The Sunday Dry Law Crackdown
Two prominent Pacific Avenue druggists face charges for allegedly turning their shop into a weekend speakeasy.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
R. A. Kalenborn and L. H. Colpe, proprietors of the Eagle Drug store, 1526 Pacific Ave., were arrested yesterday afternoon and are facing Judge Arntson of the police court today on a charge of selling liquor on Sunday. It is claimed that the drug dealers have been dispensing all manner of liquors on Sundays and that they have gained an extensive Sabbath trade. They were arrested upon evidence brought by plain-clothes men, who say they purchased alcohol and whiskey at the store.
“It is claimed that the drug dealers have been dispensing all manner of liquors on Sundays and that they have gained an extensive Sabbath trade.”
Long before 1920, Tacoma held a contentious 'local option' fight over alcohol. This case highlights how pharmacies were frequently the primary loophole for accessing spirits on Sundays, a practice that local authorities sought to criminalize well before national prohibition.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.