Prohibition

[reetpleat]

Not all breweries were successful at that. Baltimore had something like 40 odd breweries before Prohibition and something like 3 afterwards!! I'm not sure the exact number so don't quote me on that. But I know it was a DRASTIC reduction in the number of breweries.

Matt

Prior to prohibition, there were as many cider factories as breweries. After prohibition a number of breweries started large campaigns nationally and moved beer into first position, leaving cider behind.

 

[LizzieMaine]

While I don't know, I would suspect that while it was a moral issue for some, it was also a social issue in a way. I believe that many social reformers of the day saw drink as a major factor in the ills of the working class, and truly believed that prohibition would elevate the well being of working class families. naive as that was. But I don't really know for sure.

Would you agree?

That's a very good point, actually -- the pre-World War I temperence movement was an interesting coalition of moralists and reformers: there were a lot of women's groups, especially, that straddled both sides of that line. For example, the Women's Christian Temperence Union on the one side stood for an old-school Bible-thumping attitude on the sin of drunkeness -- but it also argued that drunken husbands were responsible for dragging their wives and children into poverty. With such arguments it was able to attract a very wide base of support from both liberals and conservatives. That coalition didn't last long, though -- it became apparent within the first year that Prohibition was going to cause more social ills that it would cure, and a lot of the dry reformers turned wet.

 

[carter]

It's funny, i recall a couple phases where cordial making was in. When I was real little i recall that you could get mixes to make your own with mostly vodka base. Later there was this whole make your own Kahlua thing going around.

Nowdays they're called infusions. These were a big thing in the bar business within the last ten years. Just put your favorite flavor Jolly Rancher or fruit in the jar/container/etc. with vodka and let it go to work. You can make your own at home.

 

[JimInSoCalif]

It would be interesting to know the level of organized crime we would have in this country if we had not had Prohibition - something we can only guess at.

Of course, J. Edgar Hoover, the head of our FBI for too long, claimed we had no organized crime.

Cheers, Jim.

 

[HadleyH]

On a side note... these words said by Abraham Lincoln in 1840, reflect well the feelings of many in the 1920s and beyond...

"Prohibition...goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very priciples upon which our goverment was founded."

It had to fail.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I think I have too much time on my hands. I believe Adams' doggerel verse was "adapted" from an 18th- or 19th-century bit about tobacco, at least one line of which was approximately: Tobacco is a filthy weed. / I like it. . . .

fftopic: ish:

Tobacco is a dirty weed
I like it.
It satisfies no normal need
I like it.
It makes you thin, it makes you lean
It takes the hair right off your bean
It's the worst damn stuff I've ever seen
I like it.

My grandfather had a wooden cigarette pack dispenser (small, for non-filter sized packs like Camels) on the wall of his shop. It had this poem pasted on it. Wish I had that little item.

 

[Story]

Margaret Bourke-White's 1933 photo, of a "drunk male patron leaning on bar as others enjoy their drinks at an unident. speakeasy in the business district protected fr. police prohibition raids". Avatar potential here.

http://images.google.com/hosted/lif...asy+source:life&hl=en&imgurl=58079c45a5566fcc

 

[DBLIII]

On a side note... these words said by Abraham Lincoln in 1840, reflect well the feelings of many in the 1920s and beyond...

"Prohibition...goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very priciples upon which our goverment was founded."

It had to fail.

Absolutely. Spot on. Great quote. Some things just are what they are. Legislation, or anything else for that matter, won't change people.
I'd comment more, but I have to go get another beer.

 

[HadleyH]

I'd comment more, but I have to go get another beer.

lol ~~~~



of course, like W.Rogers once said..."Prohibition is better than no liquour at all" Cheers!

 

[RBH]

lol ~~~~



of course, like W.Rogers once said..."Prohibition is better than no liquour at all" Cheers!

lol lol

 

[carouselvic]

Kansas remained dry until 1949, they did allow 3.2% beer, but no liquor. Great Uncles Pete and George did not let the law interfere with their drinking. They simply made their own.

 

[filfoster]

"The Noble Experiment" indeed. I would still like to know how it gained enough support in post WWI America, with tens of thousands of Doughboys coming home badly in need of a drink, to become an Amendment to the Constitution. Makes one wonder about the clout of organized crime (not seriously).
Nothing creates demand like forbidding something.

 

[filfoster]

Quote: "it also argued that drunken husbands were responsible for dragging their wives and children into poverty."
With that arguement, can an Amendment banning Ebay be far away?

 

[carouselvic]

Actually it was the poor physical condition of the WW1 draftees that helped further the cause of prohibition.

 

[HadleyH]

One good thing that came out of 'The Noble Experiment' ( the only good thing perhaps... ) was the creation of the Lost Generation, "America's greatest group of young writers fleeing prohibition, among other things, and using the backdrop of post-war Europe to create some of the 20th century finest literature."
...Apart from that...nothing [huh]

 

[cookie]

Quote: "it also argued that drunken husbands were responsible for dragging their wives and children into poverty."
With that arguement, can an Amendment banning Ebay be far away?

My wife would vote yes to that ...

 

[Story]

18th Amendment passed, 16 January 1919

 

[vitanola]

"The Noble Experiment" indeed. I would still like to know how it gained enough support in post WWI America, with tens of thousands of Doughboys coming home badly in need of a drink, to become an Amendment to the Constitution. Makes one wonder about the clout of organized crime (not seriously).
Nothing creates demand like forbidding something.

The 18th Amendment was passed whilst the Doughboys were still in Europe, enjoying the charms of the Madamoselles, and consuming copious quantiites of wine and Cognac.

Many of our returning boys felt that the Volstead was a bad joke played at their expense while they were away..

 

[raiderrescuer]

"Prescription"

From Wikipedia Commons...a Prescription for Medicinal Liquor

 

[HadleyH]

And just for the record, we must mention here that Mrs Ella Boole, one of the most dedicated allies of the Demon Rum set, and President of the Women Temperance Union from 1925 to 1933 , not only fought drink, but even dancing, theater going and card playing ... In simple English, it could have been worse! lol