Everything you need to know about Bunghole Liquors! Let’s kick things off with a short, introductory video. The video below is part of the Salem Spotlight series in which I fill you in on everything you need to know about attractions, restaurants, hotels, witch shops, tours, and a bunch of other locations in Salem, Massachusetts. Today we’re having a look at Bunghole Liquors. Keep scrolling past the video for much more information about Bunghole Liquors.
Bunghole Liquors - All You Need to Know In One Minute | Salem Spotlight
Crazy History of Bunghole Liquors
During the Prohibition era, Americans would often go to extreme lengths to get their hands on heavily restricted alcohol. In Salem, a funeral home by the wharf even went so far as to serve liquor out of its basem*nt. Frequent visitors to the parlor began referring to it as, “The Bunghole.” This term was likely a bit cheeky in its intent. The bunghole is a the little, corked hole on the side of a liquor barrel. Its used to provide easy visibility to the liquor inside, without having to open the entire barrel and potentially expose the fermentation to damaging light or materials.
But it also sounds pretty hilarious. I know if I was forced to drink in the basem*nt of a funeral home, I’d want it to be called something hilarious too.
Speaking of drinking at the bunghole. It was just as gruesome as it appears to have been. There are multiple claims of Salem’s residents getting sloshed literally right beside corpses. If that’s not the most Salem thing I’ve ever heard, I’m not sure what is.
Due to either well-guarded secrecy or the inclination of Salem’s policing officials to look the other way, the funeral home/liquor dungeon somehow held on through the entirety of the prohibition age. As Prohibition lifted in 1933, people began searching for places to drink in droves. Hence, in the same year, a liquor store emerged in the place of the funeral home.
Legend has it that the name came directly from a Polish priest who frequented the parlor daily. He, like most of Salem’s drinkers, had adopted the bunghole colloquial, years prior. And so, Bunghole Liquors was born.
What’s Inside Bunghole Liquors?
The main store (in downtown Salem) offers with a wide variety of drinks, especially wine and beer. It also has an online store, where you can buy Bunghole merchandise. Unfortunately, there’s little these days that hearkens to the store’s strange history. Legend has it, however, that the basem*nt still contains the portholes where once corpses awaited their final internment. Bunghole is one of the several Salem locations that supposedly also contains access to the infamous tunnel system that runs beneath the city streets.
Most fascinatingly, the dark and macabre history of the store has led many Salem residents and visitors to claim the building is haunted. Rumor has it that there are two ghosts who frequent the store. The first is a woman, usually spotted along the wine racks. The second is the infamous black cat of Salem, which has also been spotted at the nearby House of the Seven Gables. You can learn more about those hauntings and the paranormal history of four other Salem locations in the video below.
Paranormal Salem - 5 Haunted Destinations You MUST Visit
Bunghole Liquors Sign
Bunghole Liquors in Salem Ma is perhaps the best well-known outside of Salem for its sign. Why? Because it’s hilarious. The entire brand is hilarious if I’m honest. That leads many people to share images of the sign on social media. Here’s a photo of mine if you’d like to share it.
Hours of Operation
- Monday – Saturday: 9am – 11 pm
- Sunday: 10am – 10pm
Bunghole Liquors Salem Ma Address
The store is rather advantageously positioned. You’ll find it near Derby Wharf between the Salem Waterfront Hotel and the House of the Seven Gables. If you’re visiting the Witch City, chances are you’ll run right into Bunghole without even trying to. Bunghole isn’t the only liquor store in downtown Salem. But it is the only one on the wharf.
Address: 204 Derby St, Salem, Massachusetts
Bunghole Liquors Peabody Ma
Bunghole also opened a sister store in “Tanner City,” Peabody, MA in 1995. Its address is 79 Lowell St, Peabody, MA 01960
Cristiana L.
