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I occasionally look around on Zillow at real estate all over the country, and one thing I notice particularly in the northeast and Midwest, is wet bars in basements. Basements aren’t common where I live so it just seems a little odd to me. Most of them look pretty dated with dark paneling, etc. Did people actually sit around in their basements and drink? Maybe they were inspired by the show Cheers?
They predate "Cheers." They were part of the basement "rec room" fad of the 1950s +-. I think part of the appeal may have been as attempts to keep young people gatherings somewhat safe. Drinking age was 18, but in many homes the rules for 16 yo and up were looser.
I remember them from the early 1960s in small town Minnesota for sure. Yup, we called it a "rec room." Some people called it a "rumpus room." I remember some that had those lit-up beer signs like for Hamm's and Old Style, but some were more sophisticated. Beer barrel chairs were common.
From around 1995 to 2010, I used to go on the "Parade of Homes" new home tours in the Minneapolis area, and a good percentages of new homes still had them at that time.
I remember them from the early 1960s in small town Minnesota for sure. Yup, we called it a "rec room." Some people called it a "rumpus room." I remember some that had those lit-up beer signs like for Hamm's and Old Style, but some were more sophisticated. Beer barrel chairs were common.
From around 1995 to 2010, I used to go on the "Parade of Homes" new home tours in the Minneapolis area, and a good percentages of new homes still had them at that time.
The one in this house is complete with padded arm rest and all.
Basements are uncommon in LA, but I would love to have one with a custom-built bar, a pool table, a hot tub, and definitely a big screen TV. That would be awesome! I guess that would be considered a ‘man cave’?
The caves were popular in my area in the 70s - often the only unused space in the house got repurposed from laundry drying in winter to bar with all the trimmings.
The caves were popular in my area in the 70s - often the only unused space in the house got repurposed from laundry drying in winter to bar with all the trimmings.
I have very relaxed notions about drinking, but the idea of an actual, permanent, fully-equipped bar in a home is... just booze-o-rama, to me.
And if it’s in a basement you’d have to climb stairs to make it back to the bed. Or maybe that’s what the couch downstairs is really for.
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