Last Call by Daniel Okrent
It’s time to stock up on summer microbrews and compile my summer reading list.
First up, is a bottle of Samuel Adams Summer Ale and a book on the history of Prohibition.
Last Call is by Daniel Okrent.
It’s a fascinating look at the Prohibition movement in the United States.
I’m only a few chapters in, but here’s what I’ve learned thus far:
* In the 1700s, the US was a nation that LOVED to drink.
Beer was cheaper than tea. And by 1810 there were more than fourteen thousand distilleries in the US.
* The Prohibition movement helped spark the women’s suffrage movement.
* Tax on alcohol helped finance the War of 1812 and the Civil War.
* By 1910 alcohol provided more than 30 percent of the federal revenue.
* Once alcohol was banned, the government had to collect revenue from somewhere — welcome the income tax!
Sheet music from 1920
The 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919.
You may read this amendment here.
One of the many ways to hide alcohol under one's clothing
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[...] plate. This is red, white & blue plate with embossed lettering. It was made sometime during the prohibition era, which lasted from 1920 to [...]
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