At every barracks there was a canteen which, until the 1860s, was run by a civilian under license. In the late 1860s they became regimental organizations and the profits from the sale of beer, food, groceries and tobacco were used to furnish the canteens and to buy Christmas presents for army children, sports equipment, and prizes for the soldiers. This change converted the canteens from crude taverns to comfortable restaurants. The canteen committees also ran coffee bars for the teetotallers.
