The French Fight Against the Scourge of Alcoholism

The sign above, displayed at a bar in Paris, is from the 1950s campaign to fight alcoholism and promote sobriety. The text above the graphic says, in English, "Never more than one liter of wine per day. The correct serving: one quarter of a bottle per meal." I don't know about you, but that's more wine than I have drunk in the last ten years. But this is France.

France is no stranger to temperance movements. In the early 20th century, the country waged a war on absinthe, with the help of the nation's wine industry. Daily wine wasn't at all universal until soldiers from France's different regions met each other to fight World War I. By then, French wine was stronger than it had been historically. By the 1950s, many people had cars, and that's why a national campaign was waged to get people to limit themselves to a liter a day. In 1956, France outlawed wine at school for children under 14. That was amended to include high school students in 1981. Read about the French campaigns to get citizens to limit the amount of alcohol they consume at Messy Nessy Chic.


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