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TEN MIDDLETOWN, CT PRINTED LIQUOR LICENSES, COMPLETED IN MANUSCRIPT, AND SIGNED BY APPLICANTS & TOWN CLERKS 1872-1877. Ten(10) Middletown, CT liquor licenses. Middletown, CT: 1872-1877. The largest measures circa 14 x 8.5; the other 9 are smaller, completed in manuscript, and signed; folded and docketed on verso. Creased at old folds; very good condition.
In the 1870s, liquor sales and tavern licensing in Middletown, Connecticut, were shaped by major shifts in state prohibition and county-level regulation:
• Prohibition Era (1854–1872): Connecticut enacted a strict statewide prohibition law in 1854, making the commercial sale of most intoxicating liquors illegal for nearly two decades.
• Return to Licensing (1872): In 1872, the state repealed prohibition and returned to a license and local option system. Under this system, individual towns and cities could vote or regulate whether and how alcohol was sold. Liquor and tavern licenses (permitting the sale or exchange of spirituous and intoxicating liquors) were formally issued and administered at the county level by the Middlesex County Commissioners.
The reintroduction of alcohol sales in the 1870s sparked active local counter-efforts, including temperance movements and social concerns over urban saloons, oyster houses, and public-pauper costs.
These pieces of ephemeral document the transition from the prohibition era (1854-1872) to repeal in 1872, allowing cities and towns to regulate whether and how alcohol was sold.
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