Below is an excerpt from author Orland French’s book, PIONEERING: A History of Loyalist College (1992). While some references are no longer current, the publication provides a rich report on Loyalist’s history, which helps to contextualize its milestones. To read more from Mr. French’s book, please click here.
In the mid-70s you could buy beer for 30 cents a draft. Honest. That was the price at the Canadian Hotel on Dundas Street where bottled beer only cost 55 cents. If you wanted to go a little more upscale, you could try The Green Door at the Quinte Hotel on Pinnacle where draft beer cost 60 cents. You’d be laying out 80 cents a shot if your preference was hard liquor.
If Mom and Dad just sent money or your student loan had just come through, you could take your date dancing to live bands at the Mad Mechanic at the Four Seasons or the Sun Valley Motor Inn on North Front Street. But you had to be prepared to spend a dollar for beer or $1.20 for a shot of liquor.
Out of town, the Inn on the Bay in Picton sold beer for 65 cents and the Gilbert Hotel in Trenton served beer, described in a Pioneer survey, “only as ‘cheap’ with strippers.”