The Old Drink-in-the-Face

Last night after two episodes of Hidden Palms, Kenneth mused that the show was becoming too much of "an evening soap-- what with the gun and the drink in the face." C'est possible.

Kenneth: Do people ever really throw drinks in others' faces?
Erk: I once saw a woman throw a cappuccino at a city bus.
Kenneth: [giggles]
Erk: And, on Workout: Rebecca threw a drink in Jesse's face.
Kenneth: Yes, that's TV.

Is the drink-in-the-face strictly a televisual and filmic phenomenon? C'est possible. However, the move has a long history, including this image which demonstrates anxiety over the possible incivility a-brewing in early British coffeehouses:



Before you identify this print as an early modern analog to TV, allow me to report that in 1683 Titus Oates-- Restoration sodomite, libelous trouble-maker, and perjuring informant in re the Popish Plot-- after being whacked on the head with a cane at a coffeehouse responded by tossing a dish of hot coffee in the face of his assailant. Purportedly, Oates was driven to the old drink-in-the-face because in the crowded room he was cornered into his seat . Knowing Oates's penchant for fighting dirty, I have my doubts about the reported logistics. Incidentally, Oates-- in 2006 voted the 17th century's worst Briton by BBC Magazine-- makes an ideal precursor to the evening soap. Maybe that explains why I have a picture of him (in the pillory) pinned on my office bulletin board?