Try to Control Yourself

Try to Control Yourself Synopsis

The prohibition era of gangsters and bootleggers has captured our imagination. But what happened when government turned the taps back on? Dan Malleck shows that contrary to popular belief, post-prohibition Ontario was an age when the government struggled to please both the "wets" and the "drys." Rather than pandering to temperance groups, officials sought to define and promote manageable drinking spaces in which citizens would follow the rules of proper drinking and foster self-control.

The regulation of liquor consumption was a remarkable bureaucratic balancing act between temperance and its detractors but equally between governance and its ideal drinker.