A touch of dryness

Prohibition was, in many ways, the culmination of a temperance movement that encouraged laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol as far back as the early 1800s. In fact, the first recorded accounts of Prohibition date back to the founder of the Xia Dynasty, who banned alcohol throughout his Chinese empire. Upon his death, his son, as the new emperor, legalized alcohol once again. It wouldn’t be the last attempt at embracing concepts put forth by temperance societies “because they believed it was the right thing to do”. Profits for emerging industries depended on sobriety in its labor force. A more positive result of Prohibition was a reduction in domestic violence and public intoxication. Prison populations declined.

One of my favourite stories of Prohibition comes from California. It was legal to grow grapes, but not make wine. Farmers would sell grapes in concentrated blocks with the warning: “After adding this to a gallon of water, do not place jug in a cupboard for twenty days, because it will turn into wine.”

We tend to equate Prohibition with the United States, but the worldwide rise of the Suffragette Movement brought control of alcohol— along with the vote for women—into the spotlight in many other countries in the early 20th century. Countries with a strong Protestant faith—like Norway, Sweden and Finland—also began to see Prohibition as a religious necessity. In Canada, prohibition tended to be a mix of the above: The Wartime Measures Act required grain to be regarded as a necessity of war, and in 1916 introduced a measure known as the “banning of the bars.”

The Canadian Parliament had already passed a law, as early as 1864, allowing counties to declare themselves wet or dry. Each province crafted its own laws regarding production, distribution, and sale of alcohol, since getting a nationwide consensus was akin to herding cats. In Prince Edward Island, Prohibition was in place from 1907 until 1948—In other provinces it tended to be for a shorter time. Quebec introduced prohibition in 1919 and then repealed it that same year. Some cities crafted laws according to the desires of their constituents. The city of Owen Sound banned liquor up to the mid-70s. The Junction area of Toronto was dry up to the year 2000. There are a few pockets in Canada that still are dry.

THIS WEEK’S PICK
Valentine’s Day is upon us. What better way to set the mood, than to toast our beloved with one of our County sparkling wines? We have a stellar array to from which choose, to suit both purse and palate.

Roses are nice—but a chilled bottle of your favourite local bubbly with two glasses is guaranteed to hit the spot.