The American Temperance Society was formed in 1826, but its origins go back to the 18th century. Through those years, it was a goal of the movement to provide an alternative to the saloons, then located on nearly every street corner, that attracted customers with an offer of free lunch with the purchase of beer or whiskey.
An 1895 editorial in The American Jewess explained that total abstinence was incompatible with Jewish culture as wine was used for rituals and at social gatherings and therefore the Jews could not join the temperance movement. By placing unjust restrictions upon behavior and commercial activities, the movement violated the civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The Prohibition Party and the Anti-Saloon League thus came into conflict with the urban Jew involved in business and moderate social drinking.
After the establishment of Prohibition in January 1920, special permits were issued for the sacramental consumption of wine. The number of spurious congregations requesting these permits led to the Internal Revenue Service calling for a repeal of these exemptions. Reform and Conservative congregations were willing to forgo the exemption and use unfermented grape juice. Orthodox congregations rejected this idea but offered no reason. The so-called raisin-wine controversy led to the widening rift between Jewish religious denominations.
While the temperance movement held Jews up as models of moderation in drinking, Jews worked as saloonkeepers, in the beer-and-spirits business, and, during Prohibition, were involved in bootlegging.
The physical comfort of a saloon was clear: “the warm, brilliantly lighted cheery barroom” in winter, and in summer, “the ice-cold lager beer and the breezes created by the electric fans.” The saloon was the social meeting place that crossed socioeconomic grounds for games, talk, and music.
Attempts at opening temperance hotels, restaurants, and cafes modeled after their alcohol-serving namesakes were never very successful. An ambitious Temperance Coffee House movement in England also came to naught. In the phenomenon of the dairy lunchroom, the temperance leaders saw their dream finally realized.
“The crowded condition of the numerous ‘dairy’ restaurants of the well-known Dennett, Childs and Bailey type at many hours of the day demonstrates the fact that thousands of men are quite willing to pay more money for their lunch away from the saloon and its associations than the saloonkeeper asks, if only the places and provisions are to be found in convenient and attractable situations.” It was proposed “that the city should buy out a certain number of saloons in each ward” for the purpose of converting them into non-alcoholic lunch and meeting places. [The Independent, February 6, 1902]