Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Welcome to the ADHS Daily Register

And to the online home of The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs: An Interdisciplinary Journal (SHAD). The site will be updated on a daily basis with news, publications, or resources of interest to members of our group. We encourage you to check back often. Keep reading to find out more about the site and how to contribute to it.

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Rev. Clarence True Wilson (1872-1939), prohibitionist

For a brief sketch of Clarence True Wilson, the Methodist minister from Oregon who was prominent in the temperance and prohibition movement, see here. For a more nuanced appreciation, see here. Curiously, as a result of a series of 46 debates over prohibition he developed a friendship with Clarence Darrow, the crusading attorney who was neither religious nor a teetotaler. For more about Wilson, see two books by Robert Dean McNeil, Valiant for Truth: Clarence True Wilson and Prohibition (Portland: Oregonians Concerned about Addiction Problems, 1992); and Clarence Darrow's Unlikely Friend, Clarence True Wilson: Debaters but Always Friends (Portland: Spirit Press, 2nd ed., 2007) [apparently a new version of the 1992 book]

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Hops shortage and the law of supply and demand

Over the last several decades the low price of hops has forced many farmers to change to other crops. Today's high price for hops may encourage the planting of more hops. In the United States most hops are grown near Yakima, Washington State. In 1950 there were about 515 American hops growers, in 2000 there were 75, and today there are only 45. In the Yakima district about 8500 acres currently are planted with hops. In Germany, the principal hops growing country, there are about 2,500,000 acres of hops. For more, see here.

Whiskey more popular than brandy in South Africa

Although South Africa is the world's fifth largest brandy producer and in contrast imports nearly all of its whiskey, brandy is easily outsold by the 300 brands of whiskey available in the country. For the battle between the two spirits, see here.

Brewing and distilling on Prince Edward Island (article)

Edward MacDonald and Carolyn (Roberts) McQuaid, "Spiritual Liquors": Brewing and Distilling in 19th Century Charlottetown," Island Magazine 58 (2005): 32-39.

Beer in Butte, Montana (article)

Steve Lozar, "1,000,000 Glasses a Day: Butte's Beer History on Tap," Montana: the Magazine of Western History 56/4 (2006): 46-55.

Baseball and beer (thesis)

Nathan M. Corzine, "American Game, American Mirror: Baseball, Beer, the Media and American Culture, 1933-1954" (M.A. thesis, University of Missouri, 2005).

French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon near Newfoundland during National Prohibition (article)

Wayne Curtis, "Bootleg Paradise," American Heritage 58/2 (2007): 70-76. Smugglers.

Drinking among Lakota Sioux (book review)

Philip A. May, review of Beatrice Medicine, Drinking and Sobriety among the Lakota Sioux (2006), in American Indian Culture and Research Journal 31/3 (2007): 215-217. 1950s-1970s.

Taverns in early modern Lyon, France

Susanne Rau, "Public Order in Public Space: Tavern Conflict in Early Modern Lyon," Urban History 34/1 (2007): 102-113.

Reflections of a high-end wine merchant (book review)

Jonathan Yardley reviews the memoir of Neal I. Rosenthal, Reflections of a Wine Merchant here.

American culture and LSD in the 60s and early 70s

Edward Rothstein discusses the impact of LSD on American culture in the 1960s and early 1970s in an essay occasioned by the death in April 2006 of the Swiss chemist Albert Hoffmann at age 102. Hoffmann discovered LSD in 1943 and later wrote a book in which he called it his "problem child." For more, see here.

International harm reduction conference

IHRA’s harm reduction conferences have been key forums for the dissemination of harm reduction ideas and practice around the world since 1990. In 2008, over five days in the stunning Mediterranean city of Barcelona, the programme includes over 50 sessions and 200 speakers, as well as keynote addresses from:

• Paul Hunt (UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health)
• Antonio Maria Costa (UNODC Executive Director)

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Nearly half of American college students use illegal drugs

The Christian Science Monitor makes the arrest of 75 San Diego State students in a drug raid after a six-month sting operation the hook for a story on increased campus drug use. Although between 1993 and 2005 student alcohol (and alcohol binge) consumption did not increase, student marijuana use more than doubled and student use of other illegal drugs increased by more than half. For more, see here.

Molson Coors profit tops expectations

Molson Coors brewing reports higher than expected profits. Why? Despite increased cost of ingredients, higher prices and increased volume, combined with a US dollar sinking, produced the profits that topped expectations. For more, see here.

American Cancer Society hopes to make tobacco an issue in the presidential election

On the eve of the primary election in the important tobacco-growing state North Carolina, the American Cancer Society presses candidates in the hope of making tobacco a presidential campaign issue. Republican John McCain promises NOT to increase the federal tobacco tax (now 39 cents a pack), while Democrats Barrack Obama and Hilary Clinton, to the contrary, both say that they will increase the tax. For more, see here.

Reinventing London porter (article)

James Sumner, "Status, scale and secret ingredients: the retrospective invention of London porter," History & Technology 24/3 (September 2008): 289-306.

Asquith's licensing bill of 1908 (article)

Luci Gosling, "Trouble Brewing," History Today 58/3 (March 2008): 21-23. For part of the article (including comparisons with our own early 21st century concern over binge drinking), see here.

Rice wine in Vietnam (article)

Neil Samson Katz, "Vietnam Culture by the Glass" New York Times, March 9, 2008.

American wines (book review)

Giuseppe LoRusso, book review of Maurice Bensoussan, Vite Americane. Storia Del Vino Negli Stati Uniti, in Food & Foodways: History & Culture of Human Nourishment 16/1 (January 2008): 92-95.

