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The Drunkard's Progress, or the Direct Road to Poverty, Wretchedness & Ruin: The Morning Dram (1826)

Hand-colored engraving by John Warner Barber (1798-1885), printed in New Haven, Connecticut. Biblical quotation above the image: "Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow Strong Drink... Isa 5 C. 11v." [Isaiah 5:11]. The father is drinking at 8 AM, ignoring his wife and children. The sign by the liquor cabinet reads "Dr ____'s Celebrated Bitters, an infallible Remedy for Coughs, Colds, Consumptions, Asthma, Contiveness, Dropsy, Jaunders [Jaudice], Sore Eyes, Scalds, Bruises, Burns, &c. Directions: Drink one glass in the Morning. Beware of Counterfeits..." Below the image is a recitation of the beginning of alcoholism: "The Beginning of Sorrow, Neglect of Business, Idleness, Languor, Loss of Appetite, Dulness and Heaviness, a love of Strong Drink increasing. (Source: Printed Ephemera Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Image edited by Dr. Douglas J Lanska.)

Associated Disorders

  • Alcohol intoxication
  • Alcohol withdrawal seizures
  • Alcoholic cerebellar degeneration
  • Alcoholic myopathy
  • Alcoholic neuropathy
  • Alcoholic pellagra
  • Autonomic hyperactivity
  • Central pontine myelinolysis
  • Cerebral contusion
  • Delirium tremens
  • Epidural hematoma
  • Epilepsy
  • Fetal alcohol syndrome
  • Hepatic encephalopathy
  • Hyponatremia
  • Korsakoff psychosis
  • Marchiafava-Bignami syndrome
  • Subdural hematoma
  • Substance abuse
  • Wernicke encephalopathy
  • Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome