Skip to Main Content

<strong><p align="center">The Saloon and Anarchy: Prohibition in Tennessee</strong></p>

<a href="https://digitaltennessee.tnsos.gov/exhibit/saloon-anarchy-prohibtion-in-tennessee/temperance-rally-broadside-1883"><img src="https://digitaltennessee.tnsos.gov/context/prohibition/article/1079/type/native/viewcontent" alt="Temperance Rally Broadside" height="450" width="auto" hspace="25" vspace="25" align="left"></a href>

It was the constitutional amendment that tried — often unsuccessfully — to put Americans on the path to sobriety and in the process created a booming market for Tennessee's providers of illegal moonshine whiskey. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which launched the Prohibition era in 1920, was called the country's "noble experiment." That experiment ended 13 years later with the ratification of the 21st Amendment — the only amendment to repeal another amendment — which halted Prohibition and brought imbibing back out of the shadows.

"The Saloon and Anarchy: Prohibition in Tennessee," chronicles the history surrounding the passage of both amendments. It surveys the brewing and distilling industries in Tennessee prior to Prohibition, chronicles the rise of the Temperance Movement in the state and the impact it had on the passage of the 18th Amendment, examines the effect that the 18th Amendment had on moonshining in the state, and recounts the passage of the 21st Amendment.

Drawing on the wealth of material in the Tennessee State Library and Archives' rich collections, this exhibit features items such as 19th and 20th Century temperance literature (such as the 1902 temperance tract: The Saloon and Anarchy, the Two Worst Things in the World, Versus the United States of America), temperance songs from the Kenneth D. Rose Sheet Music Collection, the 1908 trademark registration by Lem Motlow (Jack Daniel's nephew and business partner) for the phrase "Old No. 7," and various pieces of Prohibition-related legislation from the records of the Tennessee General Assembly.

<br>

<sub><em><p align="left">"Temperance Rally!" broadside, 1883. Library Broadside Collection, 1814-2010. ID: 36539.</em></sub></p>

<br>

<br>

<p align="center"><a href="https://digitaltennessee.tnsos.gov/exhibit/saloon-anarchy-prohibtion-in-tennessee/women-from-martin-college-carrying-a-signboys-decide-between-us-and-booze-pulaski-tennessee-ca-1910s/"><img src="https://digitaltennessee.tnsos.gov/context/prohibition/article/1023/type/native/viewcontent" alt="Women from Martin College carrying a sign"BOYS, decide between US and BOOZE." Pulaski, Tennessee, ca. 1910s" height="350" width="auto" hspace="2" vspace="50" align="center"><a href="https://digitaltennessee.tnsos.gov/exhibit/saloon-anarchy-prohibtion-in-tennessee/bud-miller-and-bob-swann-with-the-first-bottle-of-legal-whiskey-from-the-distillery-south-of-the-river-dandridge-tennessee-ca-1905/"><img src="https://digitaltennessee.tnsos.gov/context/prohibition/article/1025/type/native/viewcontent" alt="Bud Miller and Bob Swann with the first bottle of legal whiskey from the distillery south of the river Dandridge, Tennessee, ca. 1905" height="350" width="auto" hspace="2" vspace="50" align="center">

<p align="center"><sub><em>Left: Women from Martin College carrying a sign"BOYS, decide between US and BOOZE." Pulaski, Tennessee, ca. 1910s. Looking Back at Tennessee Photograph Collection, 1890-1981. ID: 8180.</p><p align="center"><sub><em>Right: Bud Miller and Bob Swann with the first bottle of legal whiskey from the distillery south of the river Dandridge, Tennessee, ca. 1905. Looking Back at Tennessee Photograph Collection, 1890-1981. ID: 8971.</p></em>

<p align="center"><a href="https://digitaltennessee.tnsos.gov/exhibit/saloon-anarchy-prohibtion-in-tennessee/interior-of-the-southern-turf-saloon-on-4th-avenue-nashville-tennessee-before-1920/"><img src="https://digitaltennessee.tnsos.gov/context/prohibition/article/1007/type/native/viewcontent" alt="Interior of the Southern Turf Saloon on 4th Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee, before 1920" height="400" width="auto" vspace="50" hspace="2" align="center"></p>

<p align="center"><sub><em>Interior of the Southern Turf Saloon on 4th Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee, before 1920. Library Photograph Collection. ID: 3528.</p></sub>


<p align="center">Explore More about Prohibition in Tennessee</p>


  • Brewing & Distilling in Tennessee
    Brewing & Distilling in Tennessee
  • Temperance Movement
    Temperance Movement
  • Music of the Temperance Movement
    Music of the Temperance Movement
  • Passage of Prohibition
    Passage of Prohibition
  • Moonshine & the Law
    Moonshine & the Law
  • Repeal of Prohibition
    Repeal of Prohibition
  • Additional Images
    Additional Images
  • Bud Miller and Bob Swann with the first bottle of legal whiskey from the distillery south of the river Dandridge, Tennessee, ca. 1905

    Bud Miller and Bob Swann with the first bottle of legal whiskey from the distillery south of the river Dandridge, Tennessee, ca. 1905

  • Interior of the Southern Turf Saloon on 4th Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee, before 1920

    Interior of the Southern Turf Saloon on 4th Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee, before 1920

  • Women from Martin College carrying a sign"BOYS, decide between US and BOOZE." Pulaski, Tennessee, ca. 1910s

    Women from Martin College carrying a sign"BOYS, decide between US and BOOZE." Pulaski, Tennessee, ca. 1910s

  • Moonshine on the Hills of Tennessee sheet music, 1927

    Moonshine on the Hills of Tennessee sheet music, 1927

  • "Temperance Rally!" broadside, 1883

    "Temperance Rally!" broadside, 1883