"I violated the prohibition law--sure... who doesn't?"
--Al Capone (Blumenthal, 91)
People Against the Prohibition
Many people were against the prohibition, and not happy with its effects. For those who had sold alcohol before Prohibition came new times full of skirting the law in order to make a living. Wets became determined to find any way around the new amendment so that they could to continue their alcoholic activities without being caught by the police.
"WARNING! If the contents of this package are added to 5 gallons of water, 5 lbs. of sugar, and 1 cake of yeast, the results will be an intoxication beverage which is illegal in the United States."
-what a label on a pack of dehydrated grapes would look like, (Blumenthal, 82)
-what a label on a pack of dehydrated grapes would look like, (Blumenthal, 82)
How People Avoided The Law
"While the Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating beverages, it did not outlaw the possession or consumption of alcohol in the United States. The Volstead Act, the federal law that provided for the enforcement of Prohibition, also left enough loopholes and quirks that it opened the door to myriad schemes to evade the dry mandate."
(pbs.org)
(pbs.org)
"Pharmacists were allowed to dispense whiskey by prescription for any number of ailments, ranging from anxiety to influenza. Bootleggers quickly discovered that running a pharmacy was a perfect front for their trade. As a result, the number of registered pharmacists in New York State tripled during the Prohibition era." (pbs.org)
"...American grape industry began selling kits of juice concentrate with warnings not to leave them sitting too long or else they could ferment and turn into wine. Home stills were technically illegal, but Americans found they could purchase them at many hardware stores, while instructions for distilling could be found in public libraries in pamphlets issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture."
(pbs.org) |
"Nothing in this title shall be held to apply to the manufacture, sale, transportation, importation, possession, or distribution of wine for sacramental purposes, or like religious rites... No person to whom a permit may be issued to manufacture, transport, import, or sell wines for sacramental purposes or like religious rites shall sell, barter, exchange, or furnish any such to any person not a rabbi, minister of the gospel, priest, or an officer duly authorized for the purpose by any church or congregation, nor to any such except upon an application duly subscribed by him, which application, authenticated as regulations may prescribe, shall be filed and preserved by the seller. The head of any conference or diocese or other ecclesiastical jurisdiction may designate any rabbi, minister, or priest to supervise the manufacture of wine to be used for the purposes and rites in this section mentioned, and the person so designated may, in the discretion of the Commissioner, be granted a permit to supervise such manufacture. "
--An excerpt from section 6 of the Volstead Act "Enrollments rose at churches and synagogues, and cities saw a large increase in the number of self-professed rabbis who could obtain wine for their congregations." (pbs.org) |