol for these purposes traditionally fell to women. Advice and recipes in such guidebooks as The Accomplisht Ladys Delight demonstrate that women were the main producers of alcohol until the middle of the 18th century. Men, mostly small planters, then supplanted women, using new and cheaper technologies to make the region's cider, ale, and whiskey. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeacham compares alcohol production in the Chesapeake with that in New England, the middle colonies, and Europe, finding the Chesapeake to be far more isolated than even the other American colonies. She explains how home brewers used new technologies, such as small alembic stills and inexpensive cider pressing machines, in their alcoholic enterprises. She links the importation of coffee and tea in America to the temperance movement, showing how the wealthy became concerned with alcohol consumption only after they found something less inebriating to drink. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTaking a few pages from contemporary guidebooks, \u003ci\u003eEvery Home a Distillery\u003c\/i\u003e includes samples of historic recipes and instructions on how to make alcoholic beverages. American historians will find this study both enlightening and surprising.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this fresh study of alcohol production in early America, Sarah Hand Meacham explores the crucial role women played in cidering, brewing, and distilling in the colonial Chesapeake. Her fascinating story incorporates gender, class, technology, and changing patterns of production. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlcohol was essential to colonial life in Virginia and Maryland; the region's water was foul, milk was generally unavailable, and tea and coffee were far too expensive for all but the very wealthy. Settlers used alcohol to drink, in cooking, as a cleaning agent, in beauty products, and as medicine. Meacham finds that the brewing and distillation of alcohol for these purposes traditionally fell to women. Advice and recipes in such guidebooks as \u003ci\u003eThe Accomplisht Ladys Delight\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrate that women were the main producers of alcohol until the middle of the eighteenth century. Men, mostly small planters, then supplanted women, using new and cheaper technologies to make the region's cider, ale, and whiskey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is a great pleasure when one comes across a brilliant interpretation of primary sources . . . [Meacham] tells a most fascinating and unique story . . . \u003ci\u003eEvery Home a Distillery\u003c\/i\u003e offers a penetrating look at how people produced and acquired alcohol in the Chesapeake, the microcosm that greatly influenced the creation of the United States.--\u003ci\u003eGastronomica\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA well-composed, clearly written, highly informative study that significantly contributes to our understanding of how alcohol was brewed, distributed, and consumed in the colonial Chesapeake area.--\u003ci\u003eJournal of American History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnyone interested in daily life in the colonial Chesapeake would certainly benefit from reading this work.--\u003ci\u003eJournal of Southern History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeacham has studied and interrelated a broad variety of primary sources for this book: diaries, letters, account books, probate inventories and wills, cookbooks, court and local government records. The result is an eminently insightful, readable, and usefully annotated history.--\u003ci\u003eTechnology and Culture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith its focus on the methods and organization of alcohol production, \u003ci\u003eEvery Home a Distillery\u003c\/i\u003e will appeal to anyone interested in early business history.--\u003ci\u003eCommon-Place\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e--Cynthia A. Kierner, George Mason University \"Historian\"\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this fresh study of alcohol production in early America, Sarah Hand Meacham explores the crucial role women played in cidering, brewing, and distilling in the colonial Chesapeake. Her fascinating story incorporates gender, class, technology, and changing patterns of production. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlcohol was essential to colonial life in Virginia and Maryland; the region's water was foul, milk was generally unavailable, and tea and coffee were far too expensive for all but the very wealthy. Settlers used alcohol to drink, in cooking, as a cleaning agent, in beauty products, and as medicine. Meacham finds that the brewing and distillation of alcohol for these purposes traditionally fell to women. Advice and recipes in such guidebooks as \u003ci\u003eThe Accomplisht Ladys Delight\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrate that women were the main producers of alcohol until the middle of the eighteenth century. Men, mostly small planters, then supplanted women, using new and cheaper technologies to make the region's cider, ale, and whiskey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"It is a great pleasure when one comes across a brilliant interpretation of primary sources . . . [Meacham] tells a most fascinating and unique story . . . \u003ci\u003eEvery Home a Distillery\u003c\/i\u003e offers a penetrating look at how people produced and acquired alcohol in the Chesapeake, the microcosm that greatly influenced the creation of the United States.\"--\u003ci\u003eGastronomica\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A well-composed, clearly written, highly informative study that significantly contributes to our understanding of how alcohol was brewed, distributed, and consumed in the colonial Chesapeake area.\"--\u003ci\u003eJournal of American History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Anyone interested in daily life in the colonial Chesapeake would certainly benefit from reading this work.\"--\u003ci\u003eJournal of Southern History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Meacham has studied and interrelated a broad variety of primary sources for this book: diaries, letters, account books, probate inventories and wills, cookbooks, court and local government records. The result is an eminently insightful, readable, and usefully annotated history.\"--\u003ci\u003eTechnology and Culture\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"With its focus on the methods and organization of alcohol production, \u003ci\u003eEvery Home a Distillery\u003c\/i\u003e will appeal to anyone interested in early business history.\"--\u003ci\u003eCommon-Place\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSarah Hand Meacham\u003c\/b\u003e is an associate professor of early American history at Virginia Commonwealth University.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 208\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.7 x 9.1 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 01, 2013\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52624131785011,"sku":"9781421409634","price":59.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/Z25LTFRPWlJoLzg5UkhVYUZFelZUQT09.webp?v=1761998246","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/every-home-a-distillery-alcohol-gender-and-technology-in-the-colonial-chesapeake-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}