1. From the Bathtub to the Soul… Prohibition
And the Wine Flows…
From the Bathtub to the Soul…
Prohibition

2. Progressivism Dies a Slow, Sad Death
The Progressive movement has been driven into your thick, lonely skulls for the better part of a month and a half
We’ve finally reached the end (of Progressivism, not your thick, lonely skulls)
Pro-Hi-Bi-Shan…the last, dare I say, spasm, of the progressive reform movement was loudly and angrily supported by crusading churches and many women
Women were not aLLOWed into the bars, at least based on the ethics and morals of the time…
…unless were one of those women—a lady of ill repute, an employee of the oldest profession…
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3. Progressivism Dies a Slow, Sad Death
The 18th Amendment eliminated alcohol from the public sector
“The sale or manufacture of intoxicating liquors is [now] forbidden” in the United States of…Amer-ee-ka…
This was especially popular in the South and West
Southern whites were eager to keep stimulants out of the hands of blacks, so they don’t burst out of “their place”
Western prohibitionists felt alcohol was an attack on all the vices associated with the saloon
Public drunkenness
Corruption
Crime
And, of course, pros-ti-too-shan…
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5. Those Who Like Alcohol Want to Drink Alcohol
Alcohol, however, was part of the nation’s social conscience
Many “wet” foreign-born people viewed drinking in beer gardens and corner taverns as their preferred form of socializing
That, combined with the very real realization that many native American-born citizens also liked to drink…and the understanding the federal government was doing little to enforce the law…,meant prohibition was on a short leash
To begin, the government was trying to make something a crime overnight out of something millions of people have never regarded as a crime
Lawmakers could not legislate away…a thirst
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6. Those Who Like Alcohol Want to Drink Alcohol
One of the strategies of striking down the law was to simply ignore it on a large scale
Hypocritical legislators passed dry laws…while living a life of alcohol-induced leisure at home…
Frustrated soldiers returned home to a law they did not want to support, a law they didn’t go “over there” for…
Workers whined about the loss of their cheap beer, while pointing out the rich could acquire all the alcohol they wanted…
People began making their own liquor, often in their own bathtubs, for both profit…and pleasure
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7. Speak No Evil…
Old-time “men only” saloons were replaced by thousands of “speakeasies”
The “thirsty” spoke softly before the barred door was opened
Hard liquor was imbibed by both men AND women…
Because it was hard to transport and conceal bottles, the beverages had a high alcoholic content in most cases
And Canadian imported alcohol was a boon to drunkards and the socializing folk
And now…the rest of the story…

8. See No Evil… There were positives to come of Prohibition though
Bank savings increased for the average American, as people no longer spent money on whiskey and wine
Absenteeism in industry decreased—people no longer have to sleep off a bad night at the saloon
Less alcohol was consumed (though the alcohol was stronger)
However, the increase of gangsters throughout America, especially in Chicago, was the real downfall of the era