[SOS-Boston] answer to a question

[Valerie White <valerie forevermail com>]

Found this on the Web:

"Various language sites state that The "wagon" in "on the wagon" refers to 
a fixture of America's past, the water wagon. Before roads were routinely 
paved, municipalities would dispatch horse-drawn water wagons to spray the 
streets in order to prevent the clouds of dust that traffic would otherwise 
cause. Anyone who had sworn abstinence from alcohol (and would presumably 
be drinking largely water from then on) was said to have "climbed aboard 
the water wagon," later shortened to "on the wagon.""

My recollection is that this was a slogan of the Women's Christian 
Temperance Union, "get on the water wagon", meaning, don't drink alcohol.