I did a write-up on this site about this a long time ago with excerpts from a fantastic sociological paper from the turn of the century
The mass push against alcohol was as a means to alleviate fears of immigrants, working class folks, and Catholics by a predominantly Protestant population who was beginning to lose a sense of control. They did some good stuff like raising the age of consent in laces, but broadly it was a religious movement from the dominant religion and race, attempting to close down establishments that became a refuge of immigrants, union activity, and other “uncivil” stuff.
There was certainly a well-intentioned aspect to it for most members, particularly women, but the undercurrent was always suspect imo, more like it dragged along actual concerned people. Saloons being busted was pushed for by the temperance movement with the help of the police and bosses in order for the latter two to be able to crush the rise in unions and other worker comradery occurring in these places after work.
In the statement, now current among those who have studied the saloon “at first hand,” that it is the workingman’s club, lies the secret of its hold upon the vast working and voting populace of Chicago. That same instinct in man which leads those of the more resourceful classes to form such clubs as the Union League Club, or the Marquette Club; which leads the college man into the fraternity, leads the laboring men into the clubs furnished them by the saloonkeeper, not from philanthropic motives, but because of shrewd business foresight. The term “club” applies; for, though unorganized, each saloon has about the same constituency night after night. Its character is determined by the character of the men who, having something in common, make the saloon their rendezvous. Their common ground may be their nationality, as the name “Italian Headquarters” implies; or it may be their occupation, as indicated by the names “Mechanics’ Exchange,” "Milkman’s Exchange,“ etc.; or, if their political affiliations are their common ground, there are the ” Democratic Headquarters of the Eighteenth Ward,“ etc. As shown above, the ”club-room“ is furnished with tables, usually polished and cleaned, with from two to six chairs at each table. As you step in, you find a few men standing at the bar, a few drinking, and farther back men are seated about the tables, reading, playing cards, eating, and discussing, over a glass of beer, subjects varying from the political and sociological problems of the day to the sporting news and the lighter chat of the immediate neighborhood. Untrammeled by rules and restrictions, it surpasses in spirit the organized club. That general atmosphere of freedom, that spirit of democracy, which men crave, is here realized; that men seek it and that the saloon tries to cultivate it is blazoned forth in such titles as ”The Freedom,“ "The Social,” “The Club,“ etc. Here men ”shake out their hearts together.” Intercourse quickens the thought, feeling, and action.
In many of these discussions, to which I have listened and in which I have joined, there has been revealed a deeper insight into the real cause of present evils than is often manifested from lecture platforms, but their remedies are wide of the mark, each bringing forward a theory which is the panacea for all social ills. The names of Karl Marx and leaders of political and social thought are often heard here. This is the workingman’s school. He is both scholar and teacher. The problems of national welfare are solved here. Many as patriotic men as our country produces learn here their lessons in patriotism and brotherhood. Here the masses receive their lessons in civil government, learning less of our ideals, but more of the practical workings than the public schools teach. It is the most cosmopolitan institution in the most cosmopolitan of cities. One saloon advertises its cosmopolitanism by this title, “Everybody’s Exchange.” Men of all nationalities meet and mingle, and by the interchange of views and opinions their own are modified. Nothing short of travel could exert so broadening an influence upon these men. It does much to assimilate the heterogeneous crowds that are constantly pouring into our city from foreign shores. But here, too, they learn their lessons in corruption and vice. It is their school for good and evil. …
The adaptability of the saloon to the needs of a particular locality is a source of constant surprise and admiration, as it is also a cause of genuine consternation among Christian people who reflect at all upon the cautious institutionalism of the churches.
As with much of the Progressive Era, the reforms came from a place of social order and to some extent social-Darwinism. Poverty was caused by drink, not the bosses, Abuse was caused by drink, not by the patriarchal society, drink was the reason the immigrants are bad and must be “cleansed” and made American or have their kids taken away. Drink caused workers to earn lower wages cause slaking, not the system of wages itself being a shackle upon working people.
