Pilsener and the Swedish general strike of 1909

It was just in Britain where momentous events took place in 1909. There was also a general strike in Sweden.

Like the British general strike of 1926, it ended in total defeat for the trade unions. But even worse, restrictions on the sale of alcohol were introduced:

"SWEDISH STRIKERS GO FISHING.
Comedian Acts as Amateur Tramcar Conductor.
One consequence of the great Swedish strike is that no punch has been sold in Stockholm for ten days.

Those who know Sweden, says a correspondent of The Times significantly, can realise what this means.

A few tramway cars are running, many of the drivers being volunteers. Among the new conductors is one of the best-known comedians in the town.

The daily papers, according to this correspondent lost but one day, emergency hands having produced editions which, sold at double the usual price, show by their many misprints that amateur compositors have been at work on them.

Journeymen bakers have joined the strike, but the master bakers are doing their best, and bread of some sort is still obtainable.

But nothing has created such a change as the sudden prohibition by the State of the sale of spirits. In every hotel and cafe posted the legend, "No spirits to served until further notice;" while another order has been issued to the effect that no Pilsener, vermouth, or wine is to be served except with at least sixpennyworth of cooked food.

All the wine merchants' shops are closed, and Stockholm is undergoing the new sensation of enforced temperance. What the ultimate effect of this will be is a matter of much speculation.

Many people are finding that they can spend quite enjoyable day or evening with nothing more potent than coffee or lemonade to take the place of the seductive Swedish punch or brandy liqueurs.

But the immediate consequences are patent. The town very quiet, the cafes are nearly empty. There is no drunkenness, no brawling, and no noisy arguments.

The quays, the river, the bays, the rocks are lined with fishermen, and in many cases actually shoulder to shoulder accumulating little heaps of perch and bream and the other fishes peculiar the brackish waters of the fiords of the Baltic.

Of this precautionary edict prohibition the leaders of the strikers approve, even they were not actually it originators, for they have done much to render the huge strike organisation as orderly as possible by picketing the town and assisting the police."
Dundee Evening Telegraph - Wednesday 18 August 1909, page 2.

Was this the start of restrictions on the sale of alcohol in Sweden? Note that at the time there were still wine merchants. Hang on. I can look up when the Systembolaget came into being.

I found a nice overview of Swedish legislation regarding alcohol wholesaling and retailing on the Systembolaget website:

Swedish alcohol legislation
Year	legislation
1905	Riksdagen (the Swedish Parliament) orders all vodka sales to be handled via special companies.
1914	Compulsory ration books and individual rationing comes in with the establishment of AB Stockholmssystemet.
1917	AB Vin & Spritcentralen is formed, taking over all wholesaling activities.
1919	Compulsory rationing is introduced throughout Sweden and the local Systembolaget companies also acquire a monopoly in wine sales.
1922	Referendum on total prohibition. – 889,000 vote for and 925,000 against.
1955	The ration book is abolished and the regional Systembolaget. Companies are merged into one nationwide retailing company..
1957	Riksdagen votes to introduce blacklists and the compulsory showing of identification..
1969	The minimum age is lowered from 21 to 20 years
1977	Blacklists are abolished..
1991	Systembolaget’s first self-service store opens in Filipstad.
1994	The European Commission accepts Systembolaget’s monopoly in alcohol retailing.
1995	Vin & Sprit AB’s monopoly is dismantled and Systembolaget acquires 159 suppliers, instead of one.
Source:
Systembolaget website http://www.systembolaget.se

I can well remember the shock of first going into a self-service Systembolaget. It seemed so . . . . normal. Just like shopping for everything else. If you've only ever lived in Sweden a French supermarket must come as a shock with aisle after aisle of every kind of booze.

Swedish beer laws 1919 - 2007

I understand your disappoinment yesterday when I interrupted my series of posts on the history of brewing in Sweden. Today I have a special treat for you - an overview of the most important Swedish beer laws over the last century.

1919
Beer split into three classes:
- Class I max. 2.25% ABV
- Class II max 3.6% ABV (pilsnerdricka)
- Class III above 3.6% ABV

1922
Referendum on total prohibition of all alcoholic drinks stronger than 2.25% ABV- 51% against, 19% for, 55% turnout.
Class III provisionally abolished, then restored but only available at a chemists on prescription.

1923
Class II raised to max 4% ABV

1939
Malt tax abolished and beer taxed instead

1941-1945
Shortages of raw materials caused by the war lead to a drop in strength:
1941 - class II max 3.1% ABV
1942 - class II max 2.6% ABV
1945 - class II max 3.3% ABV
1946 - class II max 3.6% ABV

1955
Starköl (Class III) allowed to be sold in Systembolaget. Motbok abolished.
Class I: 0.0 - 2.2%
Class IIA: 2.3 - 3.6%
Class III: 4.6 - 5.6%

1965 - 1977
In 1965, in a rare outbreak of liberalism, a new class of beer, mellanöl, with a maximum alcohol content of 4.5% was allowed to be sold in ordinary shops. Previously, the strongest beer sold in food shops had been 3.6%, all more alcoholic drinks being only available in the Sytembolaget (state alcohol shop). The temperance movement reacted with a fierce attack on mellanöl, seeing it as the main cause of drunkenness and a corruptor of the young. After years of vigorous campaigning, they managed to get it banned in 1977. The effect on the brewing industry was catastrophic - output plumetted, and there was a round of consolidation that left State-owned Pripps in control of most of the industry. A cynic might think that was what the introduction of mellanöl had been designed to do.

Beer classes 1965 - 1977
Class I: 0.0 - 2.2% ABV
Class II: 2.3 - 3.6% ABV
Class IIB: 3.7 - 4.5% ABV
Class III: 4.6 - 5.6% ABV


1977
Beer classes 1977 - 1997
Class I: 0.0 - 2.2% ABV
Class II: 2.3 - 3.6% ABV
Class III: 3.7 - 5.6% ABV


1997
On 1st January 1997 the bands for the classes were modified to bring the Swedish tax regime more into line with EU norms. The main changes were a raising of the tax-free class I upper limit from 2.25% to 2.8% alcohol and an increase in the duty on class II to the same rate as that for class III. Simultaneously there was, for the first time ever, a reduction in the duty on class III (from SEK 2.38 per % alcohol per litre to SEK 1.45).

Beer classes 1997 - today
Class I: 0.0 - 2.2% ABV
Class II 2.8: 2.3 - 2.8% ABV
Special 3.5: 2.9 - 3.5% ABV
Class III: 3.6% ABV >

2000
Jan 1st Systembolaget shops open on Saturday. Whoppee.



The fun just won't stop. Tomorrow beer strengths in Stockholm in 1892.