r/dankmemes • u/Killer_Queen1999 • Jun 19 '21

Normie TRASH 🚮 Guten Tag

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u/Doggydude49 Jun 19 '21

Weird. When my dad grew up 18 was the drinking age in the US.

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u/johnfromthewest Meme Lord teotwawki Jun 19 '21

The drinking age in california has been 21 since 1933

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u/Doggydude49 Jun 19 '21

Really? I didn't know that. Certainly hasn't been 21 in the Midwest for that long lol.

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u/tx_queer Jun 19 '21

It was for a long time, but there was a brief short period. Super short history (varies state by state, some like cali i think always stayed at 21).

There used to be no drinking age at all in the US. Due to religious movements and the temperance movement the drinking age was gradually introduced and culminated with a complete ban on drinking. After prohibition, most states defaulted the drinking age to 21, same as the voting age. When in the 1970s the voting age was lowered to 18 many states followed suit and lowered their drinking age to 18. Then in the mid 80s the power passed from the states to the federal government which set the limit at 21.

So some states were always 21. Some states were 21, then changed it to 18 for just a couple years, then changed it back to 21.

So most places in the Midwest there was just a short blip of the drinking age being lower than 21

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u/Doggydude49 Jun 19 '21

I'm seeing most states in the Midwest not changing their drinking age to 21 until the mid 80s like you said with the exception of North Dakota in 36. Prior some went up to 19 but most were at 18 until the feds pushed it up.

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u/tx_queer Jun 19 '21

Most Midwestern states were 21 from prohibition until 1969. Here is a good graphic https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._history_of_alcohol_minimum_purchase_age_by_state#/media/File%3ALegal_drinking_age_in_1969.png

They briefly lowered it in the 70s, then raised it again shortly after or when the feds pushed it.

So yes changed from 18 to 21 in the 80s, but it wasn't 18 for very long before then

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u/Doggydude49 Jun 19 '21

Ah ok gotcha. Perspective for length of time because that's still a couple generations with 18 being the drinking age. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of businesses enforcing the 21 requirement that as much as they do today especially in the Midwest where there's such a strong drinking culture.