Yesterday in history in 1838, Tennessee became the first state to pass a law banning alcohol (click here.) This would mark the start of the march to prohibition culminating with Congress passing the 18th Amendment in 1917. So, we have Tennessee to thank for that little experiment that did not work.
But to this day, Tennessee still seems to have the most confusing set of liquor laws of any state (click here.) I had a visitor from Tennessee in Buzzy’s Country Store the other day and as we were discussing Tennessee’s many laws governing alcohol, she confirmed that when it comes to alcohol, Tennessee remains the buckle of the Bible belt. No wonder Buford Pusser got so upset:
And yet, can’t be too critical of Tennessee; it did inspire just maybe the greatest drinking-related song of all time: