The Bratt System was a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 system which was used during 1917 - 1955 to control alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 consumption, by rationing

Rationing

Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...

 of liquor. Every citizen allowed to consume alcohol was given a booklet called motbok in which a stamp was added each time a purchase on Systembolaget

Systembolaget

Systembolaget is a government owned chain of liquor stores in Sweden. It is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol. Systembolaget also sells non-alcoholic beverages. To buy alcoholic beverages at Systembolaget one has to be 20 years of age or...

 was made. The stamps were based on the amount of alcohol bought. When a certain amount of alcohol had been bought, the owner of the motbok had to wait until next month to buy more. Wine was exempt from rationing.

Named after MD and politician Ivan Bratt, the Bratt system, involving the motbok, was made permanent in 1922 after referendum on a total ban on alcohol had been held. In this vote, a narrow 51% had voted no to banning alcohol sales. Its primary purpose was to decrease the consumption of alcohol. While a motbok owner could buy almost unlimited amounts of wine, spirits were highly restricted.

As of December 31, 1948, the average allowed purchase amount per motbok per month was 1.82 litres of spirits.