BLIND PIGS & THE ANGEL’S SHARE

I first learned about the term blind pig from poking around a shop in Orangeville, Ontario, that was selling “county tees” designed by Jeanette McFarlane. There was a Blind Line slogan on the front of a T-shirt. When I asked what all the “blind pig” talk was about, the store owner set off on an animated tutorial of Blind Line and the seven blind pigs that had existed along that stretch of road between Broadway in Orangeville and Highway 89 near Primrose.

Blind pigs were low-class, illegal drinking and gambling joints with secret handshakes. Local and provincial bans arose across Canada in the late 19th century, while the national Prohibition (a temporary wartime measure) was enforced from 1918 to 1920.

Grand Valley was the last township in Ontario to go dry during the