About this collection

Following the repeal of national Prohibition in 1933, many Americans were eager to once again legally purchase beer, wine, and liquor. It was not long before a domestic alcoholic beverage industry re-emerged to meet this consumer demand.

These industries and businesses would get a further economic boost in the years after World War II, as an increasingly affluent white middle class relocated to the nation's growing suburbs, where larger living spaces combined with disposable income to create new opportunities for private entertaining and the accumulation of consumer products.

The items in this digital collection represent a portion of Hagley Library's holdings across a variety of accessions and collections documenting liquor manufacturers' and distributors' activities and outreach to these consumers, as well as the attitudes, trends, and material objects that made up American cocktail culture during this era.

Image: Fleischmann Distilling Corporation, Fleischmann's Mixer's Manual, 1947. Click here to view in the collection.