One of the reasons for the rapid growth of the coffee house industry in England was the change in social structure it brought. Like Constantinople a century earlier, the 17th-century English coffeehouses rapidly became the hub of social engagement. Samuel Pepys, the famous diaryist of the time, recorded that he stopped by his favoured coffee establishment at least three times a week to meet friends and colleagues, trade, gather information, and hear the latest political news. For the price of a penny entree fee and another penny for a cup of coffee, nobles and influential people from the King’s court gathered alongside intellectuals such as Isaac Newton, merchants, the emerging bourgeoisie, poets such as Alexander Pope, and common folk. Because anyone could access this wealth of information and intellect for the price of a penny, the London coffee houses became known as “Penny Universities”.
