Fancies from The Folly
An international conference organised by the HERA research project Intoxicating Spaces: The Impact of New Intoxicants on Urban Spaces in Europe, 1600–1850, to be held live via Crowdcast.

Wednesday 27 January 2021
To be beamed live from aboard The Folly virtual coffeehouse on the Thames – a celebrated and slightly notorious floating establishment in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century London – this event will showcase the work and projects of several of the schools with whom we have been collaborating, along with several other guest contributions from storytellers, musicians, and leading experts in the field of intoxicants.




Programme
12.30pm GMT
Welcome and introduction from Moll, proprietress of The Folly – the only floating coffee-house in the capital – here to serve your every desire! She explains the best way to serve coffee, why it is so popular, and reveals what to expect if you visit her behind her counter. Brought to life by professional storyteller Olivia Armstrong.
12.45pm GMT
David Courtwright (University of Florida)
A Brief History of Drugs, Drug Sociability, and Drug Policy
1.30pm GMT
UK Schools
Anna Williams (King Edward VII School)
How did Victorian Beliefs about Gender, Class, and Alcohol Dictate Contemporary Female Drinkers’ Experience in Urban Spaces?
Ellen Withington (King Edward VII School)
Exploring the Eighteenth-Century Gin Craze Through Art
2.00pm GMT
Malcolm Russell (Independent Scholar)
Exploring London’s Intoxicating Spaces Through Mudlarking
2.30pm GMT
Break & Musical Interlude
Intoxicant-related music from the early modern period, identified and performed especially by Passamezzo: The Long Vocation (1719), The Trifle (ND), In Praise of Chocolate (1652), Tobacco’s but an Indian Weed (1569), The Coffee House of Newsmonger’s Hall (1672), and The Tobacco Taker’s Song (1669).
2.45pm GMT
Swedish Schools
Edvin Kiselman & Freja Stålberg (Nacka Gymnasium)
Companies, Trade, and New Intoxicants
Joshua Wahlstedt Gyllensvärd & Sebastian Aura (Nacka Gymnasium)
Gustavia, Swedish Colonies, Slavery, and New Intoxicants
Tor Mörk, Emil Persson, Felix Mårtensson (Nacka Gymnasium)
The Welfare State and Sugar
Fabian Holdar Sahlin, Daniel Akhter Lundholm, & Elvin Eliasson (Nacka Gymnasium)
Cafe Culture in Sweden, Confectioners, and Coffee Bans
Jonas Molander, Dennis Elfströ, & Lydia Bennarsten (Nacka Gymnasium)
Cookbooks in Sweden: The Example of Cajsa Warg’s Book
3.30pm GMT
German Schools
Cäcilien-Schule, Oldenburg
Coffee and Cocoa En Route to Consumers: An Interactive Map
Altes Gymnasium, Oldenburg
A Time-Traveller’s Diary
4.00pm GMT
Thank You and Goodbye!
About Your Hosts

Moll
The proprietor of The Folly is Moll, a fictional character brought to life by professional storyteller Olivia Armstrong, inspired by the real-life figure of Moll King. Real name Elizabeth Adkins, she was the proprietor of King’s Coffeehouse in Covent Garden, which opened with her husband Tom in 1720. Described by one observer as a ‘rude shed’, King’s was a notorious establishment closely associated with drunkenness, brawls, and prostitution; significantly, in this etching Moll dispenses a measure of spirits rather than a sobering dish of coffee. She’s said to have slept in an attic above the premises, accessible only by a ladder which she pulled up behind herself. British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
‘Little Will’
‘Little Will’ was a beloved waiter from The Turk’s Head coffeehouse in Exchange Alley, from which he is on secondment for the purposes of today’s event. As well as his celebrated skill in slinging coffee, he was a notorious political gossip and rumour-monger. British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
