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United States of America – Temperance Medal
Prohibition Prize by W. Jennings Demorest (1822-1895)
Circa 1886 Silver Prize Medal 50mm x 38mm (5.20 grams)
DEMOREST MEMORIAL PROHIBITION PRIZE, Ornate shield hanging from banner.
Medal pin.
Medal Notes:
The Demorest prize was created by philanthropist W. Jennings Demorest (1822-1895) in 1886 to encourage young people to recite speeches of temperance movement leaders. Its medals—silver, as here, gold, and even diamond—were presented in contests throughout the country through the early years of the 20th century.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 William Jennings Demorest (aka W. Jennings Demorest) (1822 “1895), from New York City, was an American magazine publisher, national prohibition leader, and, in collaboration with his second wife, Ellen Demorest, née Curtis, attained international success from his wife’s development of paper patterns for sewing fashion apparel of the day. Together, they built a fashion manufacturing and merchandising empire from it.
He and his wife launched five magazines and started a cosmetics company. He individually patented a sewing machine and a velocipede.
Demorest harbored lifelong political and religious aspirations. He is widely known for being a Prohibition activist and ran for Mayor of New York City on the Prohibition ticket. He also organized the Anti-Nuisance League.
Town named for Demorest
In 1889, a group of people from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Indiana moved to Georgia to found a community which would have high moral standards. They decided that anyone who permitted drinking alcoholic beverages, gambling, or prostitution would forfeit their property. [William Jennings] Demorest formed the Demorest Home, Mining, and Improvement Company to make that dream a reality. On November 13, 1889, the town was incorporated and named “Demorest” in honor of the great Prohibition leader.
Magazines
- 1860: Mme Demorest’s Mirror of Fashions was first published as a quarterly
- Summer 1863 ” Mirror of Fashions became a monthly
- January 1864 ” Demorest purchased New York Illustrated News
- September 1864 ” Demorest combined New York Illustrated News with the Mirror of Fashions
- January 1879 ” Changed the name to Demorest Family Magazine
- October 1899 ” Final publication of Demorest Family Magazine
- Demorest Monthly Magazine, The
- Demorest’s Illustrated News
- Demorest Illustrated Monthly Magazine
In 1873, Demorest joined the printing firm of Little, Rennie & Co. (founded in 1867 by Joseph James Little). In 1876, the firm became known as J.J. Little & Company.Location of operations
- Demorest Studio Building ” 4 & 6 W 14th St
Political party affiliations
- Prohibition Party (New York City) “
Marriages
- In 1845, Demorest married Margaret Willamina Poole (1823-1857), daughter of Joseph and Jeannette Poole. While living on Varick Street, they had two children: (i) Vienna Willamina Demorest (1847-?) and Henry Clay Demorest (1850-1928).
- On April 15, 1858, Demorest married Ellen Louise Curtis (1825-1898) – a US fashion arbiter. She was a successful milliner who invented mass-produced tissue-paper dressmaking patterns. With her husband, she established a company to sell the patterns, which were adaptations of the latest French fashions, and a magazine to promote them (1860). She was born in Schuylerville, New York. Her dressmaking patterns made French styles accessible to ordinary women, thus greatly influencing US fashion.
During the middle part of the 19th century, Anti-Liquor sentiments were quite predominant in the United States. Known as the ‘Temperance Movement’, it was believed that many of the ills of society [at the time] could be directly attributable to the consumption of alcohol.
More fundamentally, it was believed that in order for man to achieve true liberation and freedom, alcoholic beverages would have to be banished from society. It was for these reasons that the Temperance Movement grew in popularity. State by state, as the movement flourished and gained political clout, alcoholic beverages were banned and prohibited. Almost overnight what was before legal under the statutes of various state laws suddenly became illegal.
On April 9th 1855 New York State passed its own version of Prohibition, entitled: An Act for the Prevention of Intemperance, Pauperism, and Crime.
Immediately following passage of these various state laws, many of these legislative acts were challenged in courts. They were considered too controversial and were viewed as infringements on individual personal liberties.
Very quickly thereafter, one-by-one and state-by-state, the laws were deemed unconstitutional. In New York, their Prohibition law was struck down by its Supreme Court in that same year.
It wasn’t until passage of the 18th Amendment that the constitutionality of Prohibition was Federally addressed: Alcohol was banned nationwide. Quickly thereafter, it became quite apparent that the lofty views held by the Temperance Movement were quite Utopian. Indeed, many argue the Amendment itself made matters worse.
On December 5th 1933 the 21st Amendment was ratified. Its passing repealed the 18th Amendment. Most ironically, it was the 21st Amendment (Section 2) which finally addressed the constitutionality of state liquor laws that started many of the controversies at the states’ level some 80 years prior. With its passage, the Federal Government inured to the States such rights to decide and legislate the legality of alcohol within each of the several states therein. Very quickly thereafter liquor again flowed legally in nearly all of the 48 states, but not without some of the societal ills remaining, caused by the passage of the 18th Amendment in the first place.
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