“Groceries, Liqueurs, Raspberry Syrup, Spirits: en gros & en detail”

Alcohol and Tobacco Trade before the Second World War

Abstract

Handicraft regulations from as early as 1859 included trade and trade in alcohol among the tax-exempt crafts, while selling spirits was a licensed craft. With the amended handicraft regulations of 1883, trade in alcohol likewise became a licensed craft. The handicraft law of 1931 also required a mandatory training certificate for trade crafts. Regulations regarding requirements for the alcohol trade were often modified in that period - be it with regard to closed or open bottles, wholesale or retail trade. The most common type of trade between the world wars was trade in mixed goods, both in the countryside and in town. Among other articles, such stores also sold the kind of alcoholic beverages that would also please today's customers: wine, liqueur, brandy, cognac, rum, plum brandy, gin, grape skin brandy, wine lees spirit, maraschino, bilberry brandy, spirits and beer. Retail in alcoholic drinks also took place in kiosks, with costermongers and in commission sale shops. The extent of trade in wine, most of which was a combination of wholesale and retail or wholesale alone, amounted to about 6%. On top of the taxes, traders in alcoholic drinks had to pay an excise duty in the newly-founded Yugoslavia; the alcoholic drinks taxed under this state and provincial levy included spirits, wine, liqueur, rum and beer. The Austro-Hungarian state had a monopoly on the sale of tobacco and tobacco products; consequently, the lease of kiosks and tobacco quotas was carefully regulated. The state retained a monopoly over production and sale of tobacco in Yugoslavia; tobacco at this time represented an important export product. Interestingly, the economic crisis was also reflected in the consumption of tobacco products: the crisis led to a drastic fall in the consumption of luxurious and medium quality cigarettes, while the consumption of lower quality cigarettes increased considerably; the total consumption of cigarettes increased considerably with the economic crisis.