July 21, 1915 was a day to remember for many Albertans. Not that anyone who remembered it is still around… But anyway, on this day, more than 60 percent of Albertans voted for a prohibition of liquor in the province. This meant that selling booze in Alberta was no longer allowed.
It seems like a ridiculous idea now. But back then, there were a lot of reasons to ban booze. The biggest was World War I. The soldiers stationed in Calgary were criticized for their bad behaviour, and for the most part, that bad behaviour was driven by the drink.
To combat this, soldiers were prohibited from drinking alcohol. Think of it like taking toys away from misbehaving children.
In addition to soldiers, many Albertans felt that the general public should be expected to put down the bottle as well. This was the final nail in the coffin that led to the prohibition of liquor in 1915.
During the prohibition, if you wanted a drink, you would have to buy it outside of Alberta or have it imported.
But in 1918, Alberta banned the importation of alcohol, making it even harder to get your hands on some booze.
Maybe this comes as no surprise, but the import ban still wasn’t enough to stop Albertans from drinking.
After the province banned importation of alcohol, bootlegging became quite popular. Again, that’s not much of a shock. Bootleggers brewed their own swill and rum runners were people who would sneak booze from other provinces into Alberta.
They would then illegally sell their product to Albertans itching for a taste of that sweet sweet bathtub gin.
Eventually, Alberta came to realize that prohibition was an incredibly stupid idea. By November 1923, the province voted to bring prohibition to an end—with certain restrictions.
For example, only hotels could sell beer, wine, and liquor. Why hotels? Who knows. But we all still love a hotel bar.
Restrictions became less strict over time, but one thing is for certain: Albertans really love their booze.
