WPA Maine Drinkways
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
We share this Donald McCormick Works Progress Administration (WPA) story in celebration of National Applejack Month. McCormick had been a WPA writer in Maine and a member of the Maine Writers’ Workshop, but little else is known about him.
Portland, Maine Mayor Neal Dow (1804-1897) had been one of the pioneers of the US temperance movement which led to federal legislation prohibiting the production and sale of alcohol beverages. During the 1850s he campaigned for a statewide prohibition of alcohol and helped to create the Maine Liquor Law of 1851 which became the model for the National Prohibition Act. The culture of temperance that he set in motion had been the reason why Maine remained a dry state after the end of federal laws mandating prohibition. Although alcohol consumption in Maine had been less common than in most other states, Maine residents enjoyed drinking beer and hard cider. Many have been distilling alcoholic drinks using unusual ingredients such as beef and raisins. One would fine barrels of hard cider in freezing barns. When the cider froze you drained out the alcohol called applejack or Maine-style moonshine. Those who produced the untaxed beverage kept it hidden to avoid legal troubles.
