National Dive Bar Day – July 7, 2024

Did you know that the story behind the dive bar has a very long history, In the past time, prohibition blocked the manufacturing, sale, and transportation of alcohol, and led to the rise of multiple illegal drinking establishments all over the U.S. Later on, the repeal of this law ended this flourishing illegal drinking industry, but its popularity spiked again by the ’70s.  The Prohibition and the Beatnik era — dive bars were never part of popular culture. “Barfly” and David Lynch’s film “Blue Velvet,” plus mentions in pulp novels and noir thrillers took the humble dive bar to new heights.

It became ‘cool’ to celebrate low culture. The end of the ’80s saw many bars adopting the name ‘dive’, even though these establishments were brand new.

The dive in the dive bar is usually referred to as the entrance of the bar is located. These days, many kitchens have begun to adopt gas or coal ovens instead of the larger wood-fired ovens, leading to extra spaces being created under existing restaurants. Also, as per my research, it found that the Oxford English Dictionary says, the reason we use ‘dive’ to describe a ‘drinking den’ comes from the fact that such places were in cellars or basements that people could ‘dive’ into without being observed by others.

Many people credit author/poet Charles Bukowski’s semi-autobiography, “Barfly,” hailed as an ultimate ‘dive bar’ story even today, as being responsible for bringing dive bars to the cultural mainstream.

Seagram’s association associated that with this day, much like the dive bar, this drink has also seen a shift in status. By creating this day, they have embraced this shift and have given people a reason to celebrate dive bars and the drink, too.

Along with this the main aims of the company are to help preserve the dive bar, supporting the National Trust for Historic Preservation with various initiatives.