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Montana Liquor Control Board records, 1933-1962

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Montana. Liquor Control Board
Title
Montana Liquor Control Board records
Dates
1933-1962 (inclusive)
Quantity
5 linear ft
Collection Number
RS 504 (Formerly RS 23)
Summary
This collection is a subgroup (Board) of the Montana Department of Revenue records, RS 504. In 1973, the Liquor Control Board's responsibilities were transferred to the Liquor Control Division within DOR, and this later became the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division. Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of Revenue records. These Montana Liquor Control Board records (1933-1962) consist of interoffice and general correspondence, case files, legal documents, printed materials, reports, subject files, and miscellany.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions

Collection open for research

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The Montana Liquor Control Act, passed in 1933 by the Twenty-third Legislative Assembly, created the state liquor control system as one of the nation's seventeen "monopoly" states. Within its monopoly the state of Montana operated liquor stores, licensed individual purchases and retailers, exercised regulatory powers, and merchandised alcoholic beverages. The sale of beer was administered by the Board of Equalization, while state liquor stores were under the jurisdiction of a board composed of the governor, the attorney general, and the secretary of state.

At the time of the enactment of the Liquor Control Act, only the sale of beer was permitted in Montana's taverns. In 1937 the passage of the Retail Liquor Act amended the 1933 legislation permitting the sale of liquor-by-the-drink and packaged liquor by licensed taverns. Simultaneously, the administration of state liquor stores was transferred to the newly created Montana Liquor Control Board, which consisted of three members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. The first meeting of an appointive Liquor Control Board was held on April 5, 1937. The Board appointed an administrator who handled the day-to-day operation of the state liquor control system, but who was answerable to the Board.

The Liquor Control Board employed a team of inspectors, also called examiners, who worked under a chief inspector and his assistants. The principal duty of the inspectors was to screen applicants for liquor licenses by making a thorough investigation of the applicant's eligibility under state regulations. The inspectors also made two or three annual, on-site inspections of the premises where beer and liquor licenses were in operation.

As a result of the reorganization of state government following the ratification of Montana's 1972 Constitution, the Liquor Control Board was abolished by the 1973 Legislative Assembly, and its functions were transferred to the Montana Department of Revenue's Liquor Division. As of 2025, the Liquor Control Division is now called the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.

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Content Description

These records consist of interoffice correspondence (1938-1960) concerned primarily with the day-to-day operations of the Liquor Control Board with its attorneys, board members, examiners, and other functionaries; general correspondence (1933-1960) arranged alphabetically by correspondent and subject, dealing with MLCB transactions with federal and state government agencies, state liquor store vendors, and the general public; case files (1933-1944) which focus in large part on those court cases which determined the board's regulatory powers and the limits on those powers; legal documents (1938); printed material (1940); reports (c.1950-1962); subject files (1934-1956), including a sampled file, "Thompson's Place, Gold Creek, Powell County," representative of the licensing process; and miscellany (1933-1959). Artifacts, maps, photographs, and printed materials have been transferred to the Museum, Library Map Collection, Photo Archives, and Library respectively.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

This collection is arranged by series

Location of Collection

17:7-3

Processing Note

In 2025, the various collections of the Montana Department of Revenue were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 504, in order to help facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog, and to follow best archival practices.

Collections from Department of Revenue's Divisions/Boards/Predecessor Agencies that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into this collection, RS 504. Rather than reprocessing over 12 linear feet of DOR materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of those collections/finding aids, and provide access to them via links through the central finding aid. This decision has allowed the MTHS archival staff to maintain intellectual control over the collection, while removing the need to reprocess it. It also keeps State Agency finding aids at manageable sizes. Please read the scope and content note carefully to determine if this subgroup pertains to your research needs.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

