Introducing “Wet” Enterprise: Saloonkeepers of the Old West blog



Since 2011, I have maintained a blog entitled Those Pre-Prohibition Whiskey Men that has attempted to illuminate the life and times of pre-1920 American distillers, liquor dealers and saloonkeepers.  At present I have posted more than 670 individual stories.  With three-quarters of a million “hits” over the years and in excess of 200 followers, I consider that the site has been a success.

At the same time, in no way can an individual, even a highly interested one, navigate through that many posts.  As a result I have decided to sort past and future vignettes into individual categories to present on this blog under the general title, “Wet” Enterprise — the allusion being in contrast to the “Dry” of anti-alcohol prohibition.  The first installment of this new series is devoted to the saloonkeepers of the Old West, men and an occasional woman who sold liquor over the bar, sometimes in violent circumstances.  Their stories often are compelling.

While continuing with my original blog, I also will attempt in this new site to bring some additional perspectives to bear on the historical, political, and social settings in which these saloonkeepers operated, both as an occupation and as individuals.  Future “Wet” Enterprise series may include pre-Pro rye distillers and dealers of Pennsylvania and Maryland, whiskey men who made significant contributions to their communities, and those who actively sought to ward off prohibitionary forces.

By zeroing in on a specific group, I also hope to attract the interest of publishers to consider issuing in hard copy a selection of the stories narrated on this blog.  Whisky right now is a hot topic.  Coupling that interest with, for example, the Wild West, would seem to me, albeit a non-publisher, a combination that would sell books.  Note that the posts are arranged in alphabetical order.  Jack Sullivan, February, 2019

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