THE MYSTERY OF GREENERY OVER DOORWAYS

In my astral wanderings to the Middle Ages, as I roam the filthy, muddy streets, I notice bunches of greenery hanging over certain doorways - entrances to dingy-looking places that give me the creeps. Back in my own time, curiosity gets the better of me, and I decide to look into the mystery: what are those bushes doing there?

My research reveals that the bush was a sign indicating that wine was sold within. From this comes the saying “Good wine needs no bush,” meaning that excellent wine requires no advertisement, for it will draw customers on its own. This, of course, is no longer the case today. The custom seems to have been widespread across Europe; in Spanish, we find “el buen vino no ha menester pregonero,” and a related expression, “el buen paño en el arca se vende.”

— “Doesn’t advertise much, does she? Relies on the principle that good wine needs no bush...” D. Clark, Monady Theory, 1983. UK. || “It was from this custom that the saying good wine needs no bush originated.” Julia Smith, Fairs, feasts and frolics, 1989. UK. || “Hence the saying in Shakespeare: Good wine needs no bush.” Robert Thompson, The History of the Dwelling-House and its Future, 1914. US.