Raines law

The New York State liquor tax law of 1896, also known as the Raines law, was authored by the New York State Senator John Raines and adopted in the New York State Legislature on March 23, 1896. Among other provisions, the Raines law increased the cost of liquor licenses, raised the drinking age from sixteen to eighteen, and prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays except in hotels, as well as in lodging houses with at least 10 rooms that served drinks with complimentary meals. It took effect on April 1, 1896, was amended in 1917 and repealed in 1923.

Raines sandwiches

. The meal requirement was met by the cheapest sandwich available, sometimes reused across tables, or sandwiches made of rubber. Jacob Riis wrote in 1902 of saloon keepers who mocked the law by setting out "brick sandwiches" two pieces of bread with a brick in between thus fulfilling the legal requirement of serving food. He also wrote of an altercation in a saloon where a customer attempted to eat a sandwich that the bartender had served just for show; "the police restored the sandwich to the bartender and made no arrests." ==Raines law hotels==

Raines law hotels

Scores of "Raines law hotels," often located directly above saloons, opened. A year later, there were 1,500 of them in New York; in Brooklyn the number of registered hotels went from 13 to 800 after six months. ==Consequences==

Consequences

It was nominally a liquor tax, but its intention was to curb the consumption of alcohol by imposing stricter regulations which it failed to do. By 1911, the Committee had successfully lobbied for the shutdown of many of the Raines law hotels. ==In popular culture==

In popular culture

A shabby, Raines law hotel-type New York City saloon and rooming house serves as the 1912 setting of the classic play The Iceman Cometh, by Eugene O'Neill. A bar named the Raines Law Room, at the Williams Hotel in New York City, is named in commemoration of the impact of the law. ==See also==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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