Alcohol and Liquor – The UncommonWealth

Newspapers

“Big Rock Candy Mountains Discovered Near Clintwood”

While searching for an unrelated newspaper article for a library patron, I stumbled upon a unique piece of local news reporting in the 28 October…

Rebecca SchneiderAugust 3, 2020

Archives

Oh Doctor! : Flu and Whiskey in 1918

Cover to sheet music for “Oh Doctor” by Billy Joyce and Rubey Cowan. (Mack Stark & Rubey Cowan Inc. Music Publishers, 1920. LVA Special Collections,…

Claire RadcliffeApril 3, 2020

Manuscripts & Special Collections

Then You Owe Me a Drink!: W. W. Poland’s WWII Short Snorter

Recently Susan Chiarello brought in a very unusual item to be scanned for the Virginia World War I/World War II Commission—her grandfather’s short snorter. Measuring…

Trenton HizerFebruary 28, 2018

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

The Temperance Movement and The Road to Prohibition

From the earliest days of European settlement, Americans drank prodigious amounts of alcohol. Almost every aspect of early American economic and social life involved alcohol.…

Dana PugaMay 18, 2017

Archives

Death by Eggnog

During the holiday season we are warned to avoid overindulgence. There are many temptations around this time of year—turkey and stuffing, grandma’s pecan pie, and,…

Mary Dean CarterDecember 20, 2013

Archives

"How Dry I Am!" – The Virginia Prohibition Commission Records

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared in The Delimiter, the Library’s in-house on-line newsletter. It has been shortened and edited slightly. This week Out of the Box would like…

Laura Drake DavisJuly 24, 2013

Photos of Virginia Lee Minor and Robert B. Roosevelt Jr.

Manuscripts & Special Collections

"I really love you in my funny selfish way"

You have no idea how awfully much I hated to leave you…Even if I can’t hear from you just now I feel sure you are…

Jessica Tyree BurgessNovember 28, 2012

Archives

Lawless!

On 29 August, the movie Lawless, starring Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, and Jessica Chastain, opens around the country. Based on the bestselling novel The Wettest County in…

Greg CrawfordAugust 29, 2012

Archives

More Augusta County Images Are Here!

The latest images from the Augusta County Chancery Causes are now available on the Chancery Records Index. With this addition, one hundred boxes of Augusta County…

Greg CrawfordAugust 16, 2011

Archives

America’s Oldest Brewery Offers Governor Kemper a “Delicious Stimulant”

An interesting letter was recently uncovered while processing the Executive Papers of Governor James L. Kemper. The letter, dated 28 September 1874, is written by…

Craig MooreMarch 23, 2011

Archives

IRON, WHISKEY, RAILROADS, AND RACE ARE FINDS IN NEWLY PROCESSED CHANCERY COLLECTIONS

Editor’s Note: The Library of Virginia is pleased to announce that scanning has now been performed on the Craig County and Pulaski County chancery causes. The…

Bari HelmsJanuary 5, 2011