  • Interoffice Correspondence

    • Description: Attorney for the Board (Paul W. Smith) (includes opinions)
      Dates: 1944-1949
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1
    • Description: Attorney for the Board (Wesley W. Wertz)
      Dates: 1952-1953
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 2
    • Description: Attorney for the Board (H. J. Luxan)
      Dates: 1953-1956, 1959-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 3
    • Description: Claims Clerk (includes "Recapitulation of Transportation Claims Filed 1942 through 1944")
      Dates: 1946-1956
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 4
    • Description: Examiner (H. O. (Halvor) Ekern)
      Dates: 1941-1952
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 5
    • Description: Examiner (Dell A. Lloyd)
      Dates: 1953-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 6
    • Description: Examiner (Bruce O. Mefford)
      Dates: 1953-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 7
    • Description: Examiner (Frank J. Winzeler)
      Dates: 1952-1957, 1959
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 8
    • Description: Examiners (Clyde C. Bowers, George Fowlie Jr., Chris W. Morgensen, Stuart H. Nicholson, E. F. Patterson)
      Dates: 1945-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 9
    • Description: Law Enforcement Division
      Dates: 1938
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 10
    • Description: Law Enforcement Department
      Dates: 1944-1958
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 11
    • Description: Montana Liquor Control Board Chairman (A. E. McFatridge)
      Dates: 1943
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 12
    • Description: Montana Liquor Control Board Chairman (J. E. Rafn)
      Dates: 1953-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 13
    • Description: Montana Liquor Control Board Members (H. R. Carlson, Oakley E. Coffee, Ashton Jones)
      Dates: 1953-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 14
    • Description: Opinions (T. H. MacDonald, Assistant Administrator)
      Dates: 1942
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 15
    • Description: Store auditors (Claire E. Flint, Harry Harlen, A. F. McCline, Harry M. Rawn, William Webb)
      Dates: 1941-1947
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 16
    • Description: Store supervisors (George A. Davis; Frank Hayes)
      Dates: 1941, 1954
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 17
  • General Correspondence

    • Description: Actions by Board (re appointments of inspectors)
      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 18
    • Description: Alcohol - Tax Free (sampled)
      Dates: 1951
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 19
    • Description: Alcohol Tax Unit (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division, Internal Revenue Service)
      Dates: 1948-1953
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 20
    • Description: Alcohol - Warehouse (sampled)
      Dates: 1951
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 21
    • Description: American Bank Note Company (re liquor identification stamps; includes agreement; also includes American Decalcomania Company)
      Dates: 1952
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 22
    • Description: Governor J. Hugo Aronson
      Dates: 1953-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 23
    • Description: Attorney General
      Dates: 1933-1935
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 24
    • Description: Attorney General (Raymond T. Nagle) (re Beer Act)
      Dates: 1933-1936
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 25
    • Description: Attorney General - Opinions
      Dates: 1937-1942
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 26
    • Description: Bank Depository Requests (sampled)
      Dates: 1941, 1953-1954, 1960
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 27
    • Description: Beer (includes Montana Beer Wholesalers' Association materials, monthly "Beer Shipments into Montana from Out of State" 1952)
      Dates: 1951-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 28-29
    • Description: Burglar Alarms - Stores (includes burglary statistics by stores; sampled)
      Dates: 1954-1958
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 30
    • Description: Collector of Internal Revenue (includes legal description of state liquor stores, 1949)
      Dates: 1941-1942, 1949
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 31
    • Description: Indian Liquor Laws
      Dates: 1951-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 32
    • Description: Federal Alcohol Tax Unit
      Dates: 1937-1941
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
    • Description: Interdictions (sampled; includes statistical summaries)
      Dates: 1951-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2
    • Description: Legal opinions (miscellaneous, Paul Smith)
      Dates: 1944-1946
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3
    • Description: License matters - complaints
      Dates: 1952
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
    • Description: Licensed Beverage Industries (includes Montana-related statistics)
      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
    • Description: Livingston tavern regulations violations
      Dates: 1939
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
    • Description: Miscellaneous - License Department (sampled) (includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of T. H. MacDonald, Assistant Administrator)
      Dates: 1941-1942
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
    • Description: Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of R. M. O'Hearn, Administrator, and John E. Manning, Administrator)
      Dates: 1952-1953
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 8
    • Description: Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of John E. Manning, Administrator)
      Dates: 1954-1955
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 9
    • Description: Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of John E. Manning, Administrator)
      Dates: 1955-1956
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 10
    • Description: Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of John E. Manning, Administrator)
      Dates: 1957-1958
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 11
    • Description: Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of John E. Manning, Administrator)
      Dates: 1958-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 12
    • Description: Montana Beer Wholesalers' Association (includes newsletter)
      Dates: 1952-1953
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 13
    • Description: Montana Licensed Beverage Association (sampled)
      Dates: 1943, 1957-1958
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 14
    • Description: Montana Retail Liquor Dealers Association (includes resolutions)
      Dates: 1952-1955
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 15
    • Description: Montana State (Agencies)
      Dates: 1954-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 16
    • Description: Montana State Alcoholic and Narcotics Division
      Dates: 1954
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 17
    • Description: Montana State Board of Health (includes Narcotic and Alcohol Education Program's "Objectives and Aims and a Proposed Pattern of Attack")
      Dates: 1951
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 18
    • Description: Montana State Board of Health (includes minutes and reports of Alcoholism and Narcotics Advisory Committee)
      Dates: 1955-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 19-20
    • Description: Montana Board of Health, Alcohol and Narcotics (includes minutes)
      Dates: 1960
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 21
    • Description: Montana Board of Health, Alcohol and Narcotics (includes "First Rough Draft of the Compilation of Subcommittee Reports for the Editing Subcommittee of the Narcotics and Alcoholism Advisory Committee to the Montana State Board of Health")
      Dates: 1960
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 22
    • Description: National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association (includes information re liquor purchases on military installations; liquor sales to Indians)
      Dates: 1952-1956
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 23
    • Description: National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association, Inc.
      Dates: 1957, 1959-1960
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 24
    • Description: OPS (Alcoholic Beverage Section, U.S. Office of Price Stabilization)
      Dates: 1951-1952
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 25
    • Description: Sacramental wine (sampled)
      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 26
    • Description: Store supervisor applications (sampled)
      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 27
    • Description: Transportation (re transportation of liquor contract; sampled)
      Dates: 1943, 1952-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 28
    • Description: Unions (includes Butte Clerks' Union, Retail Clerks' Union, Teamsters' Union)
      Dates: 1944, 1951, 1953, 1955
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 29
  • Outgoing Correspondence

