Bouncers, disco biscuits and bevvy: - Intoxication since the 1990s

On a night out to a UK town centre over the last twenty years, not much has changed, or at least the changes are subtle or superficial. One apparent change appears to be the behaviour of bouncers. Once upon a time bouncers had the ability to prevent entry on the smallest of pretexts (usually trainer-shoe related.) This is still true of course, but trainers are more likely to be tolerated in nightclubs now than before.
Has fashion changed? Or has our societies’ standards slipped and we now accept that casual wearing poor trainer wearing scum will want to get a drunk in the early hours of the morning? Of course nightclubs always had a myth of exclusivity surrounding them which never met the reality. No dress code keeps scum out of a drinking establishment. It just allows scum that can afford to wear a suit and a pair of shoes through the door.
But something has happened recently which has forced bouncers to become a little less discerning on who they let into their bar or club. In a word, it is called competition. During the 1990s local authorities cottoned on to the value of encouraging a night-time economy on their doorstep. They granted late night licenses to premises in close proximity to each other. Bouncers could now see for themselves exclusivity meant that an unhappy punter would simply move to the next bar and spend their money there. In short, exclusivity had to go if a club was to be full of paying customers. Trainers were allowed in. Maybe not everywhere, but they are no longer automatically banned.
Reading Disco Biscuits the other week (review is below) was a reminder that every generation likes to get wasted. “Binge Drink” Britain is hardly a new phenomenon. Nor is it peculiarly British. Plenty of bevvy is thrown to the back of European and Antipodean throats too.
What is new, is it is easier for media companies and disapproving documentary filmmakers to locate the area of town the Local Authority has granted a slew of late night licenses. All the drinking is now in one part of town, rather than dispersed to separate parts of a town centre or the suburbs. Pitch up a camera there and edit the clips in order to max up the outrage of Middle Britain.

It is very easy for certain middle aged parents to forget their own past. The Disco Biscuits collection reminds us that we were all young once.