“A Good Advertisement for Teetotallers”: Polar Explorers and Debates Over the Health Effects of Alcohol, 1875–1904
EDWARD ARMSTON-SHERET “A GOOD ADVERTISEMENT FOR TEATOTALERS”: POLAR EXPLORERS AND DEBATES OVER THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AS PUBLISHED IN THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF ALCOHOL AND DRUGS. AUTHOR’S POST-PRINT VERSION, SEPTEMBER 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/705337 1 | P a g e “A good advertisement for teetotalers”: Polar explorers and debates over the health effects of alcohol, 1875–1904.1 Abstract: This paper examines discussions about drink and temperance on British polar expeditions around the turn of the twentieth century. In doing so, I highlight how expeditionary debates about drinking reflected broader shifts in social and medical attitudes towards alcohol. These changes meant that by the latter part of the nineteenth century, practices of expeditionary drinking could make or break the reputation of a polar explorer, particularly on an expedition that experienced an outbreak of scurvy. At the same time, I demonstrate the importance of travel and exploration in changing medical understandings of alcohol. I examine these issues through an analysis of two expeditions organized along naval lines—the British Arctic Expedition (1875–6) and the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–4)—and, in doing so, demonstrate that studying 1 I would like to thank Dr James Kneale, Dr Innes M. Keighren, and Professor Klaus Dodds for their invaluable comments on drafts of this paper. An earlier version of this paper was also presented in a seminar at the Huntington Library, California, and benefited from the comments and suggestions of those who attended. This research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) through the TECHE doctoral training partnership and by an AHRC International Placement Scheme Fellowship at the Huntington Library.
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