In 1923, a national contest kicked off in Boston to find a new word.  The definition was in place, and a $200 prize was announced once someone invented a word that would embody this definition.  The definition: “a person who drinks illegally”.  At the time, this meant pretty much everyone in the United States (and much of Canada), since Prohibition had been in place since 1919.  The contest and its prize was sponsored by Delcevare King, a banker and an enthusiastic supporter of Prohibition. The contest was announced in newspapers across the country, but it was the Boston Globe that found the winners.  There were two winners, in fact: Globe readers Henry Irving Dale and Kate L. Butler, who independently hit upon scofflaw to inhabit this definition.  Since both came up with it, Mr. King decided it was fair that they split the prize money, giving $100 to each of them.  Theirs were only two of about 25,000 entries received. The term caught on, and enjoyed popular currency for as long

Though there is some doubt about whether McSorley’s Ale House opened exactly in 1854 or sometime near that year, at some point in the middle of the 19th century it did open. Founder John McSorley, an Irish immigrant, insisted his saloon, originally called the Old House at Home, was opened at 15 East 7th Street in New York City in 1854, while city records state that the building it occupies didn’t exist before 1858. At any rate, the place has been around for a while. One of the establishment’s slogans is “We were here before you were born.” This wasn’t always true, but it’s certainly true today. Their second slogan is “Be Good or Be Gone.” Bars don’t mind drunks, but rowdy drunks are just bad for business. At one time, McSorley’s had a third slogan: “Good Ale, Raw Onions, and No Ladies”. It’s certainly true you could always get good ale there, and raw onions are still available as part of the cheese platters the saloon offers. And these days, ladies can be found at McSorley’