LeBlanc, Julie M.-A.

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Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l'Université de Montréal, l'Université Laval et l'Université du Québec àMontréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. Érudit offre des services d'édition numérique de documentsscientifiques depuis 1998.Pour communiquer avec les responsables d'Érudit : info@erudit.org Compte rendu Ouvrage recensé : Booze: A Distilled History. By Craig Heron. (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2003. Pp. ix+497, ISBN 1-896357-83-0, pbk.) par Julie M.-A. LeBlancEthnologies, vol. 26, n° 2, 2004, p. 318-320.   Pour citer ce compte rendu, utiliser l'adresse suivante : URI: http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/013757arDOI: 10.7202/013757arNote : les règles d'écriture des références bibliographiques peuvent varier selon les différents domaines du savoir.Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politiqued'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter à l'URI https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/Document téléchargé le 9 février 2017 12:27318 COMPTES RENDUS / REVIEWSBooze: A Distilled History. By Craig Heron. (Toronto: Between the Lines,2003. Pp. ix+497, ISBN 1-896357-83-0, pbk.)Less than two hundred years ago a culture surrounding a commonproduct developed in North America, opening windows intocommunities and worlds which would have otherwise not beendiscovered. The product stirred controversies, curing ailments, leeringsome to addiction and others to enjoyable socialization. This productis alcohol, or “booze”, as it is popularly termed and referenced by CraigHeron in his book Booze: A Distilled History. Heron, a scholar in Canadianhistory and labour studies, writes this book foremost as a historian,discussing social behaviours, intolerance, and acceptance of alcoholthroughout Canada’s history. Issues of class, gender, race, and age arediscussed in the eleven chapters relating the physical effects of alcoholand its social implications in various cultural milieus of Canada andthe United States. The book focuses primarily on Canada and offers aparticular analysis on legislative, political and social regulations ofalcohol. Although Heron briefly mentions alcohol-related activities inCanada prior to the nineteenth century, the author’s particular era ofinterest is evidently alcohol’s controversial period from the 1800sonwards. The particular point in history where temperance movementsoccurred, that is at the turn of the 1820s, motivated Heron to describedecades-long battles between “drys” and “wets” in various regions ofCanada. These battles, momentarily shifting from one political angleto the next, and reissued in later alcohol-related campaigns, are foughtin various instances by different groups of people serving differentpurposes but with strong opinions in favour or against alcohol. Heronillustrates the strength of character found in the two opposing groupsportraying the people and events and their relationship with alcohol.Throughout the book, Heron is aware of textual problems associatedwith the remains of these people and events, and expresses his concernwhile discussing drinking practices and perceptions of alcohol in thevarious periods of Canadian history. With these concerns, the authorstates that the most problematic of events pointing to alcohol relatesto the bootlegging tradition which endured during prohibition. Heroneven states that prohibition was a complete failure; but given theopaque, undocumented business practices of providing alcoholic drinks,it is not easy to determine the actual extent of that failure (264). Theauthor compensates with some found facts on the effects of prohibition     319COMPTES RENDUS / REVIEWSin a Canadian setting, recorded through political propaganda, remainingsurveys and polls, and advertisements.Booze: A Distilled History mainly addresses historians, sociologistsand Canadiana researchers, but can benefit folklorists working on socialbehavioural patterns associated to drinking in Canada. Heron’sarguments may be used as a prognosis on drinking societies by usinghistorical facts as a template for reoccurring expressive discourses whichmay change in form but resonate similar concerns in future interactions.When Heron concluded by stating, “we have privatized this vice andnow seem to have a simple message for drinkers: enjoy your booze, butplease try to keep quiet about it” (388), he also summed the perceptionof alcohol throughout Canadian history as both hypocritical andrelativistic. Propaganda from “wet” and “dry” campaigns have helpedto learn more about drinking issues in Canada and have depicted apart of drinking practices that were condemned while illustrating thegenres of people involved in drinking communities, as well as groupspreaching against alcohol for its negative economical and emotionalstrain on the family nucleus and inefficient consequence to the nation’spractical growth. Sobriety and resistance movements occurred afterthe realization of the possible dangers of alcohol abuse. Heron includesboth urban and rural environments as his geographical canvas to discussthe movements and those involved in condemning and promotingalcohol. The industrialization of alcohol in Canada and the growingneed for quality control and corporate responsibilities associated withmarketing a consistent product is also discussed.Heron illustrates how gender issues eventually dilute themselves inthe “booze” industry by moving away from the predominantlymasculinised consumption of alcohol in so-called dingy locations tothe recent adoption of wine bars and bistros who serve alcohol todiscriminating palates. Women were rarely associated with drinkingpractices and venues unless they were considered without morals in theearly periods of alcohol controversy and eventually appeared in thelate twentieth century involved in alcohol preparation, public serving,and consumption. There were many political controversies surroundingalcohol as Heron notes; plebiscites either promoting or prohibitingalcohol reccurred repeatedly in various regions of Canada and eachprovince had its own approaches to dealing with the issue. Even with320 COMPTES RENDUS / REVIEWSprohibition, alcohol still circulated because of smuggling-moguls, someof whom would become established entrepreneurs of well-knownbeverage dynasties in the country, such as the Bronfmans. This bookillustrates the figures who were involved with the temperancemovements, during prohibition, and in the promotion of alcohol inCanada over the centuries. In short, Canada’s highly active undergroundperiod of alcohol smuggling lead the way towards a “drinkingconsciousness” which benefited and ruined some Canadians in businessand personal affairs.Booze: A Distilled History is a useful contribution to the history ofCanadian alcohol activities and also depicts shared traits amongstparticular groups of people involved in its creation, distribution, andconsumption. Readers may benefit from each chapter individually as itis organized in themes relating events chronologically within thesections. Theoretical analyses are only apparent when dealing directlywith historical notions in the book such as gender, nationalism,communalism, and Marxism. The book could be used as anaccompanying tool for discussing particular aspects of folklore such asthe material culture surrounding taverns, pubs, nineteenth-centurysaloons, and also bottles or labels; political campaigning or advertisementparaphernalia; industrial vs. homemade alcoholic beverages and otherdrinking traditions. The author successfully weaves his argumentssurrounding “booze” to glean the many traits associated with the productfrom a historical perspective. Heron mentions that there are loopholesin the research which could offer interesting venues for future studies,but also notes that there are limits considering the lack of informationin certain statistical fields and national surveys of varying periods.Overall, Heron manages with ease the question of alcohol in society asa motivation for social gatherings and as a controversial subject. Booze:A Distilled History is captivating with its archival and historical detailsand is valuable for any scholar interested in political movements,propaganda affairs, community gatherings, and personal histories ofinfluential business persons and industrialism tied to one particularproduct.Julie M.-A. LeBlancMemorial University of NewfoundlandSt. John’s

Booze: A Distilled History. By Craig Heron. (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2003. Pp. ix+497, ISBN 1-896357-83-0, pbk.)

Julie M.-A. LeBlanc

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Ethnologies

http://www.erudit.org/revue/ethno/2004/v26/n2/013757ar.pdf

Booze: A Distilled History. By Craig Heron. (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2003. Pp. ix+497, ISBN 1-896357-83-0, pbk.)

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