August 1: Modern Drunkard Magazine is Unleashed on the Drinking Public

Twenty-six years ago today, way back in 1996, the first issue of Modern Drunkard Magazine was unleashed on the drinking public. At least we’re pretty sure it was this day, things were a little hazy back then. You understand. Our working budget was 600 dollars and three quarts of Ten High Whiskey. The first issue was very hard to distinguish from a punk-rock zine cranked out on a photocopier. The artwork was highly questionable. The writing, well, the writing meant well. Most of the ads were made up out of whole cloth because even the dive bars we drank in were initially a little trepidatious about advertising in something with such a, shall we say, provocative title. The local established publications, most of whom are now defunct, gleefully sneered at us. But, you know, we were gripped by that fine whiskey optimism, that keen idealism that usually grabs hold around the fifth drink. And here we are, a quarter of a century later. The secret of our longevity? We never viewed ourselves as a business trying to seize a niche, so much as a tightly-knit band of guerillas waging a long, drawn-out war against the Nanny State. Niches come and go, but guerilla wars go as long as there is something worth fighting for.