They were joined by businessmen, industrialists, the hierarchy of the Protestant Churches and the descendants of the Southern landed gentry. The Anti-Saloon League, a Protestant church-based Ohio organization that became a driving force in bringing about Prohibition, didn’t get all their money by passing around the collection plate. John D. Rockefeller kicked in $350,000. Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie backed them as well.
Even if it cited actual social-ills, temperance was built upon anxieties over immigration, religion, and class. It is pretty comparable to any other case of concern trolling or using a social issue for one’s own ends or protection of the hegemons.
So the materialist analysis is that this is all in the context of increased proletarian immigration from majority Catholic nations who brought with them a tradition of labor organizing and in order to survive in the US began living more closely with their neighbors. This created anxiety and saloons became a signifier of labor unrest, immigrants, and Catholics and would be blamed by bosses for strikes being organized and by Progressives for any and all social ills.
There was certainly an element of genuinely combatting abuse, but this was the progressive era, any social ill that was combatted came with a dozen horrible things and had an element of social hegemony. I am pretty proud of this part of my original comment
Poverty was caused by drink, not the bosses, Abuse was caused by drink, not by the patriarchal society, drink was the reason the immigrants are bad and must be “cleansed” and made American or have their kids taken away. Drink caused workers to earn lower wages cause slaking, not the system of wages itself being a shackle upon working people.
I recently bought a book “through jaundiced eyes” about how political cartoons depicted workers in the US, havent read it yet, but a BIG part of anti-labor cartoons just from prior courses I have taken is drunken stereotypes. This is why the Irish stereotype of being a drunkard exists
I did a write-up on this site about this a long time ago with excerpts from a fantastic sociological paper from the turn of the century
The mass push against alcohol was as a means to alleviate fears of immigrants, working class folks, and Catholics by a predominantly Protestant population who was beginning to lose a sense of control. They did some good stuff like raising the age of consent in laces, but broadly it was a religious movement from the dominant religion and race, attempting to close down establishments that became a refuge of immigrants, union activity, and other “uncivil” stuff.
There was certainly a well-intentioned aspect to it for most members, particularly women, but the undercurrent was always suspect imo, more like it dragged along actual concerned people. Saloons being busted was pushed for by the temperance movement with the help of the police and bosses in order for the latter two to be able to crush the rise in unions and other worker comradery occurring in these places after work.
Fantastic summary of the role of saloons as social institutions of the working class in Chicago from 1900 http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5765/
As with much of the Progressive Era, the reforms came from a place of social order and to some extent social-Darwinism. Poverty was caused by drink, not the bosses, Abuse was caused by drink, not by the patriarchal society, drink was the reason the immigrants are bad and must be “cleansed” and made American or have their kids taken away. Drink caused workers to earn lower wages cause slaking, not the system of wages itself being a shackle upon working people.
https://offtheleash.net/2017/12/19/prohibition-as-class-warfare/
Even if it cited actual social-ills, temperance was built upon anxieties over immigration, religion, and class. It is pretty comparable to any other case of concern trolling or using a social issue for one’s own ends or protection of the hegemons.
So the materialist analysis is that this is all in the context of increased proletarian immigration from majority Catholic nations who brought with them a tradition of labor organizing and in order to survive in the US began living more closely with their neighbors. This created anxiety and saloons became a signifier of labor unrest, immigrants, and Catholics and would be blamed by bosses for strikes being organized and by Progressives for any and all social ills.
There was certainly an element of genuinely combatting abuse, but this was the progressive era, any social ill that was combatted came with a dozen horrible things and had an element of social hegemony. I am pretty proud of this part of my original comment
I recently bought a book “through jaundiced eyes” about how political cartoons depicted workers in the US, havent read it yet, but a BIG part of anti-labor cartoons just from prior courses I have taken is drunken stereotypes. This is why the Irish stereotype of being a drunkard exists
Thank you for the citations. I’m gonna read about this the next few days