There are coffee house chains in various parts of the world. Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company has 210 Cafe Coffee Day shops in India and expects to have 500 there within a couple of years and also plans to open another 50 abroad (including coffee-rich Vienna but mostly in China). On Mar 9, 2005, at 5:54 AM, Gerald Groenewald wrote: Bookman Old StyleIn his recent book, The Coffee House: A Cultural History (Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, 2004), Markmann Ellis dates the resurgence of the coffee house to the late 1950s (in Britain, that is) and the 1960s, and associates it with the so-called 'Angry Young Men' movement (Martin Amis and co). Ellis also points out that while most of the well-known chains started in the 1970s it was only in the 1990s that they started to become so internationally successful (most notably Starbucks). I should say that all of this is of course from a British perspective. Bookman Old Style   Bookman Old StyleGerald Groenewald Arial----- Original Message ----- Arial From: 0000,0000,EEEEDavid Fahey ArialTo:Arial 0000,0000,EEEE[log in to unmask] ArialSent:Arial Wednesday, March 09, 2005 1:24 AM ArialSubject:Arial contemporary coffee house chains Does anybody have an idea why coffee house chains started their success story in the 1970s or thereabouts?  Both Starbucks and the mall-chain Gloria Jean began in the 70s which is why I single out this decade. Maybe a later time when the coffee houses began to perk is more important to study.  Must confess ignorance.  By the way, I am mostly a hot tea drinker and my wife a year round iced tea drinker.  Am glad to hear that tea houses are now booming in parts of the USA (but, sadly, not in SW Ohio).  PS: I recall that in his study of the Chicago/Boston saloon Duis argued that where to drink is as important historically as what to drink.  This may be true for hot caffeine drinks as well as for alcoholic beverages.  Maybe we should also ask the question when.  I notice that the fast food restaurants say that at breakfast they now sell as many chilled soft drinks as hot coffee.