Detroit 1929. Getting rid of bootleg liquor.
Happy 94th Birthday to the 18th (Prohibition) Amendment!
This week we mark the ninety-fourth anniversary of that supreme folly, the 18th Amendment, better known as the Prohibition Amendment. It was ratified on January 16, 1919. It would go into effect a year and a day later, on January 17, 1920. The pertinent text is short: “After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.”
Many states had already approved prohibition legislation years earlier, but this amendment to the Constitution applied to the entire country, all 48 states and territories. Only two states rejected the amendment, Connecticut and Rhode Island–of course, they had to observe the ban anyway. What most people don’t realize is that this amendment did not make it illegal to drink liquor. It made it illegal to make, sell, or transport it. People could still legally drink up any supplies they already owned and many individuals and private clubs had laid in huge amounts in anticipation of that loophole.
The 18th is the only amendment to the Constitution that has ever been repealed. The 21st amendment ended the tragic experiment thirteen years later.
Government-Poisoned Booze
Who knew? I certainly didn’t realize that it was official government policy during the Roaring Twenties to poison alcohol so as to deter illegal drinking.
Of course I knew that thousands of people died or were blinded by poisoned alcohol–that’s fairly common knowledge. It was, I thought, nearly all due to illegally made “bathtub gin” and liquor made in makeshift stills, where people would incorporate all kinds of poisonous ingredients to give their brew extra kick. Or sometimes they didn’t realize how tainted their product was. (Examples included kerosene, carbolic acid, mercury, and carbolic acid; sometimes the alcohol was actually industrial alcohol.) This is all true, but it was only a part of the story.
According to Deborah Blum, “Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.”
Shocked? So was I.
I’ll be incorporating some of this in my third novel in the Roaring Twenties series. My bootlegger character schemes to sidestep government prohibition by selling legal alcohol for medicinal purposes and then abusing the loophole. I’ll work in something about this purposeful poisoning.
For more of Blum’s findings, see http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2010/02/the_chemists_war.single.html
Another good link is: http://blogs.plos.org/speakeasyscience/2010/12/31/at-the-prohibition-bar/
The End of Prohibition–Let’s Party!
Seventy-nine years ago today, Prohibition ended. The historic date–December 5, 1933–came when Utah, that majority-Mormon, anti-alcohol state, became the 36th state to ratify the 21st amendment that repealed the 18th amendment. To be honest, many if not most cities and states had quit trying to enforce Prohibition years earlier. It was too costly and too impossible.
Hidden Speakeasies
According to New York’s police commissioner, New York City had 32,000 illegal speakeasies during Prohibition. Four of them were located on the same block as police headquarters. Obviously, hiding was not the issue. Bribery was. These speakeasies were no secret to anyone. I’ve made sure that in my Roaring Twenties mysteries, the speakeasies are in plain view and operating pretty openly. I also put the occasional policeman in the speakeasy, either for a drink or to pick up his weekly “tip.”
I also make sure the plot includes a cop or two on the take. (No offense intended, Officer . . . heh, heh. . . ) One of my main characters is a young policeman who is honest, and even he turns a blind eye at the routine corruption all around him.
Ya Gotta Love this Quote
“The history of the United States could be told in 11 words: Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, Volstead, two flights up and ask for Gus.” –New York Sun columnist H. I. Phillips
“Lawless”: A New Twenties Movie about Bootleggers
The Roaring Twenties era continues to intrigue us. Here’s a new movie, “Lawless,” about bootlegging in the Virginia mountains. I haven’t seen it yet; have you?
One reviewer wrote that it was pretty hard to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys, a sentiment that I believe sums up the Prohibition years nicely. Everyone was corrupt.
Check out the trailer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zl7S1LaPMU.
Prohibition Exhibit Coming to Your City?
Here’s some good news! The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia (on Independence Mall) is opening an exhibit called American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, thanks to a grant from the NEH. Opening day is October 19 and the exhibit lasts until next April. After that it will tour many cities, including Seattle, WA; St. Paul, MN; St. Louis, MO; Austin, TX; and Grand Rapids, MI. (More to come, they say, and I hope there will be one close to me.) Read the entire (long) press release below.
The era of flappers and suffragists, bootleggers and temperance lobbyists, and real-life legends like Al Capone and Carry Nation will come vividly to life in the National Constitution Center’s world-premiere exhibition American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition.
Spanning the dawn of the temperance movement in the early 1800s, through the Roaring Twenties, to the unprecedented repeal of a constitutional amendment during the Great Depression, this first comprehensive exhibition about Prohibition will explore America’s most colorful and complex constitutional hiccup. American Spirits will debut at the Center fromOctober 19, 2012 to April 28, 2013, before embarking on a nationwide tour.
The tour will extend into 2016, bringing the exhibition to cities across the country, including Seattle, WA; St. Paul, MN; St. Louis, MO; Austin, TX; and Grand Rapids, MI. [Complete tour schedule to be announced at a later date.]
American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition is created by the National Constitution Center and curated by Daniel Okrent, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. Okrent collaborated with filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on the documentaryProhibition, which aired on PBS in fall 2011.