    • Description: Circular letters (to state liquor store vendors)
      Dates: 1941-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 30-32
  • Miscellaneous Correspondence

    • Description: J. A. Buley to War Production Board and Office of the Rubber Director (re Montana Phosphate Products Company Mines at Garrison and Avon)
      Dates: 1944
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 33
  • Case Files

    • Description: Paul Dayton and Joy Wood License Denial, (Fort Owen Inn) near Stevensville, Ravalli County (re power of MLCB to deny license)
      Dates: 1940-1942
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 1
    • Description: Herman J. Erie vs Montana Liquor Control Board (re extent of contractual agreement with liquor store operators)
      Dates: 1941-1943
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 2
    • Description: Green Mill Tavern, A. J. McGovern, Great Falls
      Dates: 1942
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 3
    • Description: W. T. Harris, Pepper Box, Lewis and Clark (re MLCB vs. W. T. Harris; right of Board to revoke license without court trial)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 4
    • Description: In the Matter of the Revocation of Retail Beer License No. 1086 issued to Price S. Purdum and Kyle Cleveland
      Dates: 1948
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 5-6
    • Description: Sherman McCarten vs Montana Liquor Control Board (re MLCB's power to regulate)
      Dates: 1938-1941
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 7-8
    • Description: Vasco C. Michelotti Case - The Oasis, Black Eagle, Montana
      Dates: 1942-1943
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 9
    • Description: Monaghan Case (re Montana ex rel. Mrs. James Sullivan, et al (represented by Joseph P. Monaghan) vs. MLCB, concerning size of community and license fee)
      Dates: 1937-1941
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 10-12
    • Description: MCLB vs District Court of the 7th Judicial District ((Sherman) McCarten Case) (re MLCB discretion in the issuance of licenses)
      Dates: 1942
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 13
    • Description: (John) Pollard vs MCLB (re amount of fee based upon size and location of town)
      Dates: 1941-1943
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 14
    • Description: O. H. P. Shelley, (Receiver, Rocky Mountain Brands, Inc.) vs MLCB (includes MLCB vs District Court of First Judicial District and George W. Padbury, Jr.)
      Dates: 1933-1942
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 15-18
    • Description: Stockman's Exchange, Dell, John McGrath (re allegations of prostitution)
      Dates: 1942-1943
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 19
    • Description: Joseph E. Swindlehurst vs. Montana Liquor Control Board (re compulsion to change saloon location)
      Dates: 1944
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 20
    • Description: Joseph Ventura vs Liquor Control Board (re size and location of town and license fee)
      Dates: 1941-1942
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 21
    • Description: Villages - Five Mile area (re MLCB vs District Court of the 2nd Judicial District)
      Dates: 1937
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 22
    • Description: Wing Shing Company vs MLCB (re Chinese whiskey)
      Dates: 1941-1942
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 23
  • Financial Records

