Good article, but not quite accurate in one respect. I am old enough to remember the original dying of the Chicago River green by the Plumbers Union and Mayor Richard J. Daley. I can attest that,, at least in Chicago, and from what I was told by my parents and others from around the US, that the "cultural norm" of drinking to excess on St. Patrick's Day goes back A LOT further than the Budweiser advertising campaign of the 1970s. Even in the mid-60s there were full-on pub crawls taking place on March 17. The Catholic Church in Ireland may have frowned upon drinking on Feast Day, but in America it was full-bore beer drinking.

All the reminds me of an old jok I heard as a wee young lae:

What's the difference between an Irish Wedding and an Irish Wake?

One less drunk.

Happy St. Pat's Day everyone everywhere!