Let’s be real: the temperance movement was a bunch of busybodies who hated fun. They saw absinthe as a “foreign vice” (it was French) and wine producers saw a competitor. So they screamed, “Think of the children!” and the government listened.
Fun fact: Absinthe was banned the same year the US outlawed fortified wine in military canteens. Because nothing says “public safety” like banning one green drink while keeping gin, whiskey, and bathtub moonshine legal. Priorities!
Absinthe Was Once Banned for Being Evil—Now It’s Just Meh - WSJ
