Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1910-03-23
OLD TAVERN CHARGES
Cost of Living at a Turnpike Inn
Near New York In 1916.
LOW PRICES THE RULE THEN
The Regular Tariff For a Dinner Was
10 Cents, and Wedding Breakfast
For Six, With Twelve Quarts Of Oats
on the Side, Cost Just S1.6e.

~ O'Sf WIN t"ClNe quarts OF oats
on the Side, Cost Just S1.6e.
Guarded as carefully as any Of the
guests jewels that lie beside it i'm the
big safe of great and rlittcring
Broadway hotel in New York city and
treasured by the proprietor more than
Its weight in gold Is an old cashbook.
The entries run from March to De
cember, 1916. They record in quaint.
descriptive phrases the comings and
goings of the travellers who stopped nj
a wayside inn on n turnpike road less
than 100 miles from New York. This
tavern was kept by the Broadway ho-
tel propretOr's grandfather. The build
ing of the railroad, the passing of the
stagecoach and the changes of more
than half century have obliteratcd
this once famous old inn at South Dur
ham, and now all that remains of it is
this ancient book, which served not
only rs a record of cash received, but
took the place Of the modern hotel
register.
The prices charged by this innkeep-
er of long ago are as far removed
from those exacted today as this an
cient hostelry is from the gorgeous
summer hotels of the countryside
where it once stood. The regular price
for dinner WAS 10 cents, but even
this appears TO have been cut to fire.
quent travellers. For instance, there is
an entry Of Candy peddler from Al
bany, two meals and lodging. 81
cents" Almost every entry is brief
description of the individual traveller
and what he got-fOr example, Free
kle faced. eagle nosed boy, hay, sup
per. lodging and grease, 81 cents"
This boy was probably driving n horse
and wagon. which would account for
the hay anc grease. Another man who
was described as 4 fellow with tired
colt" got hay, lodging and breakfast
for II cents.
Every few days there came along.
according to this ancient register. a
connecticut man" He invariably
spent just q cents for food. and that
was for pie. On two occasions there
Is an additional charge for "greasing
wagon, q cents" There were no the
atTical companies touring this turn
Al
phrenoloGist appears and vanishes. il
being recorded that for hay. & quarts
OF oats. lodging and breakfast" he
gave up 90 cents. Once in awhile Il
real spendthrift would come along
like the gent with three ladies and
two children" They had six dinners.
For these, the hay for the horses. the
''meals for the dog" and the "scgar"
for the man S1.2S was charged. There
was a wedding breakfast at this
quaint tavern too. 1t is set down as
wedding, Radclir's sister. { dinners.
l. quarts of oats. SLIGO"
People went west by wagon in
those days from the thickly settled
east to seek their fortunes Some did
not find what they expected and came
back again. One such group. an "em-
igrant family returning east-seven OF
them"-spent 81 at the inn. Three
cents worth of candy" is n frequent
entry. Probably the candy peddler
from Albany" paid for his food and
lodging in sweets. There are but two
entries of anything stronger than lem.
onade. and those are for beer-four
quarts for cents. Oysters were
cheap. too. for six plates of them in
creased the contents of the tavern
keepers money box by just 10 cents.
Among the journeyers along this
turnpike road whose passage is record
ed i'll this age yellowed volume is "Old
Particular" Doubtless he was some
cranky old codger who kicked about
keeper sped as much as possible. Then
there was the "Whistling Man." the
Stiff Arm Man." the "Dispeptic Man"
Che had four quarts of teal and the
"den Man." who ate a piece Of pie
and traded ROSTERS with the hotel
keeper Other travellers along the
highway are thus described: "Aboli-
ton Man." Mean Fellow" Gent
With Noble Horse" Lady With Cry
ing Baby" Hank Days Likeness"
and "Cravat Peddler" (fooD.
Occasionally an old acquaintance
would pass by or some dignitary. for
1t is set down that friend from
lexington had hay and lodging one
day at the inn. Who knows Jut he
might have been a son Of one Of the
'embattled farmers who kept the
bridge that April morning of the ride
Of Paul Revere? The Grand Juror
and His Wife" tarTied for meal at
the inn the same day as did the Dom
inie's Wife and Child" On Nov. 9. so
the careful chronicle says. the pro
prietOr went to York where he re-
NAMED six days. He must have had
roaring, roistering time of it while
in the metropolis. for the next entry
III his handwriting is somewhat shaby
and says, "Sundries while at York. 30
10. |.