January 14, 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the Volstead Act, better known as Prohibition. History has proven that legislating the drinking habits of the country led to increased corruption, loss of taxes, loss of income - except for those whose income depended on enforcement - and for some, almost unimaginable creativity. In Kewaunee County, that creativity extended to hiding alcohol producing stills in tree canopies and hiding product beneath the manure in the barn's gutter. Wisconsin was the 39th state to ratify the 18th Amendment. It affected nearly every part of life as most knew it.
There were always those who tried to curtail any kind of alcohol use, or abuse, but for the German, Bohemian and Belgian immigrants to Kewaunee County, beer, or sometimes a shot, was a part of culture and social life. Wisconsin's Anti-Saloon League was in force as early as 1898, but Ahnapee's Temperance Society was formed following the Civil War. Good Templers Lodge was established by a large number of influential men and women including Judge Boalt, Rufus Wing, DeWayne Stebbins and Simon Hall. It was Ahnapee's first attempt at such a movement. The Lodge, #111, gave parties and masquerades in addition to other entertainments. It was pointed out that in Sweden it was forbidden to purchase alcoholic beverages unless a food purchase was made at the same time. The idea did not catch on in Ahnapee, however, the Enterprise opined that the Temperance Lodge was "a good move and should be sustained." When Casco's St. Patrick's Temperance Society made news in 1909, it was more of the same.
Temperance came at a bad time economically for Kewaunee County breweries which were beginning to prosper. Documented breweries operated in Ahnapee, Carlton, Casco and Kewaunee Towns. No doubt there were others. Saloons were found throughout the county's larger communities and at nearly every crossroads. When Prohibition was finally repealed in December 1933, it was the Christmas present of a lifetime to many. Though it happened more than 40 years before the ratification of Prohibition, Temperance even affected the naming of a postal community!
During 2002, this blogger and others were invited to tour a late 1860s' era building undergoing significant restoration. A ballroom began to appear as the walls of rooms were torn out of the hotel's second floor. Removing ceilings brought to light another rounded, or somewhat arched, ceiling with blue and yellow medallions at each end. Gas light fixtures had been suspended from the center of the medallions. Lathe construction was evident in the rooms off the hall where much of the plaster had been removed. The horsehair and coarse Lake Michigan sand were visible in the thick plaster.
A three-foot balcony, accessed by 3 or 4 steps, ran the length of the south end of the hall. There were places on the back wall where square dance callers had jotted their calls. On the inside walls were "Great Indian Medical Miracle" labels, apparently from liquor bottles. Adequate daytime light was provided by a number of windows overlooking the community's many tin roofs. Most unusual was a small opening, about an inch square, a few inches from the medallion to the south. In his inspection of the attic above the hall, the owner found crocks upside down above the opening and realized they had been there since Prohibition. He removed one crack but did not otherwise disturb them. What appeared to be peeling paint in the ceiling was actually a cleverly disguised opening for (then deteriorated) rubber tubing that access the crocks. That peeling paint escaped the eagle eyes of the revenue agents. Perhaps they were the same men who never looked up to see a still up in the trees.
One hundred years after the ratification of Prohibition, alcohol remains a social issue that brings tax money to government coffers, just as casino gaming has more recently. Legalizing marijuana isn't far behind.
There were always those who tried to curtail any kind of alcohol use, or abuse, but for the German, Bohemian and Belgian immigrants to Kewaunee County, beer, or sometimes a shot, was a part of culture and social life. Wisconsin's Anti-Saloon League was in force as early as 1898, but Ahnapee's Temperance Society was formed following the Civil War. Good Templers Lodge was established by a large number of influential men and women including Judge Boalt, Rufus Wing, DeWayne Stebbins and Simon Hall. It was Ahnapee's first attempt at such a movement. The Lodge, #111, gave parties and masquerades in addition to other entertainments. It was pointed out that in Sweden it was forbidden to purchase alcoholic beverages unless a food purchase was made at the same time. The idea did not catch on in Ahnapee, however, the Enterprise opined that the Temperance Lodge was "a good move and should be sustained." When Casco's St. Patrick's Temperance Society made news in 1909, it was more of the same.
Temperance came at a bad time economically for Kewaunee County breweries which were beginning to prosper. Documented breweries operated in Ahnapee, Carlton, Casco and Kewaunee Towns. No doubt there were others. Saloons were found throughout the county's larger communities and at nearly every crossroads. When Prohibition was finally repealed in December 1933, it was the Christmas present of a lifetime to many. Though it happened more than 40 years before the ratification of Prohibition, Temperance even affected the naming of a postal community!
During 2002, this blogger and others were invited to tour a late 1860s' era building undergoing significant restoration. A ballroom began to appear as the walls of rooms were torn out of the hotel's second floor. Removing ceilings brought to light another rounded, or somewhat arched, ceiling with blue and yellow medallions at each end. Gas light fixtures had been suspended from the center of the medallions. Lathe construction was evident in the rooms off the hall where much of the plaster had been removed. The horsehair and coarse Lake Michigan sand were visible in the thick plaster.
A three-foot balcony, accessed by 3 or 4 steps, ran the length of the south end of the hall. There were places on the back wall where square dance callers had jotted their calls. On the inside walls were "Great Indian Medical Miracle" labels, apparently from liquor bottles. Adequate daytime light was provided by a number of windows overlooking the community's many tin roofs. Most unusual was a small opening, about an inch square, a few inches from the medallion to the south. In his inspection of the attic above the hall, the owner found crocks upside down above the opening and realized they had been there since Prohibition. He removed one crack but did not otherwise disturb them. What appeared to be peeling paint in the ceiling was actually a cleverly disguised opening for (then deteriorated) rubber tubing that access the crocks. That peeling paint escaped the eagle eyes of the revenue agents. Perhaps they were the same men who never looked up to see a still up in the trees.
One hundred years after the ratification of Prohibition, alcohol remains a social issue that brings tax money to government coffers, just as casino gaming has more recently. Legalizing marijuana isn't far behind.
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