The front page of the Red Bank Register on Feb. 28, 1935.
By BRIAN DONOHUE
Is Red Bank saturated with saloons? Do we need bigger booze shops? It’s a debate as timeless as a classic martini. 
This point struck us recently as we listened to the discussion at the Feb. 20 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting about a liquor store’s application to move to a bigger location on Shrewsbury Avenue. Two members voted against the variance—one short of scuttling it—on the grounds that the last thing neighborhood needs is a bigger booze outlet.
Just that afternoon, we had been reading the Red Bank Public Library’s Red Bank Register archive to catch up on the news from 90 years ago when we saw a headline about town leaders engaged in a similar debate over how prevalent alcohol-peddling establishments should be in town in 1935.
An article in the Feb. 28 1935 Red Bank Register about commissioners capping the number of liquor licenses in town.
Just 13 months after the end of prohibition, the town commissioners had refused to grant what would have been the town’s 47th liquor license deciding, in the newspaper’s words that Red Bank had reached the “saloon saturation point.”
This got us wondering: Are we still at saloon saturation?
We asked present-day Borough Clerk Mary Moss how many licenses exist in the town today. She told us the town currently has 42 active liquor licenses, two inactive, and one “pocket license” which is inactive and has no active premises for its use.
So the number of licenses seems to have not changed much in 90 years, with the limit set by commissioners 90 ago this week still in place.
In 1948, the state limited the number of licenses a town can issue to one per 3,000, residents, but towns like Red Bank could retain their grandfathered licenses to ensure we remain well-saturated even today.
To celebrate the anniversary of Red Bank Saturation Day, just head on over (in your imagination) to Schultz-United at 32 Broad Street (currently a vacant former Chase Bank location) and pick up some Cobb’s Creek Whiskey for 69 cents a pint, as advertised in the same edition of the Red Bank Register.
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your level of monthly or annual contribution.
