“The anti-saloon movement will run itself out in due course
of time, because the people are bound to recognize that prohibition rests on
un-American and indefensible interference with the elementary principles of
personal liberty.”
--Adolphus C. Busch, 1908
--Adolphus C. Busch, 1908
The Wets
Most of the “Wets” included saloonkeepers, brewery owners,
and many immigrants (mainly Irish, German, and Italian) who supported drinking
because it was a part of their cultures.
By 1900 there were almost 300,000 saloons in the U.S., and they had strong
connections to the large breweries. Brewery owners came together in the United States Brewers
Association, which began to counter the message of the “Drys” with publicity of its own that
claimed beer was healthy by calling it “liquid bread.”