Dawson Hensel | Hudson Quinn | Zander LeePeriod 4

Prohibition

The Volstead Act of 1919 banned the manufacture sale, and transport of intoxicating liquor, which did not outlaw consumption or purchase

Background

Pregnant women drank rum and milk to “help their babies sleep”

Saloons in town were usually the only place of entertainment

Alcohol was seen as the root of all evils and problems

Background

Alcohol prices rose 500-600% and people were still buying alcohol from bootleggers, the sellers

If you could provide guestsWith alcohol, you were popular

Outcome

Were very profitable alcohol barsNo windows One door with a covered peepholeNeeded to know someone from the inside or a password

Speakeasies

Most alcohol was homemade which brought along a lot of health risks

Thousands of citizens were killed, blinded, or paralyzed as a result of drinking contaminated bootlegger alcohol

The problem with Prohibition era Alcohol

If a beverage contained more than ½% alcohol, it was illegal

Doctors would prescribe whiskey to their patients for a small fee for just about anything

The most notorious city for its mobsters and criminals was Chicago

Interesting facts

Al Capone openly reigned supreme over Chicago’s crime world

Bootlegger and owned various brothelsOrdered the infamous St Valentines Day Massacre attack

Chicago run by the Mob

In the Great Gatsby, Gatsby is able to host huge parties with cocktails. How else would he have afforded to throw these parties? He was probably a bootlegger.

Arts and literature

Some town sold their jails in anticipation for the crimeless streets

Women’s Christian Temperance Union taught a “scientific fact” what most beer drinkers die from edema or swelling

Some desperate folks thought they could filter drinkable alcohol from antifreeze through a piece of bread

Freakin Yeet