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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Starbucks' painful problem: location, location, location

According to a story in the New York Times, faulty location decisions have hurt Starbucks (which recently announced plans to close 600 underperforming stores in the USA and to slow the addition of new stores in America). Part of the problem has been the eagerness to add stores Starbucks prompted poor choices. Significantly, 70% of the stores targeted for closing were opened in 2006 or more recently. Sometimes this rush to expand has meant putting new company stores too close to existing ones, sometimes it has meant putting company stores too near franchise stores (such as in bookstores and supermarkets). Sometimes it has meant putting too many stores in parts of the country recently hit especially hard by the bursting of the real estate bubble and with a large retired population (southern California, Florida are prime examples). For more, see here. Of course, the overall American economic decline has reduced the number of people able and willing to pay top dollar for coffee drinks.

Resveratrol in red wine fights ravages of old age

Resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, fight ravages of old age, according to a Washington Post story here.

Brewing in Wales (book)

Lyn Ebenezer, The Thirsty Dragon (Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2006). Elsewhere publication date is listed as 2007. A short book, a little over 100 pages, by a Welsh journalist and broadcaster.

Prince Charles fuels his Aston Martin with wine

Prince Charles (UK Prince of Wales) fuels his Aston Martin with wine (that is surplus to what the European Union allows Britain to produce). For details, see here.

Illicit liquor in the New South (thesis)

Joshua Beau Blackwell, "'Used to be a rough place in them hills': Illicit liquor, the Dark Corner, and the New South" (M.A. thesis, College of Charleston, 2008).

Starbucks to close 500 more US stores

Starbucks has announced that it will close 500 more underperforming US stores (for a total of 600) and eliminate up to 12,000 jobs, full-time and part-time. For more, see here.

MillerCoors merger

On her blog Amy Mittelman discusses the launching today (July 1, 2008) of the newly merged MillerCoors.

Drugs and Alcohol: Contested Histories (book series)

Northern Illinois University Press is acquiring manuscripts for its series, Drugs and Alcohol: Contested Histories, which investigates cultural, legal, economic, and medical histories of alcohol, drugs, and other substances such as coffee and tobacco. The advisory board includes David Courtwright, University of North Florida; David Fahey, Miami University (Ohio); David Gutzke, Missouri State University; and James Mills, University of Strathclyde. Contact Sara Hoerdeman regarding manuscript submissions at shoerdeman@niu.edu

Mexico's anti-alcohol campaigns, 1910-40 (dissertation)

Gretchen Kristine Pierce, "Sobering the Revolution: Mexico's anti-alcohol campaigns and the process of State-building, 1910-1940" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arizona, 2008). An abstract and a 24-page preview are available without charge at ProQuest (where you can purchase the full text of the dissertation).

Canadian liquor control

Dave Trippel supplies a website about Canadian liquor control here. By the way, anyone with a story or a citation relevant to this website, please send it on.

Varied reactions to Pike Place Roast

The Wall Street Journal, 1 July 2008, includes an article "New Starbucks Brew Attracts Customers, [and] Flak: Fans of Bold Coffee Bemoan the Rise of Pike Place Roast." According to the article, the new standard brewed coffee is directed at the masses. Those who consider themselves coffee experts prefer the old, bolder brews.

Idaho state liquor industry

Courtesy of Dave Trippel, a story about the Idaho state liquor industry is here.

California winemakers during prohibition (book)

Vivienne Sosnowski, When the River Ran Red: How California's Legendary Winemakers Fought the Epic Battle to Survive Prohibition (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2009).

Finnish wine can't be sold

As a result of global warming, wine is being produced in unusual places such as Finland's Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately, for the person producing the wine, European Union farm subsidy legislation prevents him from selling his beverage. He is allowed to give away his wine. Fortunately, it is a hobby for him and not a business. For more, see here.

Gender and the medicalization of inebriety (article)

Stephen Patnode, "'Their Lack of Masculine Security and Aggression Was Obvious': Gender and the Medicalization of Inebrity in the United States, 1930-50," Canadian Bulletin of Medical History 24/1 (2007): 67-92.

Alcohol control and modernity (article)

Mark Lawrence Schrad, "The First Social Policy: Alcohol Control and Modernity in Policy Studies," Journal of Policy History 19/4 (Oct. 2007): 428-451.

Language of Starbucks (article)

Constance M. Ruzich, "For the Love of Joe: The Language of Starbucks," Journal of Popular Culture 41/3 (June 2008): 428-442.

Temperance in Uncle Tom's Cabin and its critics (article)

Ryan C. Cordell, "'Enslaving You, Body and Soul': the Uses of Temperance in Uncle Tom's Cabin and 'Anti-Tom' Fiction," Studies in American Fiction 36/1 (Spring 2008): 3-26.

