Bugs - to answer your question. I don't know if the allergy was there or not. I drank normally for a number of years as well, it got worse over time.
I have an allergy to latex - I get a nasty reaction to it (rash etc - nurses cannot use latex gloves with me, it's in my medical history). It did not show up in my life until about 5 years ago. So, I did not always have an allergic reaction to it, but it developed somehow from repeated exposure to sports equipment with latex in the lining.
Now, did the allergy to latex not exist 10 years ago in me? I don't know. The allergist said that it was repeated exposure to latex - now I cannot touch it at all.
Alcoholism is progressive - I think everyone can agree on that. So maybe repeated exposure over longer periods time in larger amounts has some influence...there is plenty of information about acetaldehyde conversion to acetate, but that's not what this thread was about.
After all - an allergy is simply an abnormal reaction to a substance (bees, peanuts, shellfish, latex, cats, dogs). With alcohol, my abnormal reaction is that I will drink more when I have a little.
This is fact of my experience and it is shared by many others on this board it's also supported by literature much more recent than 1939.
This is not a matter of what I believe becoming my reality but I'll turn the other cheek anyhow.
Take care,
~a