Preservings Issue No. 43, Fall 2021

Mennonites & Alcohol

FROM THIS ISSUE

Alcohol has often been viewed through the lens of morality, as a barometer of spiritual commitment, worldliness, or conservatism. It is also often hidden in the historical record, making the role of alcohol within the Mennonite community difficult to assess. Yet, from Mennonite-owned distilleries and taverns in Danzig and Russia to liquor licenses and hotels in Manitoba, the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol has been a defining feature of Mennonite life.

Featured Articles

Proof in Material Culture: Mennonite Alcohol Consumption

A survey of the collections at Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) in Steinbach indicates Mennonites drank just about anything.

Roland Sawatzky
Liquor Licenses: Winkler of the 1890s

Stanley House was granted a license on July 30, 1897. For decades, it remained the only establishment in Winkler that could serve alcohol.

Albert Siemens
Objections to Alcohol: The Rise and Fall of Temperance in Winkler

Visits from temperance-minded evangelists from the United States gave rise to the establishment of a Mennonite Brethren church in Winkler.

Hans Werner
Alcohol Production: In the Chortitza and Bergthal Colonies

A few decades after the founding of the Chortitza colony many of its villages had taverns, including Einlage.

Glenn H. Penner
Alcohol & Abstinence: Mennonites in South Russia

Mennonites had a tradition of consuming alcohol during their annual pig slaughter.

Benjamin Wiebe
Addiction & Recovery: Mennonites in Mexico & Bolivia

Luz en mi Camino opened in May 2003 in the village of Reinland, Manitoba Colony. Its aim was to help people with addiction.

Kennert Giesbrecht

In This Issue

Mennonite Nectar: Alcohol Production in the Vistula Delta

The Lachs distillery made a variety of liquors, but the most widely known were Goldwasser and Krambambuli. In the early eighteenth century the business was known by the salmon-shaped sign above its front door.

The Political Life of Jacob Penner

Winnipeg’s old city hall, where Jacob Penner served as alderman for nearly three decades.

Dan Dyck
Admonishment & Joy Deferred: Four Sermons of Aeltester Abraham L. Dueck

Abraham L. Dueck, once Aeltester of the Kleine Gemeinde in Manitoba, left his sermons in the care of his son-in-law.

Ralph Friesen
A Mennonite Travelogue: Martin B. Fast in South Russia

Fast visited the bazaar in Berdyansk to get a taste of his childhood.

Katherine Peters Yamada

EDITOR Aileen Friesen
MANAGING EDITOR Jeremy Wiebe
DESIGNER Anikó Szabó

Past Issues

No. 42 (Spring 2021)

No. 41 (Fall 2020)

No. 40 (Spring 2020)

No. 39 (2019)

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