Repeal of Prohibition (1933)
The 21st Amendment ended a 13-year federal ban on alcohol and handed control to the states. California created the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control decades later, in 1955, to issue and police licenses.
States built licensing regimes; retailers needed permits to sell alcohol.
California's three-tier system and license-type rules descend from this framework.
Today's type 41 beer and wine license operates within the same state-control model.
