What Were Wild West Saloons Really Like?
Anyone who’s frequented the movies or spent time in front of a TV over the past 70 years probably has a deeply embedded idea of what the inside of a typical Wild West saloon looked like. After all, it’s a setting where countless swaggering sheriffs and perhaps an antihero with no name have breezed through swinging doors to encounter shifty-looking cowboys playing cards and a piano player banging out a jaunty tune from the corner before the place inevitably gets upended by a shootout or furniture-smashing brawl.
Of course, Hollywood is notorious for playing up dramatic elements over an adherence to historical accuracy, as well as for rehashing popular ideas to the point where certain characters and outcomes become tropes. So how valid is this media-driven conception of the Old West watering hole?
Early Saloons Were Bare-Bones Establishments
As detailed in Richard Erdoes’ Saloons of the Old West, American saloons first came into existence when pioneers began pushing westward in greater numbers in the early 19th century, and they weren’t even commonly known by the term “saloon” until the 1840s.
Like the dwellings in many of the early U.S. settlements, the first saloons provided the barest of essentials for those who were temporarily looking to forget the hardships of their rugged lives on the frontier. Many were simply a tent or a lean-to erected over a barrel of whiskey, with perhaps boards laid across empty barrels to serve as tables.
As a settlement became more established, its saloons went from temporary setups to more permanent structures built from local materials. Many were made of wood, while those in areas with scarce timber were built from sod or stone.
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Swinging Doors and Wooden Counters
By the 1850s, the saloon had progressed from its primitive beginnings and was beginning to resemble the locale that persists in popular imagination.
Its entrance was guarded by the familiar batwing doors that pushed open from the middle. Although there was space to peer above and below the swinging doors, they were generally kept shut to help protect the privacy of customers. Most saloons had an additional set of doors with which to lock the premises, although some remained open for all hours of the day.
Once inside, a customer would typically spot the bar positioned on the left. This would be fronted by the wooden counter, which could reach several dozen feet in length and be made from sturdy oak, mahogany, or walnut in a more reputable establishment. Behind it stood one or more bartenders, often rough characters to handle the customers who got more unruly with successive drinks, but also known to be snazzily dressed with brocaded vests and diamond pins in the high-end venues.
Below the counter were a series of hanging towels with which to wipe one's mouth or facial hair, while a brass rail typically ran along the base of the bar. Close by the rail, stationed at strategic points along the sawdust-covered floor, were spittoons for the tobacco-chewing patrons to dispose of their mouthfuls.
Behind the counter rose the backbar or altar, which was lined by various bottles of rye, bourbon, or potent mixtures by such names as Taos Lightning and Red Dynamite. The backbar was typically built around one large mirror or multiple mirrors, with which a drinker was able to keep an eye on the people and activities behind them.
Decor Varied by Region and Clientele
As saloon customers were overwhelmingly men, the walls typically featured at least one poster of a nude but generally tastefully posed woman. Other paintings were renderings of classical themes such as "Aphrodite Emerging From the Bath," while some talented artists found the local saloon to be a gallery for their original works. Interspersed with these creations were various signs, often displaying a humorous message such as "In God we trust — all others pay cash."
Other points of decor depended on the vocations of the regular guests. A saloon frequented by cowhands would perhaps have mounted longhorns along with other tools of the trade such as saddles, spurs, and branding irons. On the other hand, an establishment in a mining town might showcase displays of rock crystals, gold scales, and prospectors' lamps.
Most saloons featured iron stoves with which to warm visitors, while virtually all offered some sort of sustenance from salty snacks to meals of varying quality cooked from regional game. Guests who needed lodging for the night could retire to a partitioned-off area or backroom with blankets, or simply stretch out on a portion of sawdust that hadn't already been claimed by a customer who'd had too many drinks to find their way home for the night.
Specialty Saloons
What else was found inside these venues depended on the type of saloon it was. It was common to see people gathered around a table engaged in games of poker, faro, or keno in just about any watering hole. Gambling saloons had more areas devoted to these games of chance, as well as more expensive accoutrements such as a roulette table and a full orchestra.
For entertainment, some saloons had a piano, often of the self-operating "player piano" variety, while some put on spectacles of men or animals fighting each other. Variety and concert saloons were roomier venues with stages for performers to sing, dance, and act out plays such as Richard III or Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Then there were the pretty-waiter saloons, also known as "hurdy-gurdy houses," in which guests sought out female companionship to drink and dance with for an evening. These establishments centered around a dance floor, to the side of which sat a piano and its player along with rows of chairs for the women to rest between dances.
All in all, saloons provided a smorgasbord of experiences that could be as varied as their clientele of gamblers, prospectors, miners, cowhands, railroaders, traveling salesmen, and ladies of the night. Some included a barber's chair; others offered mailboxes, or perhaps a rack of newspapers. Even without displaying any particularly noticeable feature, many served a civic function by doubling as a voting booth or a courtroom.
In other words, Hollywood got only part of the story correct. Yes, the Old West saloon certainly had its mustachioed villains and reckless cowboys cheating at cards and throwing each other across tables, but the real history of the saloon, both as a social and civic hub and simply a place where a person could feel the ameliorative effects of a stiff drink, is far more complex.
