History of Coffee shops
Coffee shops or coffeehouses have been in use since the 16th century, particularly in the Middle East, where
Turkish coffee was drunk and men played board games or read books and listened to music. The first coffeehouse was opened in 1530 in Damascus. In the 17th century, coffee houses were seen in Europe and became very popular. The first coffeehouse appeared in Venice in 1645.
Shortly hereafter, the first coffeehouse was set up in Oxford in England. Two years later, a coffeehouse was opened up in London. The first coffee shop in Boston opened in 1670 and in Paris in 1671. One of the early coffee shops, the Cafй Le Procope is still in business today after being founded in 1686.
Coffee shops of old were great social levelers and were open to men of all different social classes but not to women. They became meeting places where business could be carried on, news exchanged and newspapers read. Lloyds of London had its origins in a coffee shop run by Edward Lloyd where underwriters of the shipping business met to engage in business matters.
By 1739 there were 551 coffeehouses in London, each of which attracted to a particular clientele divided by occupation or attitude, such as different political parties, merchants of different types, lawyers, booksellers and authors.