During the first half of the eighteenth century a rise in the consumption of Gin, known as the “Gin Craze”, swept over England, particularly London. Hogarth created Gin Lane and its companion Beer Street in support of what became the Gin Act of 1751, a UK Act of the Parliament passed to reduce the uncontrolled production and sale of cheap gin. The prints were sold inexpensively in order to reach as wide an audience as possible. The setting for Gin Lane is St. Giles' Parish in Westminster where, at the time, over a quarter of residences were gin shops. Crime, health and social problems abound; a mother carelessly drops her child, a man steals and eats his own dog’s bone and a seller with a basket still full of pamphlets on the evils of gin-drinking, lies dead or dying of starvation. In contrast, the distiller, pawnbroker and undertaker thrive.