When Beer Was Off-side: Drink, Sport, and the Ideals of Civic Citizenship in Two Ontario Cities, 1934-44

Abstract

When licensed hotel beverage rooms were opened in Ontario in 1934, the Liquor Control Board tried to ensure that these places were located away from places where individuals assembled who might be vulnerable to temptation. Accordingly, the board refused licences to hotels located near churches, playgrounds, or schools. It also was wary of licensing places near hockey arenas. Considerable confusion arose, therefore, when hotels sought licences near Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto and the Garden City Arena in St. Catharines. The former was a major professional entertainment complex, while the latter was a point of civic pride built at least partly through public subscription. The ensuing controversies in both cases underscore the conflicting relationship between healthy physical activity and morally questioned drinking spaces, while exploring the shifting priorities of a liquor control board that sought to ensure that alcohol was consumed by the public in a socially orderly manner.