tankard question from 7 yr old

[crisgal]

in order to explain what this site is about, i asked my little boy to ask any question, and said that hopefully someone will reply soon.
Here is his question:

'When we were in an old pub on holiday, I saw a silver tankard with a glass bottom. Why did they have glass bottoms in them?'

[jake-the-peg]

OK have checked this out on pewterbank

No I'm not kidding:

http://www.pewterbank...Trevor_Moore....3.pdf

Looks like the jury's out - there seem to be very few acurately dated examples and given the number of forgeries in the 19th Century it sounds as if the balance swings away from it.

Another explanation - and to my mind a more probable one is to prove the purity of the beer - so you could see if it was cloudy

[heathfield]

The business over the King's shilling, or the clarity of the beer, always puzzled me. With Scottish beers, the lively head of froth on the beer would have prevented the drinker seeing either of the above. It was only when I was in England for the first time, and was offered a warm, sour, beer ''straight from the barrel'', flat, and completely lacking any head, that I realised these stories could be true after all!!

[kingcandy123]

Metal tankards often come with a glass bottom. The legend (but a myth) is that the glass bottomed tankard was developed as a way of refusing the King's shilling, i.e. conscription into the British army or navy. The drinker could see the coin in the bottom of the glass and refuse the drink, thereby avoiding conscription.