Moonshiners busted near Turnpike

In the early 1900s, Burlington had only one industry, Reed Ham Works. At least that’s what the history books say. But it seems a footnote is in order. Here’s some news from 100 years ago this month, July 1924.

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While we’re on the subject of alcohol . . .

Alex Villa of 93 Locust Street found this “Four Aces” whisky bottle 20 years ago, while edging a rock garden in his backyard woods. The vintage of this particular bottle is unknown, but British Columbia Distillery was born in Canada in 1904 and appeared to reach its stride in the 1920s, when America banned alcohol. Canada quickly became the backup source, you see.

British Columbia Distillery was acquired by Seagram’s and then dissolved in 1976 amid a worker strike.

 

According to this ad from 1922, the company’s whisky cured the common cold and even the grippe! That’s the old word for the flu.

 

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While we’re STILL on the subject of alcohol, does anyone remember this local brewery? It likely sprouted during the 1990s, when short-lived “microbreweries” were popping up everywhere. Apparently this one had a location in Wilmington and Burlington.

Keen-eyed historian Kevin Murphy of Billerica noticed the company kinda borrowed the artwork from a 1930s Louis Linscott painting of the Middlesex Canal in Woburn.

 

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