New Year's 100 Years Ago

   Last week I looked at how Christmas was celebrated in Missouri and the Ozarks 100 years ago. So, I thought that this week I might take a look at how New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were observed a century ago. For instance, did revelers party, get tipsy, and then ring in the New Year when the clock struck midnight on the night of December 31 the way many people do today? The short answer is that they probably would have except that Prohibition put a damper on things, because the law against the sale of intoxicating beverages was less than two years old and was still being pretty strictly enforced when Father Time ushered in the year of 1922.
   In Carthage, according to the Joplin Globe, "The welcome afforded the new year...was vastly different from the celebrations of a few years ago when John Barleycorn held full sway and the ringing of bells, screaming whistles and discharge of firearms heralded the passing of the old and the beginning of the new year." On New Year's Eve of 1921, however, only a single church bell rang out when the clock struck twelve followed by the faint echo of single gunshot from some distant part of the city. Some of the Carthage churches put on programs to celebrate the occasion, and some of the organizations like the Elks held parties, but they were tame affairs. Since New Year's Day fell on a Sunday, the holiday was scheduled to be observed on Monday, when all the banks and government offices would be closed. Most of the regular businesses, though, planned to be open on Monday. It doesn't sound that much different from nowadays, except I think more businesses and factories probably close now than they did in 1922.
   "No Extensive Celebration Marked Coming of New Year," read a headline from the Springfield Leader of January 1, 1922. "There Were a Faithful Few," continued the subhead, "Who Made an Effort to Revive Splendor of Former Years, But It Was Only an Effort--Cafes Were Deserted." Just as the Globe noted about Carthage, the lack of liquor, according to the Leader, made the occasion of New Year's Eve rather dull in Springfield. "The city was almost as gloomy as Sears-Roebuck's financial outlook." Later the newspaper continued, "There were merrymakers, 'tis true,...but they were not merry as were those before the name of Barleycorn was stricken off Father Time's birthday party guest list. There was something lacking over the city that the old-timers felt and it was Barleycorn's spirit. His kinsman, Corn Whiskey, helped some to appreciate the new year's birth and those who patronized the 'hip pocket bars' were enviously eyed by their less fortunate fellowmen." There were very few of those "bon vivants," however, and those who were able to procure "Barleycorn's cousin" mainly imbibed at home so as to avoid Prohibition officers, who were out in force. The number of people on the streets of downtown Springfield when the clock struck midnight was not much greater than on any normal night, and by one a.m., the few who still remained were on their way home.
   In St. Louis, a fairly good-sized crowd filled the downtown streets and hotels on New Year's Eve. Some of them were dressed up in costumes, and some threw confetti at the stroke of twelve or celebrated in other inoffensive ways. But very little liquor was evident, because here, too, the Prohibition officers were out in force, and, consequently, little revelry took place.
   In Kansas City, "The New Year was greeted by a noisy but almost sober crowd in the downtown district last night," said the city's Star. The hotels and grill rooms were filled to capacity, but there were "few flagrant violations of the Volstead Act." A few bulging hip pockets were seen, but mostly the partiers were served soda and ginger ale. "The crowd that surged up and down Twelfth Street hailed 1922 with shouting, the ringing of bells and blowing of horns and the shriek of motor car sirens. Toasts were drunk by those who had the wherewithal. They were not many." Law officers had been instructed to be diplomatic and not arrest a person when they first saw him taking a nip. Rather they were simply to warn the offender. If a bottle was brought out onto a table, however, that was considered a flagrant violation, and the officers were to confiscate the bottle. Still, the offending party would not be arrested. Despite the rather lax attitude of Kansas City law officers toward enforcement of the liquor law, the overall celebration in the city was considerably muted compared to years prior to Prohibition. Traffic in the downtown area began to thin after midnight, and by one a.m. Twelfth Street was relatively quiet.
   Sounds as if New Year's Eve celebrations of 1921 were not that much different from how this old man marked the end of 2021 last night. With no revelry and only a nip or two to drink. Actually I was sound asleep by midnight Central Standard Time, but I did manage to stay up and watch the ball drop on TV at midnight EST in Times Square.