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Drink Up-Celebrate!-- Prohibition is over!

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H

Harold

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In 1919--Congress passed the 18th Amendment to the constitution (after much debate)--The amendment made it illegal to manufacture,
sell, or distribute alcoholic beverages--Organized crime loved it--people wanted their "booze"--and it will be supplied! Speed boats
(they were called "Rum Runners" from
Cuba--Canada--Haiti--slipping into coves along the coast with 20 or 30 cases--there was money to be made! Finally, in 1933, the
"Noble Experiment" as it called was over--Articles in newspapers opposed the law. I saw a couple of cartoons in the newspapers,
A husband heading out the door, with the wife and 2 children hanging onto him--begging him not to go and spend their last savings-
The wife begging-"the children are hungry, we have no food!" Leave me alone, woman--I'm a slave to the "demon rum!"

The 21st Amendment (1933) to the constitution repealed the 18th Amendment--let the good times roll! Party time!
It still had to be ratified by the states, and Kansas was one of the last states to do so. In the '50's--Passengers on airplanes flying
over Kansas could not be served alcohol until they passed over and onto another state. The captain would determine (with
electronic assistance) when they were approaching the Kansas state line--he would tell the flight attendants to "lock up shop"
for 30-40 minutes or so---In some cases, Instead of "electronic assistance", the Captain may have just looked out the window and noted a particular
farm that he knew was on the Kansas border--
 
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My dad's parents lived in Buffalo NY during that time. They bought land and built a summer cottage in Ontario. The cottage was on Black Creek, a few miles above the falls. They could take their boat from Buffalo right to what they called "the front yard" of the cottage. Drinking was legal there.
 
Never got much info on the grandparents' dealings with Prohibition. BUT(!) paternal grandfather made elderberry and dandelion wine (awful stuff to me!). The maternal side were Italian and my uncle made the chianti for the whole family every year. It was his father's recipe brought over from Italy with him in 1915, along with several wooden casks. That was what all my (17) cousins and I grew up with. I suspect there was no interruption of either family's supply during the "dry" period. Both were very rural farm folks.
 
I remember the after effects well. Oklahoma retained prohibition for a long time, even longer than Kansas, I think. While I was in the Army in Pittsburgh, the citizens finally voted to be able to buy booze leagally in 1959. Even then though if you went out for a drink, it had to be a private club and you had to take your own booze. That was pretty much a joke and was finally eliminate but it took several years. We still had 3.2 beer and you couldn't buy wine or real beer at you local grocery until a couple of years ago.
 
In Pennsylvania you had to go to a "distributor" for alcoholic beverages when I was living there. Even into the mid 90's when I visited. Glad to learn they finally changed that.
 
Bayless said:
I remember the after effects well. Oklahoma retained prohibition for a long time, even longer than Kansas, I think. While I was in the Army in Pittsburgh, the citizens finally voted to be able to buy booze leagally in 1959. Even then though if you went out for a drink, it had to be a private club and you had to take your own booze. That was pretty much a joke and was finally eliminate but it took several years. We still had 3.2 beer and you couldn't buy wine or real beer at you local grocery until a couple of years ago.
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One of my dad's friends, Byron Gambulous, opened the first liquor store in the state when he opened Byron's Liqour Warehouse in downtown OKC in 1959 when the state first legalized liqour.
 
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
H. L. Mencken
 
DrEntropy said:
In Pennsylvania you had to go to a "distributor" for alcoholic beverages when I was living there. Even into the mid 90's when I visited. Glad to learn they finally changed that.
Click to expand...
They still have that in Ontario - part of the deal to end prohibition. You go to the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) or the Beer Store (used to be the Brewers Retail) - only in the last few years have you been able to buy beer and wine in a grocery or conveniece store. One advantage is that they have literally a world class return and recycling program.

I grew up in Belleville (across Lake Ontario from Rochester) and Corby's distillery was there - in the day, ships of booze would leave with a manifest for Cuba and be back the next day empty - amazing!
 
Janet and I are from New Orleans.

Nuff said.
 
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