Alcohol scandal in Winnipeg? Framfari, a newspaper for settlers in New Iceland, published an article on February 22, 1879, about disorder among Icelanders in Winnipeg. This was most prevalent in the so-called Shanty Town, where people lived in cramped conditions. The paper says many men work day in and day out but are idle on other days, wasting their income on the city’s ale houses. This behavior is to their detriment and leads to exclusion from the community of honorable men. Residents of the Winnipeg neighborhood in question wrote a letter to the editor, Halldór Briem, on March 7, 1879, denouncing any such allegations. They thought the editor went way too far with foundless accusations and unwarranted claims. They said that only a few Icelanders in Winnipeg have problems with alcohol, most people are orderly. No information on the drinking habits of the people of Winnipeg at that time (1875-1880) sheds light on this issue, but it is quite clear that the society that was largely shaped by the British model that provided pubs and bars. It was not an Icelandic custom to visit an ale house after a day’s work to get a mug of beer, or refreshments as some call it. Young Icelandic workers worked on street construction, house construction, and the like with workers of other origins. Such people were perhaps accustomed to the daily consumption of alcoholic beverages, it was considered to be a cultural heritage from their homeland. There are no sources about the general drinking of Icelanders during the early years of the settlement, but it is quite clear that many of them thought the drink was good. Perhaps some, men and women, found their way into the “red light district” of the city and never got out again. Let such speculations lie between the lines, but Halldór Briem may have heard descriptions of his countrymen in the city that became the subject of his article in Framfari; he hardly created this.
Temperance Union: Around and after 1880, when the economy was improving, many Icelanders followed the example of others, who considered a mug of beer, a glass of wine or stronger drinks with alcohol no problem. Many Icelanders in Winnipeg, on the other hand, looked at all alcohol consumption from a different angle. People began to comment on abstinence issues at meetings, and when the newspaper Leifur began its publication in the city on May 5, 1883, it was not long before letters and articles to the editor on alcohol issues appeared on the pages of the newspaper. Let’s take a look at Tryggvi Oleson’s story, which he says in SÍV4 p. 399: On May 25, 1883, Gunnar Einarsson has come up with an article on the matter. He says that “far too many Icelanders in Winnipeg use alcohol to their detriment and shame, both mentally and in terms of time.” He wants people to form a temperance society and whatnot. In order for that to happen, he is offering a $100 prize to anyone who sets up a such a group within a year of publishing the article. Hjálmar Arngrímsson was next to discuss the matter. He considers abstinence activities very necessary, but points out that people must find and remedy the causes that lead to drinking. Among other things, he considers the enjoyment of tobacco and the bad habit of parents giving their children large and unhealthy meal, which damages the stomach and plants a craving for alcoholic beverages, tobacco use and so on. But Gunnar Einarsson did not think Hjálmar’s arguments were sensible. He said there were three reasons for drinking; and the first is that alcoholic beverages are far too widely available; the second, that quite a few are naturally inclined to their pleasures; and the third, habit …. G. A. Dalmann also did not think that tobacco addiction would cause drunkenness. He advised all young men to never taste alcoholic beverages. If you, good brethren, do not drink the first wine, you will never become an alcoholic.” These discussions about abstinence did not immediately lead to the formation of such a society, but waited for the arrival of Reverend Jón Bjarnason to Winnipeg a year later.
Kvenfélag Framfarafélagsins (Icelandic association in Winnipeg) and Rev. Jón Bjarnason. Reverend Jón Bjarnason returned to Canada in August 1884 and on the 20th he gave his first sermon. Leifur reports: “On Wednesday the 20th Reverend Jón Bjarnason performed the first service in Framfarafjelagshús Ísl. in Winnipeg and greeted his countrymen; the attendance was so great that a large number of people had to stand, but three hundred people could sit in the house. At the end of the service, he announced that the Icelandic Women’s Association in Winnipeg would convene an abstinence meeting on Friday the 22nd and there he would conduct another sermon at the same place, also that a congregation meeting be held after the worship service. Now it’s all over, the abstinence meeting was held last Friday evening, and Rev. Jón chaired the meeting on behalf of the women’s society; about 30 souls enrolled in the abstinence society, most of them women, but only 7 men. This is an example of how reluctant men are to break loyalty to Bacchus.” The society’s charter was passed on September 19, 1884, describing the society’s purpose, which was to combat the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Furthermore, each member promised not to consume alcohol except on the advice of a doctor and at holy communion. The board of the society was elected in October and Reverend Jón Bjarnason was elected president and with him on the board were his wife, Lára Guðjohnsen, Jón Björnsson, Andrés Reykdal, and Signý Pálsdóttir. The society never became strong, at most 86 members, but survived for the next few years, as can be seen in the fact that on February 25, three members, Magnús Pálsson, Jón Júlíus Jónsson and Guðmundur Jónsson, attended the meeting of all the city’s temperance associations as representatives of the Icelandic temperance society. In the same year, the society collected signatures under a petition to the province government that only “host houses” be allowed to sell alcoholic beverages. At the end of the year or early 1887, this oldest temperance society of Icelanders ceases to function. Various reasons caused this, e.g. at the same time, the women’s association Framfarafélagið disbanded, and there had been some grumbling in the Icelandic community in the city for a while due to the close ties between the temperance society and the First Lutheran congregation in the city, where Reverend Jón Bjarnason was the pastor. Finally, Icelanders had become acquainted with the activities of the Good Templar Lodge in the city, and soon Icelandic lodges in Winnipeg took over the activities of the temperance society.
English version by Thor group.