National Prohibition was in force when President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933, but he lost no time signing the “Beer Act,” allowing for the consumption of 3.2 percent beer. For most of the country’s drinkers, the then-described “non-intoxicating” beer tied them over until the U.S. Congress repealed Prohibition in Dec. 1933.
Imbibers in the city of Boulder, however, were stuck with 3.2 percent beer as their only legal alcoholic drink for the next 34 years. Compared with the rest of the country, Boulder’s prohibition was both ahead of — and behind — the times.
In the city’s early days, Pearl Street, like the main thoroughfare of any typical frontier town, was lined with saloons. By the 1890s, however, temperance activists fought to close the drinking establishments — an action that culminated in “anti-saloon” leaders gaining control of the city’s government in 1907. Even though regular beer was brewed in Boulder at the time, the Better Boulder Party prohibited its sale, as well as the sale of wine and liquor within the city limits.
Between 1907 and 1916, thirsty Boulder residents frequented watering holes in Louisville and other nearby communities. But even those bars were forced to close in 1916, when beer, wine and liquor were outlawed throughout the whole state of Colorado.
Boulder drew up its first city charter in 1917. To add even more emphasis to the anti-alcohol sentiment of the day, the charter included a clause that read, “No license shall ever be granted for the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquor within the city limits of Boulder.”
The Eighteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution took effect in 1920, echoing Boulder’s prohibition of intoxicating liquors. In 1933, Roosevelt’s signature on the Beer Act raised the alcoholic content in “non-intoxicating” beer from 0.05 percent to 3.2 percent. Technically, the increased amount of alcohol did not violate the city of Boulder’s ongoing prohibition and residents were ready to imbibe.
One of the earliest bars to open in Boulder in the 1930s was the Timber Tavern, at 2350 Arapahoe. Others that served the new 3.2 percent beer included Mac and Ray’s, Bill’s Billiards, Lucky Inn, Walt and Hank’s, the Friendly Tavern, Broken Drum, Tulagi (formerly the Anchorage), Tom’s Tavern, and the Sink — the only survivor today.
As soon as 3.2 beer was available, the Camera ran a story debating whether or not it was intoxicating. University of Colorado law professor Fred Folsom exposed the hypocrisy that stated that even though 3.2 percent beer was deemed non-intoxicating, it was, nevertheless, unlawful for minors (under age 18) to consume.
The mind-altering effect or lack of effect, however, was not of concern to the Boulder police. On the day before the official “beer day,” Boulder Police Captain Art Masters told a Camera reporter, “If a man is drunk, he has been drinking intoxicating beverages. Drunkenness will be prosecuted as before.”
Except for 3.2 percent beer, Boulder remained “dry” until 1967, when Boulder voters repealed their self-imposed liquor ban. After 60 years they could, legally, do again what they had done prior to 1907 — drink a regular beer, have a glass of wine, or even go into a bar and order whiskey.
Silvia Pettem and Carol Taylor write on history for the Daily Camera, alternating weeks. Write Silvia at the Daily Camera, P. O. Box 591, Boulder 80306, or email firstname.lastname@example.org, and write Carol at email@example.com.