Prohibition

[Minerva]

Bootlegging is when one brings alcohol to a place where it has been banned. Those that brought in alcohol from North or South of the US border were bootleggers. I believe those that used ships were refered to as Rum-runners too.

That's correct about the rum-runners. My grandfather spent Prohibition making twice-monthly 'business trips' to Florida to get rum. It seems the family restaurant had a speakeasy in the back room. I also suspect he was helping to stock his uncle's establishment in the red-light district, from what I've been discovering from chatting with heretofore-unknown relatives.

[Naphtali]

Things have been omitted. People could manufacture (distill, brew) alcohol for personal consumption up to, I believe, 200 gallons per year. People could buy (from where I do not know) and consume alcoholic beverages with a doctor's prescription.
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I wonder whether importing liquor, or returning with it from a trip abroad, would have been legal were the amount obviously small enough to be considered "for personal consumption?"

[Eyemo]

Very informative...thanks all

[John in Covina]

Yes you could (and still can for hard liquor) apply to make beer, wine and alcohol for personal consumption BUT how many did and how many knew you could? It wasn't common knowledge.

Sacramental wine making tended to be the only way for numerous wineries to stay in business.

As to importing, yes you can even bring in Cuban cigars, there is a legal way, but how many know and how many do so in the legal way?

There were even kits that came out with "How Not To Brew Beer" or "How Not to Make Wine" instructions.

[LizzieMaine]

Breweries also stayed in business making "non alcoholic malt beverages" -- which were simply beer from which the alcohol was extracted. Anheuser Busch heavily promoted their brand -- "Bevo" -- which became something of a national joke during the Prohibition years.

This stuff wasn't very good -- but it was the base for "needle beer," which was made by injecting industrial ethanol into a keg of non-alcoholic brew using a large hypodermic needle pushed into the bung.

[Scuffy]

Wow! I have to say that this thread, so far, has been amazingly informative! I was well aware of the basic facts concerning Prohibition but a good many of these are new to me! Thanks all for the info!!!

[MPicciotto]

Breweries also stayed in business making "non alcoholic malt beverages" .

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

[John in Covina]

Yes! We haven't begun to approach the number of pre-prohibition breweries even with all of the new regional micro brewers and brew pubs that are coming into existance.

Also, since prohibiton the national (supposedly premium) breweries came into prominence, all the while the beer styles for the large brewers were changing the national style, particularly for Lagers and Pilsners. They brought in more non-malt adjucts to lighten the character of these beers, which continues today.

Small brewers tend to concern themselves with heavier styles and the corresponding stronger flavors for those styles.

[Absinthe_1900]

Breweries also stayed in business making "non alcoholic malt beverages".

Some distillers took a similar path, one of the the most notable L. E. Jung & Wulff of New Orleans, made non alcoholic cordials based on their pre-prohibition products.



Jung & Wulff would advertise that you could buy their non alcoholic cordials from your local druggist, where you could also find something a bit stronger, to add to the cordial.

One of the loopholes in prohibition was that alcohol could be obtained at certain Drugstores that had a Federal license to dispense prescription alcohol.
One then went to their own Doctor and obtained a prescription for their prescription liquor to cure their "sore throat".



In New Orleans, Legendre's Drug Store had the largest federal license in the South to dispense "prescription alcohol" during prohibition, certain well known political figures would often call late at night from the Roosevelt Hotel, for their prescriptions of Legendre's Herbal Alcohol Remedy





When prohibition was over, Marion Legendre turned his prescription remedy into something that would become a staple of present day New Orleans.



http://www.neworleansabsinthehistory.com/

[John in Covina]

Some time back in the 70's, I got to see a bottle of Pharmiceutical alcohol. It resembled a hip flask type bottle as I recall, but the thing was it had a black tax label across the top. I believe it was 190 proof or 95% alcohol and was the highest proof I had ever seen. (Later I had seen Everclear at 180 proof I think which is higher than the old 151 rum, the highest I had known about previously.)

Anyway the Tax label was black while regular liquor had a red tax label while whiskies Bottled in Bond had green tax labels.