"Turn and twist it as we may, over against every bulwark for decency and morality which society erects, the saloon projects its colossal shadow, omen of evil wherever it falls into the lives of the poor."
--Jacob Riis
Saloons and Restaurants
When the 18th amendment was passed, many restaurants and saloons soon went out of business.
"The closing of breweries, distilleries and saloons led to the elimination of thousands of jobs, and in turn thousands more jobs were eliminated for barrel makers, truckers, waiters, and other related trades."
(pbs.org)
"The closing of breweries, distilleries and saloons led to the elimination of thousands of jobs, and in turn thousands more jobs were eliminated for barrel makers, truckers, waiters, and other related trades."
(pbs.org)
"One of the most profound effects of Prohibition was on government tax revenues. Before Prohibition, many states relied heavily on excise taxes in liquor sales to fund their budgets. In New York, almost 75% of the state's revenue was derived from liquor taxes. With Prohibition in effect, that revenue was immediately lost. At the national level, Prohibition cost the federal government a total of $11 billion in lost tax revenue, while costing over $300 million to enforce."
(pbs.org) "Where God builds a church the devil builds next door--a saloon, is an old saying that has lost its point in New York. Either the devil was on the ground first, or he has been doing a good deal more in the way of building. I tried once to find out how the account stood, and counted to 111 Protestant churches, chapels, and places of worship of every kind below Fourteenth Street, 4,065 saloons. The worst half of the tenement population lives down there, and it has to this day the worst half of the saloons. Uptown the account stands a little better, but there are easily ten saloons to every church to-day. I am afraid, too, that the congregations are larger by a good deal; certainly the attendance is steadier and the contributions more liberal the week round, Sunday included." |
"Tis mighty easy to preach temperance, but it's [the saloon's] the only decent place we fellows have to go. We have a newspaper to read, another fellow to argue with, and we can put our feet on the table and eat all the free lunch we want. We have a blooming fine fiddler who plays for us--say, wot's a fellow livin' for--all work ?" "In midtown Manhattan, the bars and cabarets were swankier, catering to the upper crust with singers and dancing girls. In Greenwich Village, frequented by college students, the bars might be decorated like a pirate's lair or a pretend jail cell. In Harlem, where African American writers, artists, and musicians were nurturing an artistic renaissance, nightclubs and speakeasies brimmed with a new, exciting sound called jazz. Many of the clubs broke racial barriers by attracting both blacks and whites..." |