Temperance, but No Maine-Law by Augustus Fay

Fay, Augustus · 1854

Black and white print of the lavishly decorated “Gem Saloon,” known for containing the city's largest mirror. The top of the mirror features a large eagle. The “Gem Saloon” was located in a hotel on the corner of Broadway and Anthony (now Worth Street) in New York City. Mayor Fernando Wood and eleven male politicians and businessmen are depicted drinking and conversing along with two bartenders and a dog. The title refers to the debate that was raging over the regulation of alcohol and a temperance movement that was launched in 1850 by the mayor of Portland, Maine in 1850. The Maine state bill forbid all alcoholic purchases except for "medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes", resulting in an increase of alcoholic “quackery” medicines. Several other cities and states followed Maine’s example in legislation. In New York liquor law was passed in 1854 but vetoed by Governor Horatio Seymour. Then in 1855, with a new administration, the "Maine Law" was passed in New York, though it was never strictly enforced.