Posted on 03/24/2012 8:56:57 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
These are the places in America where alcohol is still banned
The year was 1933. America's fourteen-year experiment in sobriety was over; the federally mandated ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol had been lifted. All across the U.S., people welcomed the repeal of prohibition with open arms and flowing taps.
Or rather, most of them did. Meet the counties where America's "noble experiment" never died.
When prohibition lifted almost eighty years ago, many communities (particularly in the Bible Belt) voted to keep alcohol bans in place at the local level. Today, there are still more than 200 "dry" counties nationwide with what most would consider excessively stringent liquor laws. There are even more that remain partially dry (or "moist," to those familiar with the particulars of prohibition legislation).
It's interesting to compare the effects of early 20th century prohibition against those of 2012. America's first experiment with alcohol regulation was a failure on many fronts. Alcohol consumption remained rampant. Thousands died from poorly prepared bathtub liquor. But on the other hand, it also fueled a pretty badass culture of back-alley science and innovation. Smugglers looking to bootleg booze had to come up with innovative ways of eluding the law. Sometimes this involved coming up with creative ways to hide cargo; other times all it meant was being able to outrun whoever was chasing you.
In many ways, prohibition was the catalyst for the first (and arguably biggest) large-scale Do-It-Yourself science movement in the nation's history; home-brewing became extremely popular during prohibition, with magazines like Popular Science publishing how-to guides for assembling DIY distilleries, and measuring your alcohol to keep it within the ABV standards outlined by the eighteenth amendment.
Today, however, it seems like the only real benefit to prohibition is the sense of moral superiority that it instills in those who support it — and that's a reality many of the country's driest regions are having to face up to. According to the BBC, many communities that have been dry for decades have been forced to re-evaluate their non-alcoholic standards in light of hard economic times. If you look at the map, you'll notice that many of the dry and moist counties are interspersed with wet ones. With establishments in dry communities losing business to those in counties that permit alcohol, there are many who feel that the prohibition model cannot hold.
"I hope that we can move into the 21st Century and take advantage of a lot of the things that other communities have," explained Paul Croley, a local lawyer who recently led a campaign to change the status of Williamsburg Kentucky from dry to moist. (The tiny community voted on Tuesday — by a margin of just 14 votes — to finally allow the sale of alcohol in restaurants).
"It is time to wake up and realise that our standard of living can be as good as our neighbours."
It’s a matter of public vote, county by county, as to whether mixed drink sales will be permitted. It’s also a matter of public vote on a municipal level, whether an ABC store will be allowed there, and what sort of drinking establishments as well as permitted hours of operation.
Maybe I’m biased, but I tended bar in a dry county, and everyone involved managed to enjoy themselves. The private bar was in a very old hunting lodge-cum-resort. There were liquor lockers for individual safekeeping. Patrons had their own personal cases for locked storage as well as a touch of style, with sometimes very fine ones, leather, monogrammed.
It was another world, and not necessarily a bad one.
The Goverment-Prohibitionist Complex. Puritans (including conservative Puritans) love big government when it meets their “moral” standards.
Local government control is better, but it’s still government control.
That's why I am a conservative. I am willing to accept people wanting these kinds of laws if they are done at a local level, where people can choose to escape them if they wish. It is liberals that feel if it is a good idea, it is a great idea if it is mandatory and forced on the whole country, if not the whole world.
Just to note, many of the ‘dry’ counties in Kansas do have Taverns. 3.2 beers available...
Good question, I was there for a job interview some years ago and could not find a "bar" in my hotel. It turns out that locals can buy hard liquor, beer or wine at state controlled stores. There are "drinking" clubs which you can join which look just like bars except they are BYOB. The "club" also provided members with individual storage lockers to keep their booze, their contribution to the party being glasses, ice, and mixers. Utah has (had?) very restrictive drunk driving regulations which called for a six month suspension if caught driving drunk which was raised to a full year if you had an open container (seal broken) in the car (even in the trunk!). The result being that people who brought a bottle of wine to a friends house for a party tended to drink the whole bottle rather then risk driving with an "open" bottle, this was also the reason for lockers at the private clubs.
I believe Oklahoma had a similar accommodation although it did extend to actual bars in hotels. I have hazy memories of "The Impact Zone" in a Fort Sill hotel...
Regards,
GtG
When I first moved to Texas some 20 years ago, some friends to me out for a night on the town.
We went to the local watering spot in the dry town..
“do you have a club mebership?” they asked. No
“thats $5 but its a lifetime membership” I ponied up.
“there’s a 5 dollar cover charge” I ponied up
We get in and i order a beer.
“do you have a unicard?” No.
“its $5 but its a lifetime membership” I ponied up and order a Bud...
“that’ll be $5 hon” here’s your tip.. LoL
I take a sip and one of my friends says “its dead in here, let’s go someplace else”
LoL lather rinse repeat!
Now the place is wet and we can dispense with this BS robbery.
We found that during voting for wet or dry, that the local bible thumpers that said in circulated flyers it was going to bring crime and vice to the area actually were the people that had liquor clubs.
They just didnt need anyone cutting in on the action LoL
Well, that’s a relief. It was a bizarre law.
Can a bartender still be given a citation for a heavy pour?
Exactly.
I recall reading that over half the geographic area of the US had some form of restrictive law controlling alcohol from outright ban to state stores with 9 to 5 hours, five days a week. I think the map posted above is a bit optimistic.
G
Just don't insult people's intelligence by calling this "freedom".
Pensacola Fla was an odd place when I lived there.
There were open beer and wine bars
and I recall beer barn drive throughs where they would sell a cup of ice they called a “set up” that you could use for your hard booze, while on the road.
Liquor was controlled by state run stores and there were state licensed bars like ABC liquor lounge that served mixed drinks.
And unlicensed bottle clubs were ubiquitous.
In PA, you must buy beer from a licensed distributor, and you cant buy a 6 pack YOU MUST BUY A CASE BY LAW!!
I think you can buy a 6 pack from a bar.
Ohio has State liquor stores and sells 3.2 beer on Sunday.
In Pa you can get 7.0
Its crazy
The weirdest blue law I ever ran across was in some town in west Texas 20 some years ago that would not sell me BREAD on Sunday because it was against the law LOL
WTF??
I got in trouble in Tyler TX in 1991 during a bicycle race. I was racing for Lone Star Racing Club at the time. The club’s sole sponsor was Katy Schwinn on Mason Road just west of Houston. Did not matter, according to “The Law”, I was advertising for Lone Star Beer. No amount of logic could get around that conclusion.
And I thought that was Grammy Clampett in her youth!
They also sold “set ups” out here in dry bible belt texas at the liquor store
The liquor store would be in the middle of nowhere, where some one started a mobile home park, declared them selves a city and then voted them selves wet. LOL
I would always laugh at the system LOL Now we git us a mobile home city AND a liquor store! Huzzah!
That’s community plannin!
The only places to buy hard booze near here at just like that.
LOL!
It’s beyond bizarre.
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