The past culture of alcohol in Quebec

Condensed from an article by Catherine Ferland, historian

“Alcohol consumption was seen as a means to rebalance moods, particularly by regulating the body’s temperature. Darker, stronger drinks, like very bitter beer, dark reds that stain, and robust brandies, were deemed more appropriate for the male gullet. Women were invited to opt for more delicate beverages, such as clear wines, alternating with water. Beer and brandy were allowed for older women and those who were ill.

Consumption by women was closely monitored. It was best for them to abstain from warming their blood with large quantities of alcohol. Better yet, they could just do without! The underlying fear was that women would get so drunk that they would lose their dignity. It was thought that women would not know how to recognize their limits. Female drunkenness was seen as a potential threat to herself and to social order.

Both healthcare professionals and judicial officers contributed to these beliefs. In several 19th-century and early 20th-century papers, alcohol consumption by women was reportedly the reason behind many societal problems, including prostitution, low birth rates, physical and intellectual deficiencies in children, juvenile delinquency, and so on. This was the argument that would emerge in various prohibitionist waves to surge in western countries.

The ways in which women drank remained very modest and private up until the 1970s. In Quebec, taverns were exclusively reserved to men, women were most definitely not welcome. The Maurice Duplessis government prohibited tavern access to women in 1937, under the pretence that it was not an appropriate place for them. Not to mention the powerful territorial component associated with the exclusion of women. For customers, forced to listen to their boss at work and their wife at home, the tavern was the ultimate bastion of freedom. The thought of letting women into taverns was met with great resistance.

At the end of the 1970s, the Quebec government decided to make changes to the law, so as to reflect the changing social, economic, and cultural climate. The Act respecting offences relating to alcoholic beverages allowed tavern owners to serve women if they so desired. “Ladies welcome” signs were hung above the doors of certain establishments. For taverns that opened prior to 1979, however, it was left up to the establishment’s discretion whether or not to accept women. Finally, in 1986, the law was amended so as to prohibit the exclusion of women.”