Tuesday 24 April 2018

The rise of clubs 1905 - 1930

One of the principal effects of the 1869 Licensing Act was a steady erosion of the number of pub licenses. Which it seems had been one of the Act's intentions.

Clubs, on the other hand, were regulated differently. And that difference could be seen in the growth of the number of clubs. In the quarter century between 1905 and 1930 their number doubled. With the majority of that growth coming in the last decade. I suspect that WW I slowed down the growth between 1914 and 1920.

Over the same period the number of pubs fell by 25%. Meaning that the percentage of clubs in the total number of on-licences rose from 6% to 15%. This, along with the fact that in many districts clubs had their own brewery, must have had an impact on brewers.

Though, as we'll see later, clubs became important outlets for some big brewers.

The rise of clubs 1905 - 1930
Date  Full Beer / wine Total Pubs  Registered clubs  total % clubs
1905 99,478 6,589 106,067 6.21%
1910 64,129 28,355 92,484 7,536 100,020 7.53%
1914 62,104 25,556 87,660 8,738 96,398 9.06%
1915 8,902
1920 60,021 23,411 83,432 8,994 92,426 9.73%
1923 58,887 22,100 80,987 11,471 92,458 12.41%
1924 58,610 21,810 80,420 11,780 92,200 12.78%
1925 58,336 21,524 79,860 12,138 91,998 13.19%
1926 58,103 21,227 79,330 12,481 91,811 13.59%
1927 57,896 20,907 78,803 12,775 91,578 13.95%
1928 57,896 21,524 79,420 12,755 92,175 13.84%
1929 57,465 20,356 77,821 13,526 91,347 14.81%
1930 57,525 20,080 77,605 13,947 91,552 15.23%
Sources:
1924 – 1972: The Brewers' Society Statistical handbook 1973”, page 50.
"Brewers' Almanack 1971", page 83.


1 comment:

Leif said...

Were any of the club restrictions in the UK focused on the demonic addition of dancing and jazz to alcohol, like there was in parts of the US, which often frowned upon private clubs which allowed anything but drinking.