Raising a Glass in Hatfield

From Flip, Toddies and Egg Pop Day
to Temperance and Prohibition

By Rob Wilson

One need not travel far in Hatfield to pass a location where some kind of alcoholic beverage was or is brewed, fermented, distilled, served, or sold.
 
I don’t have to walk a step. The Dickinson Inn, which opened in the early 19th century and burned to the ground in 1901, occupied the spot on Pantry Road where my house now sits. Hungry and thirsty stagecoach travelers would arrive here, perhaps raise a glass of good cheer with their dinner, stay the night, and continue on their journey the next morning.  

An undated photograph taken at the Dickinson Inn. The Inn, built in the early 1800s, was part of a large farm run by the Dickinson family. It’s likely that some of the alcoholic beverages served with meals at the inn were produced at the farm. (From Hatfield Historical Museum Collection)

The history of Hatfield citizens producing, selling and consuming alcoholic beverages dates to well before the Dickinson Inn opened. In the process of examining life in Hatfield from its 1670 founding to the early 1900s, Daniel White Wells and Reuben Field Wells’ book, A History of Hatfield in Three Parts, documents the social customs of the townspeople, including drinking. Although the early settlers were a religious lot, they saw nothing immoral in raising a glass or mug of their favorite spirits. Many residents, Wells noted, made their own beer or liquor.

To continue reading, about unusual alcoholic drink customs in Hatfield -- some involving children and eggs -- and Hatfield's relationship with liquor until Prohibition, click HERE.