Chocolate Houses
Explore the chocolate house phenomenon of the eighteenth c century
In the twenty-first century, chocolate accounts for 2.5% of the UK’s food market, yet drinking chocolate is barely recognised.
However until the nineteenth century, chocolate was only ever consumed as a drink!
For around 150 years, chocolate was the drink of choice and the taking of it became a significant leisure activity during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
When first popularised, chocolate was confined to the masculine spaces of the coffee or chocolate house; where it became a prop for male bonding and political manoeuvres. Chocolate was and remained a privilege of the elites during that time!
Liotard ‘La belle chocolatiere’ and Freudenberger’s ‘Le Bain’ (1774)
Chocolate was often featured in portraits of the period.
​
Liotard ‘La belle chocolatiere’ and Freudenberger’s ‘Le Bain’ (1774) are a few of the best examples of paintings that display the leisurely pursuit of taking chocolate, either at home or in the chocolate house.
Drinking chocolate was a significant social marker.
These portraits were used to demonstrate to others in society your wealth and status; the middling or elite urbanity alone enjoyed the social pleasures of drinking chocolate!
​
The major cities of England were host to high profile chocolate houses which acted as centres for political discussion, entertainment, gambling and sociability. By the 1690s, these houses were common across all major cities in England and were a part of daily life for the English elite. This marks a significant shift from the earlier introduction of chocolate, considered previously to be a dangerous drug that caused serious fatalities.
By the eighteenth century, chocolate was the new 'must have'.
The chocolate house was similar to the seventeenth century coffee house. A place for people to come together to discuss politics and scientific advancements whilst also engaging in entertainment such as games, gambling and music which was something that the coffee house failed to supply.
The average supper time in the eighteenth century was 3-4pm. Chocolate Houses were open from around 6pm, so that people could attend after supper until late to participate in games, drinking and conversation.
People would purchase an admission ticket and a drink of chocolate, but thereafter would have free access to the broadsheet newspapers and gamble to their hearts content.
These houses were truly THE places to be for the social elite of the city.
They were at the centre of the London social life!
Chocolate houses, similar to the coffeehouses of the time, were exclusive arenas for the upper class. A place to experience sophistication, luxury and to enjoy the good company of their friends.
Drawing of a Coffee House (Anonymous, 1690-1700) ©British Museum
The most high profile Chocolate Houses in London were:
-
Mrs White’s Chocolate House (1693)
-
Dominico Ozinda (1694)
-
Cocoa Tree (1698)
-
Madame Tosier’s Chocolate House (1695)
A Chocolate House © Herb Museum
Mrs Whites Chocolate House
Fun Fact
Prince Charles had his stag do here in 1981 before his marriage to Princess Diana!
St James Street © Alarmy
The oldest gentleman’s club in London, founded by Francis White in Mayfair 1693 originally as a hot chocolate emporium under the name ‘Mrs White’s Chocolate House’.
​
It was opened to the public by 1697 as a small chocolate house that also provided access to broad sheets and political conversation.
​
This chocolate house was quickly transformed from a small domestic house that provided sweet treats to that of an exclusive male’s gambling club with a reputation for exclusivity and unruly behaviour by its members.
​
In 1778 this club moved to St James Street (it is still located here today) and became the unofficial headquarters for the Conservative party. Some of the most famous members of the club are: Prince William, David Cameron, and Prince Charles.
Madame Tosier’s Chocolate House
Grace and Thomas Tosier opened a chocolate house on Chocolate Row in Greenwich. Chocolate Row was known for its array of chocolate houses and acted as a centre of social life during the eighteenth-century. Thomas Tosier was a Georgian chocolate maker and the King’s chief chocolatier residing at Hampton Court Palace during George I reign from 1717 until his own death in 1730.
Grace used her husband’s links to the King to increase the popularity of the business. The Chocolate House provided a V.I.P experience, with chocolate sold that was fit for a king! It offered events, such as dinners, that coincided with the Royal Calendar to attract the men and women attending court throughout the year. This brought Dukes, Knights, and Ambassadors all wanting the ‘King’s experience’. To appeal to this high society, Grace even installed the ‘Great Room’ in 1721 just for dancing!
​
Tosier’s Chocolate House, became a centre of sociability and display where those of higher status could enjoy the sophistication and luxury associated with drinking chocolate within a stately environment. It was this flourishing business that elevated Grace’s status in the social hierarchy of London.
Chocolate transformed both the English palate, and leisure in Britain since its introduction in the 1650s. By 1900, chocolate became integral to the social life of the English elite and middle class.
