Gatsby in Rockport

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1. No longer dry now either! Dave

   Glass of vodka snaps Massachusetts town’s dry spell

   In Rockport, however, the ban on booze had a much deeper history. On the morning of July 8, 1856, a band of 200 hatchet-wielding women angry that their men spent too much money and time in local taverns raided the local watering holes and destroyed every drop of alcohol in town.

   by Sam Savage

   ROCKPORT, Mass. (Reuters) – An ice-cold tumbler of vodka
   garnished with two speared pearl onions made history on Tuesday
   as the first alcoholic drink sold since 1933 in the coastal
   town of Rockport, Massachusetts.

   “It’s a great day for Rockport,” toasted a beaming Peter
   Beecham, who led the effort to lift the town’s ban on the sale
   of alcohol. “And this,” he added, raising his $7.50 glass of
   Grey Goose vodka on the rocks, “is very good.”
   Until this week, Rockport, a quaint resort about 40 miles
   north of Boston, was one of 17 towns in Massachusetts where the
   sale of alcohol is illegal, in some cases to the detriment of
   the tourist industry.

   “I don’t think the ban ever made sense,” said Bruce Coates,
   owner of the Emerson Inn by the Sea, where the first drink was
   sold during a lawn party overlooking the ocean. “We’ve had
   people cancel their reservations with us when we told them this
   was a dry town.”

   The United States banned the sale of alcohol from 1920 to
   1933, the days of so-called Prohibition, but many towns still
   have old ordinances mandating that restaurants offer only soft
   drinks on their menus.

   In Rockport, however, the ban on booze had a much deeper
   history. On the morning of July 8, 1856, a band of 200
   hatchet-wielding women angry that their men spent too much
   money and time in local taverns raided the local watering holes
   and destroyed every drop of alcohol in town.

   Rockport was henceforth dry, except for a year after
   Prohibition ended. During that time, when patrons of a
   toilet-less tavern used a nearby alley to relieve themselves,
   much to the neighbors’ displeasure, the ban was swiftly
   reinstated.

   Beecham, who has lived in Rockport for 14 years, said he
   hoped that allowing restaurants and inns to serve alcohol would
   help the local economy, but that bars and liquor stores would
   not be built.

   While sales of alcohol were banned in Rockport, restaurant
   patrons could bring their own wine and in many cases did.
   “This was not a completely dry town,” admitted Coates, holding
   a flute of champagne. “There was plenty of drinking going on.”

   Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/general/172342/glass_of_vodka_snaps_massachusetts_towns_dry_spell/#OHxp3mL8dM3AKI5a.99
   http://www.redorbit.com/news/general/172342/glass_of_vodka_snaps_massachusetts_towns_dry_spell/

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