Wake up and Smell It!

 Coffee Houses have been around as early as the late 1400’s in the Middle East  They were introduced to Europe by invading Turkish armies, who left coffee behind when they were pushed out by European armies  Fun Fact: In Turkey a woman could legally divorce her husband for not providing her with enough coffee

 Coffee houses were brought to England by a merchant who dealt with Turkish goods.  The first English coffee house was called “The Turks Head” and it opened in 1652  Fun Fact: The word “tips” came from coffee houses. It means “To Insure Prompt Service” people would point coins in a jar to get their order quickly.

 The British called their coffee houses “penny universities” since coffee cost a penny and men would go there to talk business  Fun Fact: Edward Lloyd opened his coffee house in 1668 and it was so popular with businessmen that it’s still operating as Lloyd’s of London Insurance Company (J-Lo insured her butt with them for $1 million, Tina Turner insured her legs with them, & America Ferrera insured her smile for $10 million)

 Coffee houses were so popular in England that they spread to France, Germany and eventually America when the British colonized the new world  Coffee houses were the center of businesses in America  Fun Fact: The New York Stock Exchange was originally held in a coffee house because so much business was done in them.

 Coffee houses were places in Europe that men could go to and share ideas with friends & neighbors  A large portion of the population couldn’t read, so people would go to hear others read famous works by the likes of Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, & Benjamin Franklin  “Ah, that is a perfume in which I delight; when they roast coffee near my house, I hasten to open the door to take in all the aroma." Jean Jacques Rousseau

 Women were often excluded from business & therefore, coffee houses  What were they going to do?  Wealthy Parisian women would host salons  They would invite authors to come & speak, actors to recite plays, & people to come in to discuss the ideas of the Enlightenment  Fun Fact: Participating in salons was often the only way these women would have access to an education, since women almost never were allowed to attend school