Ever wondered about the red dots that decorate liquor stores in South Carolina? It should be no surprise that they originated here in the Holy City, which has always been the imbibers’ state capital. Here’s the story.
by David White
Ever wondered about the red dots that decorate liquor stores in South Carolina? It should be no surprise that they originated here in the Holy City, which has always been the imbibers’ state capital. Here’s the story: Beginning in the 1880’s strong tides of prohibitionist sentiment were flowing in South Carolina, largely backed by upcountry fundamentalist “drys”and opposed by “wets,” more concentrated in the low country, especially the port city of Charleston. In 1892, the “drys” won a statewide referendum that would have prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages in the state but for adoption of the “dispensary system,” advocated by Governor “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman and passed in a rush vote at 5:30 a.m. on December 24, 1892, the last day of the legislative session . Under the dispensary system, the state had a monopoly on bottling and distributing all liquors sold in South Carolina. (To this day, S. C. Dispensary embossed bottles, e. g. “jo-jo” and “unionflasks,” are valuable collector’s items.)
The owner of this establishment, The Tavern on East Bay, claims this is the oldest liquor store in the United States.
The system was regarded as corrupt, and drys continued to push for total prohibition. In 1904, the legislature abolished the dispensary system and established local option, i. e. any county that voted to remain wet had its own dispensary. But the party ended in 1915, when the drys won a statewide referendum by a two-to-one margin.
The same ill wind blew across the nation, resulting in adoption of the 18th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, which took effect on January 29, 1920, ushering in the colorful era of Prohibition that lasted until the amendment was repealed on December 5, 1933.
After the repeal, flagrant storefront advertising of newly opened liquor stores incited the ire of South Carolina’s virulent drys. In 1937, the South Carolina Tax Commission banned all signs at liquor stores except a discrete reference to the business being conducted, the dealer’s name and license number. In 1945, the legislature enacted a requirement that any letters on storefront signs could be no higher than six inches or wider than four. The Tax Commission further restricted the dimensions and location of signs. Enter Jesse J. Fabian, owner of a successful liquor store at the corner of King and Spring Streets in Charleston, and Cade Alford “Doc” Wamsley, a local sign painter. Fabian engaged Wamsley to paint his sign to comply with the new regulations, both of them thinking the letters were way too small. Wamsley then conceived the inspired idea to highlight the tiny letters with a circular red background, like the logo then found on packs of Lucky Strike cigarettes. Thus was created the red dot that was widely copied and flourished until 1968. In that year, following another victory of the drys in a 1966 referendum, the newly created Alcohol Beverage Control Commission banned red dots as forbidden advertising. A storm of protest ensued, and the legislature adopted the law that permits the standard crimson circle now found on the exterior walls and metal signs marking package stores.
This piece is borrowed in part from an article by John Hammond Moore entitled “Solving the Red Dot Mystery,” published in the spring, 2000 edition of Sandlapper, the Magazine of South Carolina.
The story of “brown bagging,” and the eventual permitting of mixed drinks in South Carolina is beyond the scope of this article; but suffice it to say that Charleston was also the pioneer in that liberating social movement.
