Montana Historical Society Archives
RS 23_RS 504
Montana. Liquor Control
Board
Montana Liquor Control Board records
1933-1962
5 linear ft
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.
17:7-3
English
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.
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.
This collection is arranged by series
Collection open for research
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.
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.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder
numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical
Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics,
persons, or places should search under these terms.
Montana. Liquor Control Board
Montana. Department of Revenue
License system--Montana
Liquor industry--Montana
Liquor laws--Montana
Alcoholism--Prevention
Montana
Government
and Politics
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
Interoffice Correspondence
1 / 1
Attorney for the Board (Paul W. Smith)
(includes opinions)
1944-1949
1 / 2
Attorney for the Board (Wesley W. Wertz)
1952-1953
1 / 3
Attorney for the Board (H. J. Luxan)
1953-1956,
1959-1960
1 / 4
Claims Clerk (includes "Recapitulation of
Transportation Claims Filed 1942 through 1944")
1946-1956
1 / 5
Examiner (H. O. (Halvor) Ekern)
1941-1952
1 / 6
Examiner (Dell A. Lloyd)
1953-1959
1 / 7
Examiner (Bruce O. Mefford)
1953-1959
1 / 8
Examiner (Frank J. Winzeler)
1952-1957,
1959
1 / 9
Examiners (Clyde C. Bowers, George Fowlie
Jr., Chris W. Morgensen, Stuart H. Nicholson, E. F. Patterson)
1945-1959
1 / 10
Law Enforcement Division
1938
1 / 11
Law Enforcement Department
1944-1958
1 / 12
Montana Liquor Control Board Chairman (A.
E. McFatridge)
1943
1 / 13
Montana Liquor Control Board Chairman (J.
E. Rafn)
1953-1960
1 / 14
Montana Liquor Control Board Members (H.
R. Carlson, Oakley E. Coffee, Ashton Jones)
1953-1960
1 / 15
Opinions (T. H. MacDonald, Assistant
Administrator)
1942
1 / 16
Store auditors (Claire E. Flint, Harry
Harlen, A. F. McCline, Harry M. Rawn, William Webb)
1941-1947
1 / 17
Store supervisors (George A. Davis; Frank
Hayes)
1941, 1954
General Correspondence
1 / 18
Actions by Board (re appointments of
inspectors)
1953
1 / 19
Alcohol - Tax Free (sampled)
1951
1 / 20
Alcohol Tax Unit (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax
Division, Internal Revenue Service)
1948-1953
1 / 21
Alcohol - Warehouse (sampled)
1951
1 / 22
American Bank Note Company (re liquor
identification stamps; includes agreement; also includes American
Decalcomania Company)
1952
1 / 23
Governor J. Hugo Aronson
1953-1959
1 / 24
Attorney General
1933-1935
1 / 25
Attorney General (Raymond T. Nagle) (re
Beer Act)
1933-1936
1 / 26
Attorney General - Opinions
1937-1942
1 / 27
Bank Depository Requests (sampled)
1941, 1953-1954,
1960
1 / 28-29
Beer (includes Montana Beer Wholesalers'
Association materials, monthly "Beer Shipments into Montana from Out of
State" 1952)
1951-1960
1 / 30
Burglar Alarms - Stores (includes
burglary statistics by stores; sampled)
1954-1958
1 / 31
Collector of Internal Revenue (includes
legal description of state liquor stores, 1949)
1941-1942, 1949
1 / 32
Indian Liquor Laws
1951-1960
2 / 1
Federal Alcohol Tax Unit
1937-1941
2 / 2
Interdictions (sampled; includes
statistical summaries)
1951-1960
2 / 3
Legal opinions (miscellaneous, Paul
Smith)
1944-1946
2 / 4
License matters - complaints
1952
2 / 5
Licensed Beverage Industries (includes
Montana-related statistics)
1953
2 / 6
Livingston tavern regulations violations
1939
2 / 7
Miscellaneous - License Department
(sampled) (includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of T. H.
MacDonald, Assistant Administrator)
1941-1942
2 / 8
Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes
incoming and outgoing correspondence of R. M. O'Hearn, Administrator,
and John E. Manning, Administrator)
1952-1953
2 / 9
Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes
incoming and outgoing correspondence of John E. Manning, Administrator)
1954-1955
2 / 10
Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes
incoming and outgoing correspondence of John E. Manning, Administrator)
1955-1956
2 / 11
Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes
incoming and outgoing correspondence of John E. Manning, Administrator)
1957-1958
2 / 12
Miscellaneous (sampled) (includes
incoming and outgoing correspondence of John E. Manning, Administrator)
1958-1960
2 / 13
Montana Beer Wholesalers' Association
(includes newsletter)
1952-1953
2 / 14
Montana Licensed Beverage Association
(sampled)
1943,
1957-1958
2 / 15
Montana Retail Liquor Dealers Association
(includes resolutions)
1952-1955
2 / 16
Montana State (Agencies)
1954-1960
2 / 17
Montana State Alcoholic and Narcotics
Division
1954
2 / 18
Montana State Board of Health (includes
Narcotic and Alcohol Education Program's "Objectives and Aims and a
Proposed Pattern of Attack")
1951
2 / 19-20
Montana State Board of Health (includes
minutes and reports of Alcoholism and Narcotics Advisory Committee)
1955-1960
2 / 21
Montana Board of Health, Alcohol and
Narcotics (includes minutes)
1960
2 / 22
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")
1960
2 / 23
National Alcoholic Beverage Control
Association (includes information re liquor purchases on military
installations; liquor sales to Indians)
1952-1956
2 / 24
National Alcoholic Beverage Control
Association, Inc.