“Prohibition left an indelible mark on America, redefining the role of the federal government and leaving its mark on everything from our personal habits to our tax policies,” said exhibition curator Daniel Okrent. “And though it may have been a wild card in our constitutional history, it came into being through the invention and deployment of political tactics and strategies still in play today.”
“American Spirits reveals the real stories behind hit dramas like HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and also provides timely perspectives on current constitutional debates about the government’s role in our lives,” said National Constitution Center President and CEO David Eisner. “From the ratification of the 18th Amendment to its repeal with the 21st Amendment, we can learn powerful lessons from this fascinating and politically charged story.”
The 5,000-square-foot exhibition will feature over 120 rare artifacts, including:
- Original ratification copies of the 18th and 21st Amendments
- A hatchet used by Carry Nation during one of her barroom-smashing raids
- A Prohibition Bureau Badge issued by the Department of Justice in 1931
- Temperance propaganda, including pamphlets, school lesson manuals, speeches, and hymnals
- The phone used by Roy Olmstead, the defendant in the landmark Olmstead v. United States wiretapping case, to run his bootlegging empire
- Flapper dresses, cocktail couture, and other women’s and men’s fashion accessories from the 1920s
- Original home manufacturing items used for making moonshine, homebrewed beer, and other illegal and highly potent liquor
- One of the first crates of Budweiser produced after the “Beer Act,” which passed in April 1933 and changed the legal limit for “intoxicating” beverages to 3.2% per volume to allow for the return of beer production.
Interactive elements and immersive environments will bring to life the sights, sounds, and experiences of the time period. Wayne Wheeler’s Amazing Amendment Machine, a dazzling 20-foot-long, eight-foot-tall carnival-inspired contraption, will trace how the temperance movement culminated in the 18th Amendment. In addition, visitors can:
- Sit in a pew of a recreated early 1900s church to learn about the rise of the Anti-Saloon League and take a quiz to find out if you would have been a “wet” or a “dry”
- Test their knowledge of what could and could not be consumed under the rules of the 18th Amendment during the “Is it Legal?” interactive touchscreen game
- Explore a re-created speakeasy complete with a bar, dance floor, bandstand, and powder room and learn how to dance the Charleston
- Play the role of a federal Prohibition agent chasing rumrunners in a custom-built video game where you drive your own speedboat
- Join gangsters in a criminal lineup for a memorable photo opportunity.
Visitors will have an opportunity at the end of the exhibition to explore the legacy of Prohibition in today’s regulatory landscape. Displays will show why and how laws differ from state to state and how the idea of drinking responsibly has evolved since the 1930s to reflect what we know about alcohol today.
To complement the exhibition, the Center is developing a variety of engaging activities and resource materials for students, teachers, and families that illuminate the amendment process, the role of liquor in American history, and the cultural revolution of the 1920s. Daniel Okrent, Ken Burns, and Lynn Novick will lend their voices and commentary to a special iPod audio tour that will guide visitors through the exhibition. Additionally, a theatrical performance – a hallmark of the Center’s exhibition experience – will take place inside the speakeasy. There, an actor playing the role of a bartender will explore the impact of the speakeasy on fashion, music, and culture during the Roaring Twenties.
A series of evening events and themed parties will further engage audiences in this colorful cultural moment. Guests ages 21+ can get a sneak peek of the exhibition prior to its public opening during the “Bootlegger’s Ball” on Thursday, October 18, 2012, when the Center’s Grand Hall Lobby will be transformed into a speakeasy complete with a live jazz band. Two additional parties are planned for Thursday, February 14, 2013 and Thursday, April 4, 2013.
The Center also is partnering with local businesses including Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, Sugar House Casino, Eastern State Penitentiary, and the Moshulu Restaurant on special themed packages for groups. Marketing and promotional support is provided by Philly Beer Week.
Admission to American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition is $17.50 for adults, $16 for seniors and students, and $11 for children ages 4-12. Group rates also are available.
How to Smuggle Liquor into the Country during Prohibition?
How to smuggle liquor into the country during Prohibition? Let me count the ways . . .
There was the tunnel method.
The sea route was popular.
There was always the garter flask.
You could wear in in, on your back of inside your pants leg.
You could bring it inside a watermelon.
Or drive it into the country from Canada across the frozen river or lake. Ooops.
Then there was the air route.
Canadian Smuggling
The Detroit River separates Windsor, Canada, from the U.S. by less than a mile. This was a funnel or sorts, with 75% of all smuggled Canadian liquor coming across the river. When the river froze in the winter, it was even easier–a car or truck could drive across or a man could pull a sled loaded with hooch. Of course, sometimes there were problems . . .
Canada also made drinking alcohol illegal, but the government shrewdly allowed its manufacture “for export only.” This industry brought lots of jobs and money to Canada.
In THE IMPERSONATOR (due to be published Fall 2013 by St. Martin’s/Minotaur), one of my characters smuggles liquor from Canada, but he does it in the Northwest, where Canadian Sam Bronfman, founded of Seagram’s, cornered the market on making booze and shipping it to America. Many smuggled it into the country over land; others came by sea. Part of the mystery is how my bootleggers got their liquor into Portland.
