Drive Through Liquor Stores. This and Other Boozy Wyoming Knowledge.
If you're not from Wyoming, you might remember spotting your first drive-thru liquor store here in the 3-0-7.
A handful of our neighbors also have them: Idaho, South Dakota, Colorado, and Utah.
That last one has a caveat. Yes, there are drive-through liquor stores in Utah, but retailers can only sell beer and wine up to 3.2 percent ABV.
Opened in 1955, The Copper Still in Hopkinsville, Kentucky boasts that it's "America's first drive-in liquor store."
The son of the original owner believed his father came up with the idea to open one because alcohol, in the Fifties, was "pretty much frowned upon and most people didn't want to be seen at a saloon...and he thought ‘well, if they can just drive up there, we’ll serve them from the window and they won’t be there very long.'"
Shortly after, these "beer barns" popped up all over the Midwest and South -- on par with the drive-thru craze in general sweeping the nation from fast-food to movie theatres.
As prohibition came to an end in 1933, states were given the authority to regulate alcohol sales. Every state enacted their own rules.
Some states allow liquor to be purchased on Sundays, while others do not; some of them do not allow it to be purchased before noon, while others allow it whenever.
There is still a law in the state of Wyoming that makes it illegal for a woman to stand within five feet of a bar while drinking -- obviously, it's not enforced today.
In Montana it's not uncommon to walk into a gas station and find a wide selection of beer and wine. There are aisles of alcohol adjacent to the dairy and produce sections in local grocery stores.
Yet in Wyoming, grocery stores can only sell beer and wine if there is a separate entrance for these products.
Liquor licenses are issued by local licensing authorities.
For locations within a city or town, the licensing authority is the city/town council. For locations outside of a city or town, the local licensing authority is the board of county commissioners.
Wyoming statutes require that liquor licenses are issued via a population formula.
For every 100,000 residents ages 21 and older, there are 68.9 spirits outlets.
Who's making up these rules?
In Wyoming, as of 1996, the Liquor Division is the exclusive wholesaler of alcoholic beverages in the state and monitors alcohol control laws.
The division is also the exclusive authority to license malt beverage wholesalers and industry reps.
They are also charged with the duty of certifying the local licensing authorities that applicants for liquor licenses meet statutory requirements.
For a comprehensive list of of rules concerning alcohol in the state of Wyoming check out Wyoming Department of Revenue's Liquor Division Methodology.
2022 Booze and Bacon Festival Brings Booze, Bacon, Beer, and Beards
More From K2 Radio
