https://jah.oah.org/teaching-the-jah/201506/exercise-1/
What features of the ladies’ café might have signaled to customers that the space welcomed
women? What features marked the Bismarck Hotel’s main restaurant as an environment for men?
The illustrations depict an all-male clientele in the main restaurant and a mixed-sex clientele in the
ladies’ café. Why might men have been permitted to enjoy both the main restaurant and the dining
space reserved for women?
Can you provide any current examples of commercial spaces that are designed to attract either male
or female customers? How are the gender identities of these spaces marked and communicated?
Go to this webpage to view a primary source quotation from The Jungle which describes a saloon in
Chicago: https://jah.oah.org/teaching-the-jah/201506/exercise-2/
Answer these questions about the source:
Based on Sinclair’s description, what do you think the women of the WCTU would have found most
objectionable about the saloon?
What marketing tactics do Chicago’s saloon proprietors use to entice customers? How do these
tactics compare to those used by establishments that catered to lady tipplers?
How do the culture and practices of Sinclair’s saloon differ from those of places where ladies drank?
Do you think gender or class played a more significant role in shaping these differences?
Do you observe any similarities or points of connection between ladies’ drinking practices and saloon
culture?
Go to this webpage to view a current-day primary source from the New York City Metropolitan
Transportation Authority: https://jah.oah.org/teaching-the-jah/201506/exercise-6/
Answer these questions about the source:
Can you identify any similarities or points of connection in the debates over manspreading and
women’s tippling?
Is urban public space a male preserve in the United States today? Why or why not?
Can you think of any other current battles over access to public space? How are the boundaries of
that space marked and maintained?
