The Growth and Function of Gourmet Coffee Culture in the United States and Historic London and the Use of the Coffee House in Eugene, Oregon

Presenter: Sarah Frey-Wyer (Anthropology)

Mentor: Lamia Karim

Facilitator: Lou Vijayakar

Focusing primarily on Eugene, Oregon, I have created an overview via participant observation of how people use the communal space within a coffee house and use the historic position of coffee houses in London, England as a basis for comparison. How did people use the space of a coffee house in the 17th and 18th centuries in London, and how does that compare to how people use this “third place” (neither home nor work) in Eugene, Oregon today? This project also explores the evolution of coffee culture in the United States and how coffee has become both gourmet and a cultural commodity in the present-day, primarily considering the growth of Starbucks. Extensive research was done on coffee houses in London spanning three centuries (from the mid-1500s onward). Research in Eugene was completed via participant observation, where I went to several local cafes and spent hours observing how people interacted within them. The outcome of this research shows that people make an effort to privatize space while they are in public, communal areas. With the backdrop of historic London’s coffee houses, I compare the two environments and have found gaping differences in the function of a café. This body of work has value because coffee houses are a dominant “third space” in the world today, and how we use them and interact within them is an important facet of our cultural environment.