City Council Targets Saloon Seclusion
Tacoma legislators pass a resolution forcing saloons to remove partitions and high-backed booths to ensure public view.
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Every box, screen, partition or other obstruction that may hide a person in a saloon must be removed within 10 days and all women must be permanently kept out of the wet goods places or the saloonkeepers violating the order will have their licenses revoked. A drastic resolution by Jamieson to this effect was adopted by the city council last night. There was just one protest: Hogberg of the Eighth ward, who was just defeated for renomination, objected. He asked whether the rule would apply to the high-backed settees, which are practically boxes, and which are now maintained in some places. He was informed they would all have to go. 'Well, I have found these very convenient at times,' said Hogberg, and he insisted they ought to be allowed to remain. The resolution allows only plain chairs, settees of circular shape or benches with slatted open backs.
“Every box, screen, partition or other obstruction that may hide a person in a saloon must be removed.”
The 1909 crackdown on saloon 'booths' reflects a century-long anxiety over how public spaces, particularly those serving alcohol, should be governed and monitored. While the language of 'morality' has shifted to discussions of public safety and zoning, the tension between the city's power to mandate the layout of private businesses remains a cornerstone of municipal politics.
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