Women’s Pushback on Coffee in Early Modern England

Tomorrow on September 29, 2019, Americans can celebrate coffee day. But the introduction of The Greatest Morning Beverage was not a forgone conclusion in many parts of the world. In England, coffee-houses entered the scene in the 1650s, and quickly became popular — London alone had 82 by 1663. The image you see here suggests a pushback against coffee coming from women in a way that is at first glance reminiscent of the role some women took in the Progressive Era against alcohol in this country. But reading the lines more carefully will reveal some differences. The writers of this 1674 pamphlet, “Women’s Petition against Coffee,” denounce the drink not out of Puritanism, but rather because they allege it made men sexually incapable. The pamphlet was ribald in fact. In one place, it lashed out against coffee by alleging that by “drying out the radical moisture, has so eunucht our husbands that they are become as unfruitful as those desarts (sic) whence that unhappy berry is said to be brought.” This writing campaign of course was unsuccessful at ending coffee consumption in England, and female readers of this post need not be ashamed of our gender at promoting such ridiculous propaganda. In fact, the “Women’s Petition” was probably not written by women at all, but may instead have originated from government officials in the time of King Charles II. Many of these were worried because coffeehouses were becoming places where men gathered to discuss politics, and they were concerned about political rebellion.