Speakeasy at the Tallac Historic Site - it will be the bee's knees!

Shhhhh...keep it on the low down. Rumors are afloat that there will be a Speakeasy at the Pope Estate in South Lake Tahoe on August 13, 2022, from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The Tallac Historic Site is a treasure of bygone times when recreationists and excursionists flocked to Lake Tahoe to get away from the big cities at the turn of the last century. The grand balls of the 1920s were talked about throughout the Comstock and Sierra Nevada.

Step back in time on the 13th, it will be the bee's knees! Come wearing your best 1920s attire (though this is optional, should the rumors be confirmed).

Enjoy beverages and hors d'oeuvres, games, music, dancing, fabulous raffle prizes, and a lot of good old-fashioned fun! You must know the password to buy “special” drinks (this is available in the museum prior to the event, or ask a volunteer that evening).

All monies benefit the Tallac Historic Site.

Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States during the Prohibition era (1920–1933, longer in some states). During that time, the sale, manufacture, and transportation (bootlegging) of alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the United States. Speakeasies largely disappeared after Prohibition ended in 1933. The speakeasy-style establishment has been resurrected and gaining in popularity.

FREE admission (not suitable for small children) Tables can be reserved for ten clams per person (dollars) This includes one free drink each. Reservations must be made by August 10.

Location: Tallac Historic site, 1 Heritage Way, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
For more information and tickets, call the Tallac Museum at 530-541-5227. The museum is open Thursday to Sunday, 9 am to 4 pm.

1920s vocabulary from The Atlantic:

Applesauce. Remember how we were going on and on about malarkey, thanks to Joe Biden's use of it in the vice presidential debate, the other week? Applesauce is a synonym. Use it to demonstrate your lack of appreciation for the words of another. Or, alternatively, shout horsefeathers.

Bee's knees. No dictionary of twenties slang would be complete without this one, which means, in simple terms, the best. (Synonym: That's the berries.) In related bee-talk, say something is "none of your beeswax" when someone who is not the bee's knees is butting into your beeswax. Where did "bee's knees" come from? From World Wide Words, "It’s sometimes explained as being from an Italian-American way of saying business or that it’s properly Bs and Es, an abbreviation for be-alls and end-alls. Both are without doubt wrong. Bee’s knees is actually one of a set of nonsense catchphrases from 1920s America, the period of the flappers, speakeasies, feather boas and the Charleston." (Other such phrases: "elephant’s adenoids, cat’s miaow, ant’s pants, tiger’s spots, bullfrog’s beard, elephant’s instep, caterpillar’s kimono, turtle’s neck, duck’s quack, duck’s nuts, monkey’s eyebrows, gnat’s elbows, oyster’s earrings, snake’s hips, kipper’s knickers, elephant’s manicure, clam’s garter, eel’s ankle, leopard’s stripes, tadpole’s teddies, sardine’s whiskers, canary’s tusks, pig’s wings, cuckoo’s chin, and butterfly’s book.")

Clam. A dollar. "Can you spot me a few clams?" Other slang for money: cabbage, kale.

Dewdropper. A young, unemployed guy who sleeps all day. Alternate synonym: A lollygagger.

Egg. Man. "He's a funny egg."

Fire extinguisher. A chaperone (aka, a killjoy, an alarm clock).

Gams. Is there a better way to say legs, even if one is being objectifying? Pins? Stilts? Or maybe getaway sticks. "Cheese it; it's the fuzz! Move your getaway sticks or you'll end up in the cooler."

Hotsy-totsy. Perfect; the cat's pajamas.

"I have to go see a man about a dog." To go buy whiskey.

Jake. Okey dokey. "Everything is Jake."

Know one's onions. To know one's beeswax; to know what someone's talking about.

Let's blouse. We're out of here.

Mrs. Grundy. A prudish type. Maybe also a fire extinguisher. Definitely a wurp.

Noodle juice. Tea. (But noodle on its own means head.)

Ossified. Drunk, probably from having been on a toot, or a drinking binge. Also: splifficated, fried, blotto.

Phonus balonus. Nonsense. (Related: baloney = piffle).

Quilt. A drink that warms its drinker.

Rhatz! "How disappointing!"

Soup job. To crack a safe using nitroglycerine. (Safecrackers were yeggs.)

Tell it to Sweeney. Go say that to someone who'll believe your phonus balonus.

Upchuck. Vomit, probably after too much foot juice or giggle water. (Synonymous: to pull a Daniel Boone is to vomit.)

Voot. Money, lettuce.

Wet blanket. Someone who is no fun, no fun at all. Someone who does not like whoopee (to have a good time).

X. In lieu of any x words, edge means intoxication.

You slay me. You're hilarious.

Zozzled. Drunk.