Midst the many interesting
artifacts the Museum System has stored away, pining for exposure is a myriad of
liquor bottles from pre-Prohibition Lynchburg.
Lynchburg had a tumultuous relationship with Temperance Movements and
Prohibition. In the wake of the Civil
War, Virginia allowed its independent municipalities to enact local dry
laws. As was the case with much of the
American population, the citizens of Lynchburg were very much split on the
issue of Prohibition causing the issue to be on the forefront of ballots for 25
years. Votes on whether or not to allow
the sale of alcohol in Lynchburg were balloted in 1886, 1890, and 1898. These first three votes all fell to the wets
who wanted to retain their right to buy and consume alcohol. In 1909, however, Lynchburg’s drys managed to
pass referendum prohibiting the sale of liquor within the Lynchburg city
limits. This referendum was overturned
two years later; but in 1916 with the passage of the Mapp Act the entire state
of Virginia went dry. The Federal
government made Prohibition national edict in 1920 following the ratification
of the 18th Amendment.
Among the various purveyors of “ardent” liquors in Lynchburg
two of the more prominent were Bigbie Bros. & Co. and R. Fazzi. The Museum’s collection includes numerous
bottles from each of these stores and they appear under regionally inspired
house brand names such as Piedmont Club and Natural Bridge. Other prominent liquor sellers in Lynchburg
included L Lazarus & Son, Jos. Lawson & Co., Morrison Bros, Charles H.
Ross & Co. and CC Trent. Many of
these stores remained open in Lynchburg during the brief local Prohibition
between 1909 and 1911, but had to shut down after the Mapp Act. The formerly prosperous owners of these
popular liquor stores looked to new investments. William Bigbie of Bigbie Bros. & Co.
invested in the G.A. Coleman Company, a successful Lynchburg shoe manufacturer,
after briefly partaking in the liquor business in Maryland before nationwide
Prohibition took effect and he returned to Lynchburg.
During Prohibition, rural Virginia became one of the more
infamous regions in the country as it was one of the production hubs for
backwoods distilleries and moonshine.
Cities such as Danville, Roanoke, and Lynchburg became hubs of moonshine
consumption.
After the ratification of the 21st Amendment in
December of 1933, Prohibition came to an end.
From 1916-1933 the state of Virginia had its own Department of Prohibition. From 1916 until 1920, the main purpose of
that department was to prevent liquor produced in a “wet” locale from being
smuggled into Virginia. After national
Prohibition was enacted the Virginia Dept. of Prohibition began tackling
moonshiners and speakeasies, a losing battle.
With the repeal of Prohibition, Virginia’s Dept. of Prohibition was the
only organization with any authority in regards to the sale and manufacture of
alcohol in the state and, in an ironic turn, was put in charge of regulating
the sale, transportation, and production of alcohol in the state until it could
be replaced by the still-active Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control in 1934.
