Old Toronto’s iron fist of beer
Old Toronto in the ’50s was so goody-goody that beer stores were prohibited from advertising their “sinful” brew. And you needed a license to purchase the even more sinful liquor. You could, of course, go to a beer parlour, where beer was served in government-regulated-sized glasses.
Thirsty tourists, however, were out of luck because the beer parlours weren’t allowed to use signs that might lead you to suspect they sold alcoholic beverages. Nondescript on the outside, the beer parlours looked like public toilets on the inside, which was appropriate, seeing as they were segregated into “men’s” and “ladies’” rooms.
The politicians in old T.O. were so concerned with our welfare that they closed the beer parlours every evening from 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. to make sure we went home for dinner. Cocktail bars were not required to close because the government assumed that drinkers in those genteel places, such as politicians, would have sense enough to go home to eat.
Read full article at the Toronto Star…
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