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This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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Blind Tiger

by William S. Powell, 2006

"Blind tiger" was a term of unknown origin applied to establishments that sold liquor during Prohibition. Newspapers and other publications in North Carolina in the 1920s used it as a synonym for "speakeasy," and North Carolina author Thomas Wolfe also used it in his novel The Web and the Rock (1938). With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the term became obsolete.

Additional Resources:

Graham, Nicholas. "On Blind Tigers" North Carolina Miscellany (blog). April 30, 2012. http://www.lib.unc.edu/blogs/ncm/index.php/2012/04/30/on-blind-tigers/ (accessed June 20, 2012).

Hammond, Lilian Kirk. "Sunday in Tippah." The Atlantic Monthly 91. January 1912. p 206. http://books.google.com/books?id=4YwGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA206#v=onepage&q&f=false.

MacRae, David. The Americans at Home: Pen-and-Ink Sketches of American Men, Manners, and Institutions. Volume II. Edinburgh, Scotland: Edmonston & Douglas. p. 315. https://archive.org/stream/americanshome02macrrich#page/314/mode/2up.

Subjects:

Food and drink

N.C. Industrial Revolution (1900-1929)

Pastimes

Slogans, slang, and sayings

Authors:

Powell, William S.

From:

Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.

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1 January 2006 | Powell, William S.