1957,
1959-1960
2 / 25
OPS (Alcoholic Beverage Section, U.S.
Office of Price Stabilization)
1951-1952
2 / 26
Sacramental wine (sampled)
1955
2 / 27
Store supervisor applications (sampled)
1953
2 / 28
Transportation (re transportation of
liquor contract; sampled)
1943,
1952-1959
2 / 29
Unions (includes Butte Clerks' Union,
Retail Clerks' Union, Teamsters' Union)
1944, 1951, 1953,
1955
Outgoing Correspondence
2 / 30-32
Circular letters (to state liquor store
vendors)
1941-1959
Miscellaneous Correspondence
2 / 33
J. A. Buley to War Production Board and
Office of the Rubber Director (re Montana Phosphate Products Company
Mines at Garrison and Avon)
1944
Case Files
3 / 1
Paul Dayton and Joy Wood License Denial,
(Fort Owen Inn) near Stevensville, Ravalli County (re power of MLCB to
deny license)
1940-1942
3 / 2
Herman J. Erie vs Montana Liquor Control
Board (re extent of contractual agreement with liquor store operators)
1941-1943
3 / 3
Green Mill Tavern, A. J. McGovern, Great
Falls
1942
3 / 4
W. T. Harris, Pepper Box, Lewis and Clark
(re MLCB vs. W. T. Harris; right of Board to revoke license without
court trial)
undated
3 / 5-6
In the Matter of the Revocation of Retail
Beer License No. 1086 issued to Price S. Purdum and Kyle Cleveland
1948
3 / 7-8
Sherman McCarten vs Montana Liquor
Control Board (re MLCB's power to regulate)
1938-1941
3 / 9
Vasco C. Michelotti Case - The Oasis,
Black Eagle, Montana
1942-1943
3 / 10-12
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)
1937-1941
3 / 13
MCLB vs District Court of the 7th
Judicial District ((Sherman) McCarten Case) (re MLCB discretion in the
issuance of licenses)
1942
3 / 14
(John) Pollard vs MCLB (re amount of fee
based upon size and location of town)
1941-1943
3 / 15-18
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.)
1933-1942
3 / 19
Stockman's Exchange, Dell, John McGrath
(re allegations of prostitution)
1942-1943
3 / 20
Joseph E. Swindlehurst vs. Montana Liquor
Control Board (re compulsion to change saloon location)
1944
3 / 21
Joseph Ventura vs Liquor Control Board
(re size and location of town and license fee)
1941-1942
3 / 22
Villages - Five Mile area (re MLCB vs
District Court of the 2nd Judicial District)
1937
3 / 23
Wing Shing Company vs MLCB (re Chinese
whiskey)
1941-1942
Financial Records
Vol. 1-2
General Ledger
1933-1959
Legal Documents
3 / 24
Legal Papers
1938
Maps
3 / 25
List of maps transferred to the Library
Map Collection
undated
Photographs
3 / 26
List of photographs transferred to the
Photo Archives
undated
Printed Material
3 / 27
Montana Liquor Control Board Audit Report
1934-1935
3 / 28
Petition for Initiative (re creation of
state liquor control board)
1940
3 / 29
List of printed material transferred to
the Library
undated
Reports
3 / 29a
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)
1941
3 / 30
Investigation of credit practices within
the wholesale beer industry in Butte and Anaconda
1962
3 / 31
Monthly Brewing Report: Butte Brewing
Company (includes name of account and amount sold)
1957-1959
3 / 32
Monthly Brewing Report: Great Falls
Breweries, Inc. (includes name of account and amount sold)
1957-1959
3 / 33
Monthly Brewing Report: Missoula Brewing
Company (includes name of account and amount sold)
1957-1959
3 / 34
Warehouse (operation of MLCB Warehouse,
Helena)
circa 1950
Subject Files
3 / 35
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)
1953-1954
4 / 1-4
Leases of State Liquor Stores (includes
legal descriptions of properties)
1949-1956
4 / 5
Montana Warranty
1950-1953
Miscellany
4 / 7
Blank Forms
1933-1959
4 / 8
Cash and stock control methods proposal
circa 1938
4 / 9
Informational pamphlet draft (re MLCB
history and revenue)
circa 1948
4 / 10
Legislative bills
1947-1949
4 / 11
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)
1951-1953
5 / 1
List of artifacts transferred to the
Museum
undated
5 / 2
List of inspectors and their districts
undated
5 / 3
Montana Liquor Control Board warehouse
blueprints (contains OVERSIZE MATERIAL)
1955
5 / 4
Montana State Board of Health Circular
Letter (re retail beer establishments, 1934) and Tavern Regulation #132
1934-1935
5 / 5
National Alcoholic Beverage Control
Association Third Annual Convention, Glacier National Park (includes
program, etc.)
1940
5 / 6
Office Information (includes statistical
data)
1939-1941
5 / 7
Personnel (sampled; includes MLCB
staffing information; 1962 Personnel Assignment Review)
1940, 1942-1943, 1947,
1953-1955, 1962
5 / 8
Remarks on Stores (evaluation of state
liquor stores' records inventory, store upkeep, etc.)
1944
5 / 9
Remittance sheets (includes town, banking
depository, and type of deposit)
1951
5 / 10
Rules and Regulations of the Montana
Liquor Control Board
1950, 1956, 1960,
undated
5 / 11
Rules of conduct for Inspectors of the
Montana Liquor Control Board Enforcement Division
1953
5 / 12
Wholesale and Retail Dealer Stamps
(includes legal description of location, 1953-1954)
1952-1959