Regulating the selling of beer in Amsterdam in 1731

In 18th-century Amsterdam, so-called “vaantjeshouders” (beer sellers) were allowed to sell small beer (served in a “hael-kan”), but they were not permitted to offer guests a place to drink – a right reserved for innkeepers. The broadside opens with a remark that so-called “smokkel-tappers” illegally sell and serve heavier beer to guests.

In six articles the broadside, reiterating a proclamation from 1675, stipulates that beer sellers are not allowed to serve guests and need a sign stating that they only sell small beer. Innkeepers, on the other hand, need to have an outside wall sign (a wreath), notifying that they are allowed to sell all kinds of beer, except “buyten-bieren”: beer from outside Amsterdam.

This copy comes from the Amsterdam collection of Willem Dreesmann (1885-1954) and bears his blindstamp (“Collectie Dreesman”) on the card.