State Ex Rel. Schneider v. Kennedy

Think of the word “saloon” and the image that comes to mind is of swinging doors, swaggering gunfighters, and painted women with hearts of gold. This is the picture that Hollywood has painted for us of the Old West. A modern restaurant serving drinks to its customers just does not fit our mental picture of a saloon.

If this case involved what a saloon was in 1865 or 1870, perhaps the Hollywood image could be considered on the basis of whether it was historically accurate. But that question is not before us. What this Court has to decide is what “open saloon” meant in 1948 when article 15,…