Maine law

The "Maine law" was passed in 1851 in, well, Maine, as one of the first statutory implementations of the developing temperance movement in the United States. The passage of the law prohibiting the sale of all alcoholic beverages, except for "medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes," quickly spread elsewhere, and by 1855 twelve states had joined Maine in total prohibition. These were "dry" states, states without prohibition laws were "wet."