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In the mid 17th Century, coffee houses were established as
gathering places but soon became interactive spaces where business
deals were made, agreements signed & gossip shared.
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Each
coffee-house attracted a particular clientele, depending on its
location and the interests of their patrons. Some displayed commodity
prices, share prices and shipping lists, whereas others provided
foreign newsletters filled with gossip from abroad.
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Everything from politics to science and art was discussed at
these cafes. In fact it was at the cafe of the Palais Royal that
Camille Desmoulins, on July 12, 1789 leaped on a table at and urged
the mob to rise up against the French aristocracy.
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Some Café’s charged an
admission fee of one penny because visitors were allowed to debate
current political & literary issues- giving them the title of “Penny
Universities”.
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Before the birth of organized and regulated trading systems
stocks were exchanged at Coffee houses such as the Tontine
Coffee-House, with the president reading out a list of stocks as
brokers traded each in turn. In 1817, the Tontine gave way to the New
York Stock and Exchange Board.
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This
is true of Lloyds of London as well. So much so that even in the
recent past, the runners at the British Stock Exchange were called
waiters because it too started as a coffee house.
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In London many coffee
houses went on to become very big corporations. Lloyd's Coffeehouse
became Lloyds of London. The Baltic Coffeehouse became the London
Shipping Exchange. The Jerusalem Cafe became the East India Company.
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Correspondents visited
these coffee houses and gathered information which was published as "Tatler"
the first modern magazine in 1709, used the names of coffee-houses as
subject headings for its articles.
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More surprising is the
story of "Lloyd's News" which started as a bulletin board in Lloyds
Coffeehouse, and went on to become London's second oldest newspaper
