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Saturday, January 1, 2022

Four years before Prohibition was enacted nationwide, the State of Washington went dry with the advent of the New Year, 1916. On January 6, the Anacortes American poetically described what turned out to be a peaceful transition, as the implementation of the liquor ban was upstaged by the weather: “With the first snow of the season gently falling, Col. Barleycorn folded up his tent and moved to pastures new promptly at the stroke of midnight on New Year's eve, and Anacortes people settled down to a long dry spell. The closing of the seven Anacortes saloons was not marked by any disorder or unusual hilarity. The crowd was made up largely of these who were out to see the fun. The novelty of snowballing and being snowballed was a big counter attraction to the farewell party to D. Rum.”