Here is a quote from historian Peter Thompson’s Rum, Punch and Revolution detailing a boozy bash at City Tavern on Second Street.
“On Dec, 1, 1779, the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania and the state assembly threw themselves a dinner at City Tavern that cost over 2,000 pounds.
“A most ‘gentlemanly liberality’ was the order of the day as 270 diners drank 522 bottles of Madeira, 16 large bowls of punch, nine of toddy, six of Sangaree, and 24 bottles of port.
“Some indication of how the evening ended is provided by a bill for damages of more than 100 pounds. The diners destroyed 96 wine glasses, five decanters and one large inkstand.”