Hardacre’s Temperance Map Illustrating The Effect of Alcoholic Drinks and Narcotics on the Human System.

An early 20th century predecessor to the D.A.R.E. program?

“Half the idiots in the world are the children of drunkards. More than half the insanity is due to alcohol, while it produces four out of every five of our paupers and nine out of every ten of the criminals with which our prisons are crowded.” Text, lower right.

This visually arresting chart was published in Vincennes, Indiana in 1906 by F.C. Hardacre. Mounted on linen, it was designed to be rolled in a wooden case and used for educational purposes alongside more traditional wall maps. Rather than geography, the aim was to teach the pupils about the health risks and moral failings of consuming alcohol and smoking cigarettes.

The sheet presents a scale of four lifestyles ranging from The Healthy (left) to In Delirium (right). In each stage, characteristic symptoms of the face, tongue, and numerous internal organs are dramatically illustrated, highlighting the apparently inevitable progression from fitness and hygiene to derelict destitution. Captions provide the impression of scientific authority, while moral and social aspects are also explored. Plate XXIII shows ‘An Emaciated Youth, whose exalted ambitions have fled – A Cigarette Fiend.’ Tables of statistics at the bottom of the page take note of U.S. consumption of alcohol in terms of dollars and gallons, in addition to the proof ranges of various drinks.

When the chart was published, the Temperance Movement was nearing it’s height in the United States. Rooted in concerns about the ills associated with alcohol abuse, the movement gained widespread support from various religious organizations, women’s groups, and middle-class reformers. There were also elements of Nativist social controls aimed at certain ethnic groups like Irish, Italians, and Germans (note the visualization of the ‘working man’ in the lower right). Ultimately, the Temperance Movement led to the enactment of the 18th Amendment in 1919, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages and introduced the period of American history known as Prohibition.

The chart is rare, with three institutional examples located at Notre Dame, the Western Illinois Museum, and the James Brown House. The fearful imagery was apparently effective – this example was acquired from the daughter of a school teacher who taught in several rural townships across Central Illinois for several decades. She distinctly remembers her uncle crediting Hardacre’s work with his decision to abstain from cigarettes and alcohol!

Sources: Western Illinois Museum;  OCLC:1079399204; Relics, Remnants, & Religion;