Four score and seven years ago...

[sour_grapes]

This evening, I happened to say the famous phrase, "Four score and seven years ago..." My wife said "Yeah, so what happened four score and seven years ago today, huh?"

Some quick math, then I realized: Jeez, four score and seven years ago today was the end of Prohibition! Woo Hoo! Bottoms up, boys!

 

[balatonwine]

 

[cmason1957]

I prefer to celebrate Oct. 14, 1978. The day the greatest President of all time (at least four this reason) legalized home brewing and wine making.

 

[user 36973]

Thanks for the pointer back into history. Didn't realize it wasn't legal to homebrew after the 21st Amendment!

Found a good write-up here on it and Charlie Papazian:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/papazian

 

[hounddawg]

nothing's illegal lest you get caught,,,
um just saying
Dawg

 

[winemaker81]

nothing's illegal lest you get caughtum just saying

That's exactly what my dad said to me when I was a teenager! [he was a police officer]

He followed that up by stating that I shouldn't do anything I wasn't prepared to go to jail for, should I get caught ....

 

[BernardSmith]

But there is an enormous difference between getting caught and being found guilty. Whether you are guilty depends less on what you did but on what others can make stick what they say you did. and that is a huge problem with the criminal justice system in this country - Plea bargains are a bargain only for the prosecution and almost never for those charged.

 

[hounddawg]

But there is an enormous difference between getting caught and being found guilty. Whether you are guilty depends less on what you did but on what others can make stick what they say you did. and that is a huge problem with the criminal justice system in this country - Plea bargains are a bargain only for the prosecution and almost never for those charged.

sadly you are so very right
Dawg

 

[JohnT]

I prefer to celebrate Oct. 14, 1978. The day the greatest President of all time (at least four this reason) legalized home brewing and wine making.

Actually, making wine and beer at home (for personal consumption) was always legal (even during prohibition.

There is a great multi-part series on the prohibition on prime.

 

[winemaker81]

There is a great multi-part series on the prohibition on prime.

Is that part of the Prime subscription, or does it require an additional membership (e.g., History Vault)?

 

[4score]

This evening, I happened to say the famous phrase, "Four score and seven years ago..." My wife said "Yeah, so what happened four score and seven years ago today, huh?"

Some quick math, then I realized: Jeez, four score and seven years ago today was the end of Prohibition! Woo Hoo! Bottoms up, boys!

I saw Four Score and just had to check out this thread!

 

[cmason1957]

Actually, making wine and beer at home (for personal consumption) was always legal (even during prohibition.

There is a great multi-part series on the prohibition on prime.

I had always read that home wine/beer production was similar to producing moonshine, which is illegal in the United States, but not in some of the states (like Missouri). And Jimmy plus Congress amended the law to make it legal up to 200 gallons of wine/beer. I will have to look for that series on Prime.

 

[JohnT]

OK,

So the amendment mentions "intoxicating" beverages, but no definition was made of what exactly was an intoxicating beverage. Many felt that beer and wine would be allowed and that hard liquor would not. it was not until the volstead act was passed (9 months after the amendment was ratified) that a definition was made intoxicating was anything under 1/2% abv.

understandably, the reaction by many states was to not provide any law enforcement resources or any provide any attempt to uphold the act. In fact, the governor of NJ was quoted the "New Jersey will be as wet as the atlantic ocean)

I have found prohibition interesting. one asks just how an all male government (with one exception) would actually vote for this. a number of factors existed at the time..

1) the country was split into two groups, the wets and the dries. the political opposition was headed by the major beer companies that were ran by German Americans. It being 1919, a HEAVY post WWI anti German sentiment existed that nullified the political efforts of the wets.

2) the wets managed to pass laws the governed the conservation of grain, a hold over of war time efforts. This killed the beer companies and made them even more ineffective.

3) The TCU, or the Christian Temperance Union wielded a lot of political might. As a congressman, if you did not vote the way they wanted you to vote, their support would go elsewhere. To avoid conflict, and in the firm belief that a prohibition amendment could never be ratified by 36 states, most congressmen simply went along.

4) most also correctly believed that (even if the amendment was ratified) the law amendment could never be enforced. This was proved true, hend the enactment of the volstead act 9 months later.

The volstead act did allow for 200 gallons/home of homemade wine.

 

[JohnT]

two more points..

at the time, tax on alcohol represented 1/3 of all government revenue. some thought that this would make prohibition impossible. Unfortunately, the nation's first income tax was passed to help cover the costs of the war. in the end, this made alcohol revenue less important.

also, most drinkers were catholic immigrants that were targeted by the ruling dry protestant organizations (like the KKK). it is as much of an anti immigrant action as a religious one.

I find this all very interesting.

 

[cmason1957]

It is incredibly interesting and what's even more so is the laws that each state now has to regulate alcohol. I can't believe there isn't enough political pressure to get these to pass, but maybe they are as loose or strict as each state wants them to be and they believe they can't have anything else. I do know one time when I was in Philly visiting my bonus son at dental school, we went into a grocery store that had a nearly walled off section to sell just wine and beer, talking with the cashier there she made the statement that she didn't believe the people of Pennsylvania could be responsible and adult enough to handle free and open sales of alcohol.