Sweden: Caught in a Drought

When 40 years of liquor rationing* ended in 1955, most Swedes laid in ample reserve stocks, vowing never to be caught short again. But there they were, with cupboards bare last week, amidst the direst shortage since the height of government controls.

Trouble for the hard-drinking Swedes began when foremen of the State Wine and Liquor Monopoly distilleries went out on strike four weeks ago. The government declined their demands for longer vacations. As a result, the distilleries closed up tight, and the country began to dry up fast. Last week wines, whiskies and liqueurs were all but gone, and, even worse, the shops were running out of akvavit, Sweden’s favorite drink.

As alarmed Swedes lined up at state-run package stores to buy what they could, the government restricted akvavit sales to a bottle per customer. And word went out that unless something is done this week, fully a third of all Sweden’s liquor stores will be out of akvavit altogether. Bootleggers turned up furtively with the popular Brännvin akvavit, asking $20 for the bottle which normally sells for $5. “A disaster,” muttered one Swede, waiting his turn in a Stockholm queue. In the south, some desperate Swedes were even hopping ferries across to Denmark to seek relief at Copenhagen bars.

* Restricting most men to three quarts per month, austere by Swedish standards.