27. Women Were the Greatest Victims of America’s Alcohol Problem, And the Greatest Advocates For Addressing It
The earliest stirrings of an organized effort to combat America’s booze problem began in the 1840s, with women playing a prominent role. That was understandable, considering the suffering inflicted by alcohol upon women – and they were not even the ones doing the drinking. A drunk husband or father caused suffering enough, before adding the other knock-on effects.
Alcoholic male bread winners often squandered their incomes in the emerging saloons, or neglected their work and lost out on income because of the bottle. Then there was the “syphilis of the innocent“: an epidemic of STDs caught by hubbies in seedy saloons, where clients could find more than just booze, that were then passed on to their wives. It is thus unsurprising that America’s women featured prominently in the ranks of those who most detested alcohol, and deeply loathed not just the drink, but its makers and sellers as well.
