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arclight222 t1_j9d2oot wrote

Reply to comment by LockedOutOfElfland in Historical question: commuting and town layouts pre-automobile? by LockedOutOfElfland

Pubs? Remember Maine had prolonged Prohibition. From 1851 to 1934 the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the state was completely banned. Either you made hard cider or distilled on your farm or you were friends with a Canadian, but no one was riding down to the pub for pints.

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LockedOutOfElfland OP t1_j9d6kwo wrote

What were other social spaces in Maine towns (not counting churches) at the time? Were there cafes and bakeries that people used as gathering spaces, for example?

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derpingandlurking t1_j9diuz6 wrote

Grange halls, mason halls, K of P/C, all sorts of social places, church, lots of town festivals etc

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200Dachshunds t1_j9ezpkp wrote

frankly, it was mostly churches. They were often the largest building with the largest comfortable enclosed gathering space in town, so not only would they be used for church services but also dances, dinners, voting, town meetings, private parties, etc. Church wasn't the 'statement' then that it is today. You went to church because everybody else went to church, and church served an incredibly important social bonding function.

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LockedOutOfElfland OP t1_j9ezxwf wrote

So there was nowhere else a person would have stopped at during non-work hours for a beverage, a prepared meal, or a snack plus conversation with whatever neighbors or out of town visitors they ran into?

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200Dachshunds t1_j9f5pjf wrote

Depends on how small a town you’re talking. For many people up to the age of attainable automobiles, the only place close enough to go to hang out during the very few hours you weren’t working on your land was the neighbor’s. Once a week you’d hook up your horse, put on your Sunday best, and go the three-five miles to church. Every couple weeks or once a month you’d hook up your horse and wagon and ride the 10-20 miles to a bigger town to buy the things you couldn’t grow/make/mend. Once a year you might take a train to the ‘big city’ of Bangor or Portland.

It would be different if you lived IN one of the middling or larger towns, but my dad grew up near Machias in the 50s and this was his schedule until he left for college. Most farming families would have it the same.

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