 |
| Meeting St., Charleston, S.C. |
It looks like a vintage shot doesn't it? I took it over the weekend. When I took my camera out of the cool car into the heat and humidity it ages the picture nicely. People are endlessly fascinated by the
red dots on liqueur stores in South Carolina.
Ever
wonder why in South Carolina liquor stores have red dots as their sign?
It started with Jesse Fabian a liquor store owner from Charleston and
his sign man Alford "Doc" Wamsley. In 1945 the legislature enacted the
requirement that sign lettering for a liquor store sign could not be any
large than six inches high and four inched wide. After painting the
correct size lettering on Jesse's store, they thought the letters were
too small to be seen. Inspired by a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes, Doc
painted a red dot around the lettering. It spread all across the state.
The reason you see a lot of stores using three dots with the letter A, B
and C (one letter on each dot) is it stands for Alcohol Bureau of
Control, the agency that oversee liquor stores. If you ask a local for a
red dot store or a ABC store, chances are they will know what you need.
Wow, we had a thunderstorm this afternoon! I didn't miss having to navigate the rushing rivers of the streets of downtown Charleston. I understand people were stuck in traffic for hours. I do however miss being the one with the best action flooded street photos. Oh well. It is nice to be safe and dry.
When I was a flight attendant, I had an apartment with a girl from Baltimore. We were out on the town one night when neither of us had to work, and she pulled over and asked someone where a "packaged goods store" was. I had no idea what she was talking about (and since we were in Pittsburgh at the time, neither did they) - apparently in Baltimore, liquor stores are called "packaged goods stores". Who knew?
ReplyDeleteI keep forgetting you were a flight attendant! Yeah, that is a weird term too, "package store". We are funny about our liquor.
DeleteI remember I was quite confused about the three dots and the "ABC" name when we first moved to South Carolina. It was odd enough for me that I mentioned it in an email to friends and former co-workers in Buffalo about this. Heh.
ReplyDeleteIt is one of the quirky things of the south!
DeleteI love thunderstorms if I'm on the second or third floor!
ReplyDeleteIn Kentucky, Bourbon county is "dry" and Christian county is "wet". Yes there are areas in Ky where liquor cannot be bought or served. Long time follower, first time posting a comment. Truly enjoy your blog.
ReplyDeleteI love how ingenious individuals usually find a way around legislators' attempts to meddle in our lives. Instead of stores with signs that read "Liquor," which required at least a minimum degree of literacy, we ended up with establishments featuring big red dots, which everyone could comprehend the meaning of.
ReplyDelete