As someone who makes Yards of Ale Glasses, I feel it is important to know the history of this unique and formidable piece of drinkware.
I will start this journey using the most immediate resource available to me; the internet, or specifically, Wikipedia.
According to the oracle:
“The glass most likely originated in 17th-century England, where the glass was known also as a “long glass”, a “Cambridge yard (glass)” and an “ell glass”.[5] Such a glass was a testament to the glassblower‘s skill as much as the drinker’s. John Evelyn records in his Diary the formal yet festive drinking of a yard of ale toast to James II at Bromley in Kent (now southeast London), 1685. “
Ok, so we have our first mention of the Yard of Ale glass in 1685 in Kent, to toast King James II. This shall be the first entry in our living history of the Yard of Ale. I am wagering on my internet sleuthing ability to find an earlier date or signpost, or at least something interesting to add to the conversation. If not, I will skull a Yard of Ale.
