Speak Easy Origins

The expression finds its origin in the practice which had the owners of a bar ask their customers to speak gently ( speak easy ) when they asked for alcohol, in order not to draw attention to their request, during the time of prohibition in the United States of America.

At the height of their popularity (1924–1933), speakeasies were generally either bars or restaurants where dancing and a cabaret were performed, to which people gained admission by personal introduction or by presenting a card, usually informally.

In social class they ranged from smart restaurants to underworld dens, but whereas before Prohibition, most "respectable" women would not be welcome in a public bar, women as well as men began to flock to speakeasies.