So far for my research I have been able to find out the history of Wisconsin of a drinking state. I have learned some of the impacts that prohibition had on the bars and breweries however have not found a lot about the specific questions relating to Eau Claire. It has been a lot easier for me to find history about brewing and the general state of Wisconsin instead, Milwaukee specifically, rather than Eau Claire. I have decided to aim my research towards Milwaukee, which I found out is considered the “brewing capital of the United States”. It is local enough that I believe I will be able to maximize my research results accordingly.

While learning about Milwaukee I have also learned about the contribution that the German immigrants made on the city’s brewing success. I haven’t learned as much about the aftermath as I would like, such as if or if not there were tax changes, or any other dramatic changes. I will look to see if I can find more information about the Eau Claire area, however I think I will be more successful if I hold my focus on the Milwaukee area. There is just more information about the general concepts I am looking for when I broaden my search away from the Eau Claire area, but I will definitely keep my eyes open for credible sources that will give me the information I am looking for.

I found my next source, which I found very helpful, on the Wisconsin Historical Society page. The article is called “Brewing and Prohibition” which really gives me some good insight on how this state became so involved with brewing beer, and the toll prohibition took on it.  I chose it because it talks a lot about immigrants, and why beer and brewing came to be so popular in Wisconsin, information I have been looking for.

This source does not really have any bias, and simply gives information that relates to this time of prohibition and the history of Wisconsin.  It does a nice job of explaining what words mean, or what it is trying to say, by explaining it in common everyday English.

This source starts out explaining that before Wisconsin was known as the dairy land state it is today, it was a beer state. This answers one of my questions right off the bat, Wisconsin itself is known for brewing and beer, that is why people often relate colleges in Wisconsin to ‘party schools’. I found it interesting that this article said “Breweries were as much a part of Wisconsin communities as churches and schools”. This is interesting to me because things are very different in this day and age. Why was that the case? Breweries provided employment to workers, bought grain from farmers and they sponsored festivals, teams, and groups.

How did this beer crazy state come to be? That relates to many of the first immigrants, Germans. It kicked off mainly in Milwaukee, where many of these German immigrants were resorting to for religious and political freedom. They had a demand for ‘lager’ a German beer, which widened the industries’ need and demand in general. Not only did these immigrants demand a supply, but they supplied owners with money and time saving skills, which allowed the giant brewing industry to expand and thrive.

However, while all of this was happening, the controversies regarding alcohol consumption began to grow too. There were many mild laws passed in Wisconsin, with the attempt to control alcohol consumption and use. Such as the Graham Law, this made tavern owners responsible for selling alcohol to known drunks.  It wasn’t until the national prohibition act in 1919, that action really took a toll. This caused breweries to find other products to make them profits. Some sold partial alcohol, such as malt syrup, this allowed people to brew at their own homes. Many breweries decided to start selling cheese, candy, or ice cream instead. This helped keep some of them in business through the hard years of prohibition.

I liked this source because it gave me a lot of new information. It provided me with information about the different laws that Wisconsin faced, and the different “coping mechanisms” each brewery used to try to survive the prohibition period. I also liked all the background it gave me on the German immigrant population, that is useful for my research as well. I would like to find some more specific information, with specific breweries and information about local Wisconsin breweries that are either still around, or not around, due to prohibition.

I found two more pages that I liked on Chippepedia. They are entitled “The Pines Ballroom” and “Sokup’s Tavern and Dance Hall”. These are two dance halls that opened up right after prohibition.  This gives evidence to me that maybe prohibition had backfired? And now drinking was going to be at an all time high? That is what I thought these pages would give me a good lead into.

These buildings gained popularity very quickly, hosting weddings, gatherings, parties, etc. It is no surprise that the aftermath of prohibition would cause people to go party-crazy.  The Pines Ballroom would often be booked for years in advance on Saturdays for wedding receptions. These places would both host bands and dances that gave people something to do.

I like that these sources give information about dance halls and bars coming to be following directly after prohibition, but I would like to learn more about it. I want to know about other bars and more local to the Eau Claire area. I want to know what happened during prohibition, not only after. I will need to leave the Chippepedia website and look into other credible sources.

I found an interesting article on a website called “Chippepedia”, a website from the Chippewa Valley Museum. This seemed like a great place to get started because I took some of my classmates’ comments and looked into information on how prohibition effected breweries in the Eau Claire area. On this website, I coincidentally found information about the German vibe that came from immigrants and related closely to many of the breweries in the state of Wisconsin.

This article talks about many of the different breweries in Eau Claire, and Wisconsin as a whole. It focusses in on Walter’s Beer. This article reminds us that the time of prohibition was awhile back when technology and settlement was nowhere near where we are today. These breweries were made to serve locals, due to the inability of transporting it elsewhere. The article also mentions the German background of breweries coming from the heavy settlement of German people in the midwest at this time.

This article does a great job of talking about the rise and fall of alcohol and breweries throughout Wisconsin. It brings about the different breweries that existed, and how they merged, changed, or disappeared over the years. It also talks about the effects or prohibition and the before and aftermath that came along with it. I learned that technology also greatly affected the transformation of breweries. This article gives me great basic information to begin with, that I can expand on as I do further research.

This gives a great start to answering my questions. Yes, prohibition did affect Wisconsin, in more ways than one. This source, however, focusses just on Walter’s Beer, and I want to look more into different breweries and their backgrounds as well. I need to learn more about prohibition and the detailed effects, rather than the general concept that it shut down breweries and bars for a period of time. I think this website in general will guide me in the right direction, maybe even offering some primary sources.

My research question revolves around prohibition. I want to know how prohibition affected Eau Claire and Chippewa Valley. Often when I tell people I attend UWEC, they automatically assume that it is a party school and lots of drinking goes on because it is in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has been known for being a “drinking state” and I want to know why and where it originated.  If this state revolves so heavily around drinking, I want to know what happened when prohibition took place.

I have never learned about prohibition in detail, let alone to the extent of the impact it had on Wisconsin. I have only been taught about what it was and when it took place, but other than that, I know close to nothing. I am curious to see the effects of pre- and post-prohibition in Wisconsin. Was there a population change? Did alcohol taxes go up? Was the illegal sale of alcohol largely present? Questions like these are going to base my research and help me learn what prohibition really was and the actual toll it took on a city I am familiar with, Eau Claire.