Gin Lane in the parish of St Giles by William Hogarth, 1751

This is an image of London blighted by alcohol. The viewer’s eye is immediately caught by the figure in the foreground: a drunken mother who blithely lets her baby tumble from her arms. At her feet sits a half-naked, near skeletal figure clutching a bottle of gin and a cup.

There are other horrors to be found. On the left of the image, a wizened human face can be seen gnawing at a bone alongside a dog. Above them, a craftsman and a cook pawn their tools and utensils for drinking money. On the right of the image, gin is poured into the throats of a small baby and a man in a wheelbarrow; a blind man has his crutch stolen stolen as he stands. Death punctuates the background of the picture: a naked woman is lowered into a coffin. Through an open section of wall above the distiller’s barrels, a hanged man looks down on the wares that caused his downfall.

William Hogarth’s Gin Lane is one of the most famous and graphic depictions of alcohol abuse ever published. Surprisingly, though, it is not prohibitionist in intent. This image is not a call to ban alcohol. It is really an advert for beer. That said it is an image akin to the homeless images of today most of them slaves to drugs.

The painting has a Bosch like legacy but is obviously not the nightmare vision of Bosch. As always theres a bit of fun in Hogarth's Gin Lane as there was in most of his work.

Gin drinking reached its peak in the 1720s and London gin  was galvanised by paint remover or Turpentine . Maybe this was what sent people crazy.

That said Hogarth understood misery as he had had to live in a debtor's prison because of his Dad's banckruptcy. He was  born in Bartholomew place near Smithfield meat market in the western most ward of the "square mile". His work was nearly all satirical even when he tried to get serious (see Barthsheda pool ). You could compare him to a Georgian Banksy in that his art was art for everyone .

Hogarth’s engravings were published in February 1751 in support of the Gin Act of that year. 

This act introduced the licensing of merchants selling raw spirits in an attempt to cut down on their consumption. Gin had become increasingly popular in the early eighteenth century and was widely regarded as a blight on the working classes. Gin may have been any raw white grain spirit and was also called Genever . I drank it in the Netherlands and its sweeter than London gin. It was distilled all over London. It had become popular after the glorious revolution of William of Orange that had canceled out the blood line of succession as regards the Royal Family .

 Previous attempts to raise taxes on spirits had lead to riots and other forms of unrest. Rather than price out the demand for  spirits, the act of 1751 successfully restricted their supply, and the consumption of gin began to fall.

This becomes clear if one looks at its companion print, Beer Street. This shows a much happier scene. The people are drinking, but are healthy and industrious. A drunken man puts his arm around a woman and tries to steal a kiss but, tellingly, she still holds the key to her room. The pawnbroker here has shut up his shop and is surrounded by signs of prosperity. Significantly, all this industry and well being is accompanied by beer. Even one of the bearers of the sedan chair in the background is permitted to take a swig from his tankard.

But there was a recognition that gin could not simply be withdrawn from supply; it needed a replacement. Samuel Johnson famously said "Ban Gin and you will have revolution".

Tea was commonly promoted as a benign substitute, but beer was a cheaper alternative. While Hogarth’s Beer Street may seem comically idyllic, it should be remembered that the beer of the day was not as strong as most ales and lagers today. It was certainly far weaker than gin and much easier to drink in moderation.

Aside from its horrific images, what is striking now about Gin Lane is that it presents a much more nuanced and balanced argument than that which came to dominate the following century. 

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, alcohol abuse was often seen as a cause of poverty rather than a symptom.

 Well organised and prominent temperance movements became increasingly influential, and alcohol was blamed for all manner of social ills.

 During World War One, future Prime Minister David Lloyd George famously declared, ‘We are fighting Germany, Austria and drink, and so far as I can see the greatest of those three deadly foes is drink’.

Prohibition was seriously considered in Britain at this time, but fortunately it did not occur: the United States’ failed experiment with prohibition between 1919 and 1933 has shown the crime problems caused by such legislation.

 In tackling alcohol abuse, most policy makers now pursue tactics of encouraging moderation and awareness rather than outright abstinence. In many respects, this is not dissimilar to the approach advocated by Hogarth in the mid-eighteenth century.

1. Hogarth is not saying don't drink he is saying something else . What ?

2. Did people see this print as humourous or as a warning ? What's your idea ?

3. Whats the connection with Banksy ? Give your own meaning

4. Do you think we should prohibit this kind of drink?