A proposed temperance law
Creator: Buchan, William Johnston
Date: 1883
A proposed temperance law suggested by W. J. Buchan; which would later on in 1883 become Senate Bill number 74. This proposal would prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors except for medical, scientific, and mechanical purposes, and to punish those were caught being intoxicated.

Brewery album
Date: Between 1906 and 1911
A photograph album containing 37 photographs of saloons, Turner Halls, breweries, Shawnee County Courthouse, and shipping and delivery of beer in northeast Kansas.

Buffalo Bill bottle
Creator: Regal China Company
Date: 1971
Regal China produced this "Trophy Bottle" in 1971 for the James B. Beam Distilling Company. Designed for the 125th anniversary of William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody's birth, it was filled with a fifth of 100-month old Beam bourbon whiskey. Some commemorative bottles were personalized and given to Cody descendents present at the August 11-14, 1971 celebration at Cody's boyhood in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Bungstart
Date: between 1880 and 1930
Oak bungstart with bowed handle and detachable head. This bungstart served as a mallet to remove corks (bungs) from a beer keg.

Concerning the finest beer ever brewed
Creator: Val Blatz Brewing Company
Date: 1909
A small pamphlet by the Val Blatz Brewing Company that lists the various liquors they produce along with explanations of why they are the "finest beer ever brewed".

Confiscated liquor, Coldwater, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
These two black and white photographs show county officials from Coldwater, Kansas, standing behind confiscated bottles of liquor. The first photograph identifies the gentlemen as the following: (left to right) Ed Baker, county attorney; George McDonald, marshal; Bill McCrary, sheriff; and Leonard Tony. The second image is an interior view of liquor that has been seized by officials.

Confiscated liquor, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
These four black and white photographs show a group of gentlemen, at least one with a badge, standing beside bottles of confiscated liquor in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. The liquor bottles are on the hood and running board of the car and on the ground.

Confiscated liquor, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
Date: Between 1920 and 1929
These four black and white photographs show bottles of confiscated liquor placed on the hood and running board of a car in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. In two of the images gentlemen wearing badges can be seen standing beside the liquor. These images are similar to ones that are associated with item number 226331 on Kansas Memory.

Confiscated liquor, Eureka, Kansas
Creator: Mozingo Studio
Date: July 26, 1923
This black and white photograph shows a group of men standing with confiscated liquor on the steps of the Greenwood County Courthouse in Eureka, Kansas.

Dwight depot, Dwight, Kansas
Date: July 1911
This photograph shows a shipment of empty alcohol kegs and crates stacked in front of the Dwight, Kansas depot. Accompanying the photograph is an August 2, 1911 letter from H. W. Wilkison of Dwight to the Kansas governor's secretary, addressing how the photograph will be valuable to law enforcement officers.

I. W. Day to Governor George W. Glick
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1879-1883: Glick)
Date: August 29, 1884
Dr. I. W. Day of McPherson writes to Governor George W. Glick expressing support for pardoning Dr. J. B. Curtis of Lindsborg, who was prosecuted for violating Kansas' prohibition law by prescribing beer to a patient. Dr. Day describes his professional evaluation of the patient's symptoms as recorded in the court testimony, and explains that he believes the patient really was sick and that beer was an appropriate remedy. This letter is an example of the controversies that arose over an exception in the state's alcohol prohibition law which allowed the use of alcohol for medicinal purposes. Some people believed that doctors were prescribing alcohol without a real medicinal need, and some doctors and druggists were prosecuted for alleged violations of the alcohol prohibition law.

Jayhawk bourbon decanter
Creator: Genuine Heritage China
Date: 1969
The Ezra Brooks Distilling Company of Frankfort, Kentucky created this University of Kansas Jayhawk decanter in 1969. It originally contained bourbon. Erza Brooks had a full line of University mascot decanters.

