The road map to beer

Change, and only in that cautious bureaucratic way that is typical of Ontario, is on the way for how beer is sold in that province.  Soon, it will be possible to buy a case of beer at over 400 grocery stores across Ontario.  If you are hoping that you'll soon be able to grab a can or bottle of your favourite brew at the variety store or gas station on the corner, forget it.  That will not be happening.  The tax Ontario beer drinkers pay will be going up too.  The many retailers in Quebec or states who make a small fortune from selling cheap beer to Ontario residents are not likely in any jeopardy.  This got me thinking though about a peculiar document I have in my collection of old road maps.  During the late 1960's and early 1970's, Brewer's Retail (the official name of "The Beer Store") published road maps so travelers knew where they could buy beer wherever they were in Ontario.

The attitude towards drinking and driving was a lot different back then.  In fact, most people did it to some extent.  Warnings about drinking and driving do not appear anywhere on the map, but store hours and locations are all listed for customer convenience, along with brands available and price lists.  The only warnings on the map are against littering and tell beer drinkers to take their empties back instead of tossing them into the forests and lakes (of course people were tossing them into ditches from their car windows too!)

There was not as great of a selection in 1972 as there is now.  It was limited to the big corporate breweries, but there were more of them.  Molson and Labatt's were still Canadian companies.  Sleeman was still in its post-prohibition dormancy, only to be revived again in the early 1990's.  There was Carling, O'Keefe, Dow, Formosa, and Doran's.  All of these would disappear through merger's, takeovers, or simply just went out of business.  Some of the names survive in brands produced by Labatt's or Molson.  It was these consolidations that made The Beer Store far less competitive and responsive to customer preferences.  This is what led to Brewer's Retail becoming completely anachronistic.  That, and it was a relic from another time when the anti-alcohol lobby was much stronger and there was great skepticism about making it so easily available, even though there's no real proof that alcohol-related crime and social problems are any worse in places where the ability to purchase is easier.

The 1972 Brewer's Retail road map shows towns and cities with a Beer Store location highlighted in orange.  Communities with a Liquor Control Board of Ontario store that sold beer are named inside an orange box.  It was bad social policy but good marketing.  A source once told me he remembered seeing these maps opened on the hoods of cars at baseball games and Junior Farmer's events so the thirsty could find the nearest place to buy beer.  The drinking age had also been lowered to 18 in Ontario that year.  There was a whole young demographic with cars who suddenly could buy beer legally.

This isn't the only promotional road map I have.  Maps issued by oil companies always highlighted the locations of their gas stations.  I even have a map of Ontario from the early 1980's that shows the location of every Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in the province.  Even after over 30 years, it is still somewhat accurate.  The same goes for the 1972 Ontario Road Map and Brewer's Retail Store Directory.  Several photos of it follow.