Beer Drinking Games In America: A Brief History

Beer drinking games are an all-American tradition, and truth be told, they probably actually predate this country by several centuries, human nature being what it is.  But America seems to be the world leader when it comes to creativity, and it’s no different when it comes to thinking up beer games.

In fact, it could be argued that we spend an inordinate amount of time thinking up new beer games, but that’s like debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, which never got anyone anywhere, and even today, experts disagree on the answer (although almost all authorities agree that the exact number would depend on whether or not the angels have been drinking beer).

But in this country, beer drinking games seemed to really take off after the invention of the TV set.  Just as the fortuitous accident of dropping a piece of chocolate into peanut butter led to the happy accident of Reese Cups, so the combination of beer and mindless entertainment unleashed a tidal wave of creativity on the part of American college students, beginning with the classic beer game known simply as Hi, Bob.

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To play this game, everyone would gather around the TV during a rerun of the original Bob Newhart sitcom, where he played a shrink married to the lovely Suzanne Pleshette, with that wacky neighbor who used to be on I Dream of Jeanie.  Whenever any character would utter the phrase “hi, Bob”, everyone in the room would have to guzzle their beer.  As this phrase tended to be uttered a lot during a typical episode, a good time was usually had by all.  (In fact,  some sociologists believe that as many as 3% of the babies born in the late 1980s were conceived during games of Hi, Bob.)

Of course, beer drinking games have come a long way from the days of Hi, Bob, which, although quite entertaining, was not real long on creativity.  Such improvements as Beer Trek rapidly followed, which involved watching one of the many Star Trek TV programs and features a long list of complicated rules for when to drink.  Compared to Hi, Bob, it was like playing chess after playing checkers.

But beer drinking games continue to evolve, and the all time greatest beer drinking game ever, Beer Pongnow rules our college campuses.  Even more sophisticated than Beer Trek, Beer Pong requires actual equipment in order to play.  You need cups of beer, and a Beer Pong table.  Some believe that it’s the final culmination of beer drinking games, while others believe that they will continue to evolve, and one day Beer Pong itself will seem as primitive as Hi, Bob.  Who knows?  Only time (and beer) will tell.

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