John Christoph photograph album
Date: 1891-1895
This album contains photographs of Ellinwood and Barton County, Kansas, taken by John Christoph. On June 18, 1891, he opened a photography gallery in the north room of a furniture store and continued in the business until February 14, 1919. Christoph also served as the Ellinwood police judge for twenty years.

Kansas State Temperance Union legal documents
Date: 1907-1908
This bound volume contains affidavits, warrants, and legal briefs naming the State of Kansas as plaintiff for cases pertaining to the sale of alcohol. The Kansas State Temperance Union actively prosecuted the "unlawful and illegal sales of intoxicating liquors." Although Kansas was the first state to adopt a constitutional amendment prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors, the law was largely unenforced. This volume includes accusations that Daniel Read Anthony, Jr. knowingly allowed the sale of alcohol to occur on his property. Kansas Attorney General F. S. Jackson is frequently mentioned throughout the volume. Due to water damage, some text is illegible or difficult to read.

Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union organizational records
Date: 1910-1938
These records of the Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) include materials on legislation involving tobacco, alcohol, and teacher's moral standards; a proposed amendment to repel Kansas prohibition; several manuscripts including "The Long Struggle for Prohibition in Kansas" by Judge Richard J. Hopkins and "The Devil's Brew" by Harry W. Brent; meeting minutes and correspondence concerning the Kansas Industrial Alcohol Bill of 1933; legislation introduced by the Kansas Children's Code Commission; decision of the Kansas Supreme Court on Women's Wages; proposals for a memorial to Governor John P. St. John; a letter from Wichita Chief of Police, O.W. Wilson, enclosing a research report on marijuana compiled for the Inter-Club Committee for the Advancement of Civic Responsibility; flyers; poems; and convention registration books.

Neon sign
Creator: GHN Neon Co. Inc.
Date: between 1955 and 2000
Neon window sign advertising Coors Beer. Belonged to Emil Kutka of Topeka, former owner of the Neon Advertising Company. City directories indicate that Kutka first came to Topeka in 1954 or 1955, when he began work as a glassblower at Neon Advertising. At that time, the company was affiliated with the Landeene Adverstising Company. By 1970 Kutka was listed as the company's Vice President.

Neon sign
Creator: Miller Brewing Company
Date: 1982
Neon window sign advertising Miller High Life beer. Belonged to Emil Kutka of Topeka, former owner of the Neon Advertising Company. City directories indicate that Kutka first came to Topeka in 1954 or 1955, when he began work as a glassblower at Neon Advertising. At that time, the company was affiliated with the Landeene Adverstising Company. By 1970 Kutka was listed as the company's Vice President.

Old brewery, Manhattan, Kansas
Date: 1900
This photograph shows a group of people standing in front of the old brewery near the Rock Island viaduct in Manhattan, Kansas.

Permits issued from Colonel R.N. Hershfield
Date: October 1864
Four permits listed for people to do business, including making beer for the use of the army, operating a ferry, employing named individuals, and continuing a functional military establishment.

W and A Gilbey Bottle from Quindaro, 14WY314
Date: 1935-1964
This gin bottle was recovered from excavations at the Quindaro Townsite, an archaeological district now part of Kansas City, KS. As the townsite dates from 1857 to 1863 this bottle was likely part of a later dumping episode. Walter and Alfred Gilbey were distillers in London, England. As their gin was widely counterfeited during prohibition they sand blasted three sides of their gin bottles to make them distinctive. The diamond shaped area would have held a paper label. On the clear side is embossed "FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE OR REUSE OF THIS BOTTLE FULL 1/2 PINT W & A GILBEY LTD." The aluminum screw on cap repeats the Gilbey name.

Wooden clogs
Date: between 1871 and 1881
Pair of hand-carved wooden clogs with pointed toes. Mostly unpainted, except for gold on inside and sole. Worn at Theodore Weichselbaum's brewery in Ogden, Kansas. Weichselbaum's brew house opened in Ogden in 1871 and employed several German brewers until state prohibition forced its closure in 1881. Wooden clogs were worn on the brewery floor and cleaned daily after wearing.