Liquor in the 20th Century: History of Distilled Spirits.

Liquor in the 20th century underwent major challenges. The biggest was prohibition. During the early 20th century some countries established, and later repealed, prohibition. They included Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and the United States. Referenda to establish prohibition failed in Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden.¹

This is part of a series

Liquor in the 20th Century.

Liquor in the 19th Century.

18th Century Liquor Developments.

Liquor in the 17th Century.

16th Century Liquor Developments.

Liquor in the 15th Century.

Earliest History of Liquor.

Liquor in the 20th Century

1907

Canada began its prohibition.²

1912

Vodka accounted for 89.3% of the total alcohol consumed in Russia.³
Iceland established prohibition.⁴
The Scotch Whisky Association, a trade group, began as the Wine & Spirit Brand Association.

1914

Consumption of absinthe increased when phylloxera destroyed much of France’s wine production. ‘Only in the first years of the twentieth century, when viticulture flourished once more in Languedoc, did wine growers begin to blame absinthe for the poor sales of their own product.’ Consequently, “An anti-absinthe movement gradually came into being: the Academie de Medecine demanded a ban in 1903, and other scientific and temperance organizations supported the cause.”⁵
In 1914, France yielded to pressure from wine producers and banned the sale of absynthe.⁶
“During the First World War, the English army was fortified primarily with rum, the German with schnapps and brandy, and the French with cheap wine.”⁷
Russia imposed prohibition.⁸

1917

The Danish West Indies, the source of Denmark’s widely used rum, was sold and the price of rum increased sharply. Within five years Denmark became a beer-drinking (rather than spirits-drinking one) country and remains so today.⁹

1919

Both Norway and Finland established prohibition.¹⁰
A prohibition referendum failed in New Zealand.¹¹

1920s

‘Unlike the saloons they replaced, speakeasies were patronized by both sexes.’¹²
‘Cocktails spread from the public [speakeasies] to the private [home] sphere during Prohibition’ in the U.S.¹³
‘Reversing a historic pattern, hard liquor took the place of beer, contributing about two-thirds of total alcohol consumption by the end of the 1920s
because of National Prohibition in the U.S.¹⁴

1920

The U.S. imposed prohibition.

1922

A prohibition referendum failed in Sweden.¹⁵

1924

The National Distillers Products Corporation was formed and began buying the alcohol stock of defunct distillers. When prohibition ended, it owned over half of the aged whiskey in the U.S.¹⁶

1925

Russia repealed prohibition.¹⁷

1927

Norway repealed prohibition.¹⁸

1930s

‘Starting in the 1930s, cocktain parties became popular forms of entertainment This is also when the social practice of having a drink (or two or three) before dinner became widespread [around the world].’¹⁹

1930

A prohibition referendum failed in Australia.²⁰

1932

Both Iceland and Finland repealed prohibition.²¹

1933

The U.S. repealed prohibition.

1941-1945

“Cocktails for Hitler.” These weren’t drinks at all. During World War II, distillers in the U.S. shifted production to industrial alcohol for the war effort. Thus, they said they were making “cocktails for Hitler.”²²

Late 1940s to Early 1950s

‘By the late 1940s and 1950s, cocktail rituals were woven into the fabric of the dominant culture’¦’ in the U.S.²³
‘Drinking’¦began to shift from an occasional, often public, act to one that was incorporated into daily life in the home as a marker and accompaniment of leisure.’²⁴

1948

The last Canadian province to repeal prohibition, Prince Edward Island, did so.²⁵

1964

The U.S. Congress declared bourbon whiskey the country’s official distilled spirit. It also laid out the specific regulations that are to be met in order to label a whiskey as bourbon.²⁶

1966

The last U.S. state to repeal prohibition, Mississippi, did so.²⁷

1970

The U.S. federal excise tax on alcohol had risen so high that a moonshiner could produce and sell it for half the amount of the tax alone.²⁸

1973

Three trade groups, the Bourbon Institute, the Distilled Spirits Institute, and the Licensed Beverage Industries, Inc. merged. That formed the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS).

1982

The European Union (EU) introduced crisis distillation for use in emergencies caused by excess production of wine. But it operated in 22 of the 26 years following years.²⁹

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10 Blocker, op cit.

11 ______, ibid.

12 Gately, I. Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol. NY: Gotham, 2008, p. 376.

13 Gately, p. 377.

14 Blocker, J. Kaleidoscope in Motion. Drinking in the United States, 1400-2000. In: Holt. M., (ed.) Alcohol: A Social and Cultural History. Oxford: Berg, 2006. Pp. 225-240. P. 232.

15 Blocker, 2003, op cit.

16 ______, 2003, xlii.

17 ______, 2003, xxxi-xiv.

18 ______, 2003, ibid.

19 Lukacs, p. 197.

2o Blocker, 2003, xxxi-xiv.

21 ______, 2003, ibid.

22 Lyman, H. The Science and Art of Wine Making. Course at State U NY at Binghamton, 1996.

23 Blocker, J., 2006, p. 234.

24 ______, J, 2006, p. 235.

25 Blocker, 2003, op cit.

26 Defining “Bourbon.” The State (SC), 5-1-02, p. D1.

27 Holder, H., and Cherpitel, C. The End of U.S. Contemp Drug Prob, 1996, 23(2), 301-330, p. 301.

28 Nelson, D. Moonshiners, Bootleggers, & Rumrunners. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks, 1995. Fascinating coverage of liquor in the 20th century.

29 Gately, p. 476.

Liquor in the 20th Century: History of Distilled Spirits Timeline