Seven coffee inventions

Seven coffee inventions (a few of them a bit fuzzy), are discussed here. They include the expresso machine in 1822 (but the "modern" espresso machine came much later, in 1946), instant coffee in 1901, and decaffeinated coffee in 1903.

King of Ohio's bootleggers (book)

William A. Cook, King of the Bootleggers: A Biography of George Remus (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008).

Illegal liquor in Sri Lanka (book)

Michele Ruth Gamburd, Breaking the Ashes: The Culture of Illicit Liquor in Sri Lanka (Cornell University Press, forthcoming November 2008). As Buddhist norms crumble, more Sri Lankans drink, especially the local moonshine called kasippu.

Alcohol, violence, and the GAA in Ireland

For a discussion of alcohol, violence and the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) in Ireland, see here.

InBev history since 1988

InBev history can be dated from a defensive merger between two Belgian breweries in 1988. If its bid for Anheuser-Busch succeeds, it will become the world's largest brewery company. For more, see here.

Women and temperance reform in Bremen (book)

Hannelore Cyrus, Die Fackel weitertragen!: der Deutsche Frauenbund für Alkoholfreie Kultur von 1900 in Bremen seine Frauen, seine "Führerinnen" und seine "Ottilien" (Norderstedt: Books on Demand GmbH, 2006).

Scotland's booze blues

For a sampling of opinions about abuse of alcohol in Scotland and how (and how not) to respond to it, see here.

Jack S. Blocker, Jr., retires from teaching

In 2007 Jack S. Blocker, Jr., retired from teaching at Huron College (affiliated with the University of Western Ontario). A leader in the 1970s revival of American temperance history, he helped found what became the Alcohol & Temperance History Group and later served as its president. His work on American temperance history included two monographs, a general history, and two edited collections of essays. He was the senior editor of the ABC-CLIO historical encyclopedia for alcohol and temperance. He hosted two ATHG conferences at Huron College. At the second of the Huron College meetings the ATHG was reorganized as the Alcohol and Drugs History Society.

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McCain could have a conflict brewing

Presidential candidate John McCain could have a problem if elected. As a senator he has recused himself from votes on alcohol questions because of the huge beer distributorship that his wife controls. As president, this would be impossible. See the Los Angeles Times article here.

Angus Calder (1942-2008), historian, poet, Scottish republican, and alcoholic

Angus Calder achieved a reputation as a splendid historian while still in his twenties. His revisionist study of the "home front" The People's War: Britain 1939-1945 was published in 1969 and has remained in print. Sadly, drink complicated his subsequent career, and he died while still in his sixties. See a candid obituary here.

Why the boom in coffee shops in India where few people outside the south drink coffee?

The average Indian drinks only ten cups of coffee in a year and most of that is consumed in the southern part of the country. So, why the enthusiasm for opening new coffee shops? Life style changes for the Indian middle class make it likely that the market for selling coffee will grow. For more, see here.

Celebrating beer in Oregon

The McMenamin family, owners of a small empire of pubs, taverns and other places where drink can be found, celebrated the 25th anniversary of its enterprise with the brewing of a special ale (with 79 ingredients, a figure that would make Bavarians blush). Fred Eckhardt, "Portland's Godfather of good beer," led invited guests in the temperance song, "Away with Rum by Gum." For more, see here.

Temperance, race and Frances E.W. Harper (article)

Doveanna S. Fulton, "Sowing Seeds in an Untilled Field: Temperance and Race, Indeterminacy and Recovery in Frances E.W. Harper's 'Sowing and Reaping'," Legacy 24/2 (2007): 207-224.

Shumaker and Midwestern dry culture (article)

Jason S. Lantzer, "The Origin of Indiana's Dry Leader: The Reverend Edward S. Shumaker and Midwestern Dry Culture," Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 6/1 (2007): 71-98.

Temperance movement in Washington State and British Columbia (article)

Stephen T. Moore, "Cross-Border Crusades: The Binational Tempeance Movement in Washington and British Columbia," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 98/3 (2007): 130-142.

Socialists and saloons in Wisconsin (article)

Elizabeth Jozwiak, "Bottoms Up: The Socialist Fight for the Workingman's Saloon," Wisconsin Magazine of History 90/2 (2006-2007): 12-23.

BBC interview with Amitav Ghosh, author of "Sea of Poppies"

The BBC recently interviewed Amitav Ghosh, author of Sea of Poppies, the first volume in a historical trilogy. For many years, 17-20% of British revenue in India came from opium. For the interview, see here.