Yes, this is a picture of a chart and not of something pretty in the Adams Building; but since I love charts and thought this one was fun, I wanted to share it with the readers of Inside Adams. I found it at the same time I found the publication Mida’s Criterion featured in last week’s post last.
This chart is from a publication called Bonfort’s Wine & Spirit Circular and it really tells you a lot about the spirits industry in 1918. You can see the spirit type and what state or states it was produced in, as well as the number of taxable gallons. It’s interesting to see that whiskey was produced in many locations, while rum was only produced in three: Hawaii, the 6th Kentucky, and the 3rd Massachusetts districts. Bonfort’s Circular began publication earlier than Mida’s in 1871, but instead of suspending publication for Prohibition, it ceased publication altogether in 1919. The Library of Congress has a substantially complete set of Bonfort’s Circular.
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My grandfather, Thomas Mador Gilmore, was the sole surviving partner during fight against Prohibition.
He formed The National Model License League, an organization of 35,000 members across the world to enjoin the fight to reform the liquor industry standards of conduct and encourage licensing of premises.
An article on Prohibition in The Louisville Encyclopedia covers some of it; and I have more data if requested.