Was emperor Marcus Aurelius addicted to opium? (article)

F.P. Retief and Louise Cilliers, "Marcus Aurelius se siektegeskiedenis en dood: was hy 'n opiumverslaafde?", Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe 47/1 (2007): 56-65.

Allied Brewery archive

From Pub History Society Newsletter, summer 2004:

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Cost of malted barley, hops forcing beer prices up

For a variety of reasons such as farmers shifting to corn and bad weather, two vital ingredients for beer have become much more expensive. Malted barley has risen 25%, while hops (depending on the kind) have climbed 80% to 400%. For details, see here.

Cadbury chocolate (book)

John Bradley, Cadbury's Purple Reign: The Story behind Chocolate's Best-Loved Brand (Wiley, 2008). Apparently a semi-official book situated as a commodity history.

Coffee history (book)

Morton Satin, Coffee Talk: The Stimulating Story of the World's Most Popular Brew (Prometheus, forthcoming 2009).

Tea history (book)

Vicor H. Mair and Erling Hoh, The True History of Tea (Thames and Hudson, forthcoming 2009).

Cocoa and chocolate from plantation to consumer (book)

Arthur W. Knapp, Cocoa and Chocolate--Their History from Plantation to Consumer (Crawford Press, 2007).

In 1950s UK government worried that nuclear war would cause a tea shortage

In the 1950s the British government worried that nuclear war might reduce the supply of tea to almost nil. For more, see here.

Amphetamine history (book)

Nicolas Rasmussen, On Speed: The Many Lives of Amphetamine (New York University Press, 2008), including chapter, "Bootlegging, Beatniks and Benzedrine Benders." Amphetamine was created in 1929.

Café Coffee Day, a leading Indian chain, attracts customers in Vienna

Café Coffee Day opened its first coffee shop at Bangalore in 1996 and now has 952 shops in India. In 2005 it opened its first coffee house in Vienna, home of a distinctive European coffee shop culture (where melange, the Austrian cousin of Italy's cappuccino, is popular). Café Coffee Day now has three shops in Vienna and expects to add another five by the end of the current fiscal year. For more, see here.

Mutch on public house managers (articles)

Alistair Mutch, "Trends and Tensions in UK Public House Management," International Journal of Hospitality Management 19 (2000): 361-374); "Where do Public House Managers Come From? Some Survey Evidence," International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 13 (2001): 86-92.

Prosecutions for drunkenness in York courts (article)

D. Carlisle, "'A Common and Sottish Drunkard You Have Been'--Prosecutions for Drunkenness in York Courts," York Historian 16 (1999): 32-44.

Power cocaine and Hispanics

For many years powder cocaine was associated in the USA with so-called yuppies, but today it is associate more with Hispanics. For more, see here.

Starbucks to try new espresso machine

To complement its new brewed coffee machine (Clover), Starbucks plans to try a new espresso machine (the Maestrena).

British have their first drink at 6:14 pm (part of study of European drinking habits)

SABMiller commissioned a study of European drinking habits that include the news that the British have their first drink at 6:14 pm (as lunchtime drinking has declined). For details about various countries, see here.

Drive-through only coffee chain

Although Starbucks, Caribou and other coffee chains offer some drive-through options, Human Bean appears to be unique in having only drive-through shops, often with no indoor seating. Human Bean is based in Oregon and has shops (or stops) in several western states. Not exacting the Italian espresso atmosphere, but it works in the USA. For more, see here.

Letting go: smoking and non-smoking

David Sedaris contributed an article with this title in the New Yorker, Mary 5, 2008 here.

No smoking at pipe collectors' convention

Those attending a pipe collectors' convention in St. Charles, Illinois, were disappointed to be told by the police that they could not smoke their pope at the convention building. For more, see here.

Alcohol Atlas of India (book)

The Indian Alcohol Policy Alliance has published the Alcohol Atlas of India (2008). It consists of four sections, with the first devoted to a history of alcohol in India from ancient to present times. For more, see here.

Cunningham reviews Lerner's Dry Manhattan (book review)

Patricia Cunningham reviews Michael A. Lerner, Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City (2007) online at H-Urban here.

Interview with Paul Jennings, English public house historian

For a BBC interview with English public house historian Paul Jennings, see here.

Dispersal of former Allied Breweries archives (article)

The present whereabouts of materials in the former Allied Breweries archive are listed in the Pub History Society Newsletter, Summer 2004.  This reference courtesy of Paul Jennings, The Local: A History of the English Pub (Stroud: Tempus, 2007).

Iraqis drink more tea than the British

Despite their troubles, the Iraqis drink 1219 cups of tea per capita, slightly more than the Irish at 1214 cups and considerably more than the British at 994 cups. Although the British remain big tea drinkers, they now consume only 5% of the world's tea. In 1955 they drank, along with the Irish, a third of the world's tea. For more, see here.

From wet to dry to wet in Weston, Massachusetts

Although the Josiah Smith Tavern opened for business in 1757, the Massachusetts town of Weston has been dry since the mid-nineteenth century. It seems likely that wine will be served at a hotel soon, thus ending Weston's status, rare in the twenty-first century, as a New England dry town. For more, see here.

Robin Room advocates higher taxes to attack Australia's alcohol problem

The well-known sociologist and alcohol expert Robin Room recommends higher taxes to attack Australia's alcohol problem.  He will address Tasmania's first annual conference on alcohol, tobacco, and other drug issues.  Room is the inaugural chair of social research in alcohol at the University of Melbourne's School of Population Health and director of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at the Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre.  For more, see here.

For more about Dr. Room's career and his return to his native Australia, see here.