(RHODE ISLAND) Drunken daily log kept at the clubhouse of th

Sale 2600 - Lot 216

Price Realized: $ 750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750

(RHODE ISLAND.) Drunken daily log kept at the clubhouse of the First Light Infantry Company. [137] manuscript pages, plus 4 pages repurposed as a clippings scrapbook. 4to, 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches, later buckram gilt-stamped "Infantrys Bulletin"; moderate wear including occasional pieces torn out, general incoherence. Providence, 1851-1855

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The First Light Infantry Company was an independent unit in the Rhode Island militia. Based in Providence, it saw occasional duty during times of crisis such as the Dorr Rebellion, but mostly seemed to function as a social club. This register was apparently kept at their well-stocked headquarters over a four-year period, including almost daily entries from February to July 1851. Each night, the members signed in and filled the margins with silly inside jokes, the meanings now lost to time.

"T.S. Browne, Harts are trumps, Sober Capt."

"Henry Staples, gone out to take a drink."

"Francis J. Sheldon, Always on hand, ready for anything, Bah!"

"Harvey Gladding, Feels bigger than the What Cheer building, cos he's got a new belt."

"James H. Stewart, Looks foggy, How do you know whether it is foggy or not, you ain't sober yet."

"J.W. Richardson, What have been eating Pa! Punk! Punk! Punk!"

We do not fully understand most of these notes in 2022. We suspect the members themselves did not understand them as soon as the next morning. The daily roll calls of intoxicated militiamen are interspersed with occasional longer notes regarding actual militia business, and guest lists of more formal "hops" where wives and sweethearts were invited to attend. A rare slice of life from the front lines of the bar. You can almost smell the booze wafting off the pages.