    • Description: General Ledger
      Dates: 1933-1959
      Container: Box/Folder Vol. 1-2
  • Legal Documents

    • Description: Legal Papers
      Dates: 1938
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 24
  • Maps

    • Description: List of maps transferred to the Library Map Collection
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 25
  • Photographs

    • Description: List of photographs transferred to the Photo Archives
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 26
  • Printed Material

    • Description: Montana Liquor Control Board Audit Report
      Dates: 1934-1935
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 27
    • Description: Petition for Initiative (re creation of state liquor control board)
      Dates: 1940
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 28
    • Description: List of printed material transferred to the Library
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 29
  • Reports

    • Description: Inventory of Merchandise in the Montana Liquor Control Board Warehouse (includes inventory of equipment and machinery and audit of Beer License and Beer Tax Department)
      Dates: 1941
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 29a
    • Description: Investigation of credit practices within the wholesale beer industry in Butte and Anaconda
      Dates: 1962
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 30
    • Description: Monthly Brewing Report: Butte Brewing Company (includes name of account and amount sold)
      Dates: 1957-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 31
    • Description: Monthly Brewing Report: Great Falls Breweries, Inc. (includes name of account and amount sold)
      Dates: 1957-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 32
    • Description: Monthly Brewing Report: Missoula Brewing Company (includes name of account and amount sold)
      Dates: 1957-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 33
    • Description: Warehouse (operation of MLCB Warehouse, Helena)
      Dates: circa 1950
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 34
  • Subject Files

    • Description: Governor's Staff Meetings (includes reports from MLCB, State Lands and Investments, State Controller, State Personnel, Highway Patrol, Public Welfare, State Prison, Custodian Department, Labor and Industry, State Engineer, State Civil Defense, Fish & Game)
      Dates: 1953-1954
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 35
    • Description: Leases of State Liquor Stores (includes legal descriptions of properties)
      Dates: 1949-1956
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 1-4
    • Description: Montana Warranty
      Dates: 1950-1953
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 5
  • Miscellany

    • Description: Blank Forms
      Dates: 1933-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 7
    • Description: Cash and stock control methods proposal
      Dates: circa 1938
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 8
    • Description: Informational pamphlet draft (re MLCB history and revenue)
      Dates: circa 1948
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 9
    • Description: Legislative bills
      Dates: 1947-1949
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 10
    • Description: Legislative bills (includes Report of the Liquor Investigation Committee of the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislative Assembly, 1951; letter of Attorney General Arnold H. Olsen re investigations of liquor and gambling, 1951)
      Dates: 1951-1953
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 11
    • Description: List of artifacts transferred to the Museum
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 1
    • Description: List of inspectors and their districts
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 2
    • Description: Montana Liquor Control Board warehouse blueprints (contains OVERSIZE MATERIAL)
      Dates: 1955
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 3
    • Description: Montana State Board of Health Circular Letter (re retail beer establishments, 1934) and Tavern Regulation #132
      Dates: 1934-1935
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 4
    • Description: National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association Third Annual Convention, Glacier National Park (includes program, etc.)
      Dates: 1940
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 5
    • Description: Office Information (includes statistical data)
      Dates: 1939-1941
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 6
    • Description: Personnel (sampled; includes MLCB staffing information; 1962 Personnel Assignment Review)
      Dates: 1940, 1942-1943, 1947, 1953-1955, 1962
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 7
    • Description: Remarks on Stores (evaluation of state liquor stores' records inventory, store upkeep, etc.)
      Dates: 1944
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 8
    • Description: Remittance sheets (includes town, banking depository, and type of deposit)
      Dates: 1951
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 9
    • Description: Rules and Regulations of the Montana Liquor Control Board
      Dates: 1950, 1956, 1960, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 10
    • Description: Rules of conduct for Inspectors of the Montana Liquor Control Board Enforcement Division
      Dates: 1953
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 11
    • Description: Wholesale and Retail Dealer Stamps (includes legal description of location, 1953-1954)
      Dates: 1952-1959
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 12

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Alcoholism--Prevention
  • License system--Montana
  • Liquor industry--Montana
  • Liquor laws--Montana
  • Montana
  • Government and Politics

Corporate Names

  • Montana. Department of Revenue
  • Montana. Liquor Control Board
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