The First Take-Out Windows.

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During this pandemic, many people utilized take-out windows to buy food and beverages during the pandemic. Think of Starbucks, Wendy's, McDonald's etc.

There was an interesting story in the news today about some of the first take out windows installed during the 1600's in response to the bubonic plague sweeping Europe.



Centuries ago, the bubonic plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, swept through Europe, killing one-third of the continent’s population at the time. Originating in Asia, the disease made its way to Italy during the late Middle Ages, and spread north from there.

These days, we know just as well as medieval Italians that a stiff drink can go a long way to ease troubles during the global coronavirus pandemic.

Thus, the “wine windows,” or buchette del vino, of Tuscany. They are just as they sound: pint-size hatches, carved into the concrete walls of urban wineries and shops, where beverage merchants would serve sips at a safe social distance.

First introduced in the 1600s, their true purpose went untapped for centuries after the plague — that is, until a new one came along this year.

“Everyone is confined to home for two months and then the government permits a gradual reopening,” the Wine Window Association website reads. “During this time, some enterprising Florentine Wine Window owners have turned back the clock and are using their Wine Windows to dispense glasses of wine, cups of coffee, drinks, sandwiches and ice cream — all germ-free, contactless!”

Matteo Faglia, president of the Wine Window Association, told Insider, “People could knock on the little wooden shutters and have their bottles filled direct from the Antinori, Frescobaldi and Ricasoli families, who still produce some of Italy’s best-known wine today.”

More than 150 wine windows — some of which have since been permanently filled — within Florence’s walled city, and even more, dotted the Tuscan region.

Tuscany brings back 'wine windows' used during the plague

Innovation during the time of chaos!

Mercantile.....and clever.