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Rare 1924 Prohibition Song Books: Women’s Christian Temperance Union - $45 (near Chelsea)
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Besides promoting sobriety, the group also promoted religious devotion and social reforms such as prostitution, public health, sanitation, poverty, racism, working conditions, and a woman’s right to vote.
By 1893, the organization focused its efforts on an anti-alcohol platform and was instrumental in helping get the 18th Amendment passed.
This song book was published during the middle of Prohibition, which began in 1917 and lasted until 1933.
These two booklets, both identical, are titled “Everybody Sing: Songs of the W. C. T. U.” On the cover is also handwriting that suggests the booklets were sent to “Holland WCTU chapter in Holland, MI.
The covers of the second song book has detached from the binding from use over a hundred years ago, but all of the songs inside, 44 altogether, are tightly bound. The graphics on the cover are very detailed, including the design of the lyre harp in the middle of the cover. Also, inside the design of each corner is the letter “V” (for “Victory”), which is a major part of the first song in the book.
The booklets measure 5 x 7 inches and have 32 pages. One notable song is the “white Ribbon Rally Song” (p. 22), The WCTU’s symbol was the white ribbon, which represented purity and abstinence from alcohol. My favorite song of the bunch, though, is “Prohibition March Song” on pages 16-17.