What It Was Like to Be a Prohibition Bootlegger

The 18th Amendment was intended to help America sober up.

But as we all now know, it didn't really go that way.

Instead, smuggling alcohol during Prohibition

became a massive industry.

And at the heart of that industry were the bootleggers.

So today we're going to take a look

at what it was like to be a Prohibition bootlegger.

But before we get started, be sure to subscribe

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After that, leave a comment and let

us know what other Prohibition era topics you would

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OK, buckle up.

We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there.

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In 1917, the United States Congress

voted to approve a constitutional Amendment,

banning the manufacture, sale, or transportation

of intoxicating beverages.

It would be ratified by the states in 1919.

And by 1920, Prohibition was the law of the land,

to the disappointment of animated sitcom

dads everywhere.

The 18th Amendment was the crowning achievement

of the temperance movement, which traced its roots back

to the 19th century.

Supporters of the movement blamed a lot of society's ills

on the consumption of alcohol and generally

thought people would be healthier and happier

without it.

The reality of Prohibition, however, turned out

to be very different.

Crime rates soared, gang violence intensified,

and alcohol was still widely available.

And it was mostly because of bootleggers.

The federal law that carried out the intent

of the 18th Amendment was known as the Volstead Act, which

permitted alcohol like whiskey and brandy

if prescribed by a physician for medicinal purposes.

Unsurprisingly, many Americans quickly

became very health conscious.

And doctors made $40 million writing prescriptions

for alcohol.

That's about a half billion dollars in today's dollars,

which is a lot of hooch.

But if you couldn't convince your doctor

to write you a prescription, you had to rely on the bootleggers.

Bootleggers obviously couldn't sell their product

door to door, so they needed a secret place where

drinkers could come to them.

That place was the speakeasy.

Speakeasies, also known as blind tigers or blind pigs,

because if you're going to break the law,

you might as well have fun with it,

were illegal establishments typically owned or controlled

by a criminal syndicate.

Speakeasies started out as little more than a place

to sit and drink.

As Prohibition dragged on, however,

many expanded to include entertainment.

And despite frequent raids by the police,

the businesses were profitable and popular.

In 1925, one New York bootlegger even

alleged that a specific cross street in Midtown Manhattan

contained 32 speakeasies.

If one was shut down, the clientele

would just start going to the next place.

So they were a secret, but they weren't that secret.

Speakeasies also had an appreciable effect

on American culture, being among the first businesses where

people of all races would mix and mingle.

These drinking establishments, looking to pad their profits,

were also generally welcoming of women,

which was still something of a novelty at the time.

And of course, they left their mark on drinking culture.

The quality of the booze available at the speakeasies

often wasn't too great, so cocktails

that emphasized the taste of raw liquor fell out of fashion.

Instead, mixed drinks that masked the liquor's flavor

became all the rage.

Now you know who to blame for Jagerbombs.

Being a bootlegger took a lot more than just making alcohol.

For one, you had to be a bit of a con man.

Bootlegging often required selling

booze that was watered down from higher quality products.

But that didn't mean you'd want to charge less for it.

On the contrary, in a piece published

in The New Yorker in 1926, one unnamed bootlegger

pointed out that customers would assume

the booze was high quality if they

were paying what they'd expect to pay for high quality booze.

Plus, what were they going to do, not buy it?

Have you ever tried being sober in the 1920s?

A bootlegger also had to be able to drop the right name if they

got picked up by the police.

That same anonymous bootlegger told The New Yorker

that he was typically given the name of a crooked politician

to drop to the cops, who would then let him go scot-free.

Bootleggers also had to be comfortable

moving around in cramped spaces.

Why?

Because moving booze around a city

often required the use of secret tunnels.

Los Angeles bootleggers used a network

of tunnels that was originally built for trolley cars.

Meanwhile, Chicago bootleggers used a series

of basements in the uptown area that allegedly connected places

like the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, the Uptown Theater,

and the Aragon Ballroom.

In case all the secret passageways didn't tip you off,

hiding alcohol during Prohibition

required some inventiveness.

One way to travel around with your secret stash

was a flask cane or tippling cane.

These were hollow canes one could

fill with their drink of choice for those days

when you felt like getting hammered while still looking

distinguished.

Alternatively, folks could carry their drink around

in a thigh flask, also known as a thigh tin.

Calling this a flask is a bit of an understatement

since they were so big you pretty much had

to wear an overcoat to hide one.

Luckily, there were more discreet versions

like the garter flask, which women

could strap to their legs.

There were also fake book flasks,

which were exactly what they sounded like, fake books

with liquor inside.

These could get pretty elaborate.

For example, one fake book concealing four flasks

came with a clever title, Spring Poems, The Four Swallows.

Ha, only slightly more subtle than The Hardy

Boys and the Case of the Hidden Booze.

Of course, people needed ways to hide larger quantities as well.

For example, it is estimated that up to 75%

of alcohol consumed in the US during the Prohibition era

came from bootlegging operations between Windsor, Canada

and Detroit, Michigan.

So how did they move all that booze across the Detroit River?

Easy.

Both ordinary people and gangsters

alike could transport up to 40 cases of alcohol an hour

via torpedoes pulled across the river on an underwater cable

system.

The river could also be crossed in speedboats guarded

by lookouts with binoculars.

And during the winter, when the water froze over,

gutsy bootleggers might just drive the booze right

across the ice.

If all else failed, there was always

a good old-fashioned booze mule, men

who would strap alcohol filled pouches all over their torso,

throw on an overcoat, and then just walk to their destination.

Has anyone ever worn an overcoat who wasn't hiding something?

In the early years of Prohibition,

bootleggers were often supplied by so-called rum runners,

who would smuggle alcohol across international waters.

The job entailed enormous risks.

Because most rum running took place under cover of darkness

and in fog, it wasn't unusual for ships

to sink with all hands on deck.

Gun battles with the Coast Guard were also common.

This made it increasingly difficult

to get larger boats to the coast.

So the rum runners began keeping their vessels just

outside US territorial limits.

This line three miles out to sea became known as Rum Row.

Smugglers would wait at Rum Row, then

rendezvous with lighter, more agile crafts

called contact boats, which would bring the rum ashore.

Successful rum runners could make

upwards of $100,000 a year, which was a whole lot of money

in the '20s.

That's a whole lot of money now, but you'd probably

want to think twice before making a career change.

In addition to all the dangers, most rum runners

worked for some of the most vicious organized crime

syndicates in the world.

As anyone who's ever seen The Untouchables or Boardwalk

Empire knows, no one benefited from Prohibition more

than organized crime.

Gangsters who previously made their livings

running gambling and prostitution rings

quickly switched over to bootlegging

once they realized how much greater the profits were.

Organizations like the mafia flourished

at an unprecedented scale.

And the corruption of public officials became commonplace--

unlike today, when it's less commonplace?

Hmm.

The most notorious gangster of the era

was Al Capone, who made a fortune selling bootleg liquor

in Chicago.

Gangsters like Capone used violence to secure their power.

And in the first four years of Prohibition

alone, over 200 gangland slayings

were recorded in Chicago.

Capone, however, wasn't the only terrifying legitimate

businessman of the Prohibition era.

Notorious gangsters like Dutch Schultz, Charles Lucky Luciano,

Dean O'Banion, Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein, Enoch Lewis

"Nucky" Johnson, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel

were all involved in bootlegging to some degree.

As good as it was for organized crime,

Prohibition was terrible for the legitimate manufacturing

industry.

Records show that in 1873, the US had

approximately 4,000 breweries.

As temperance picked up steam by 1910,

there were closer to 1,500.

From 1920 to 1933, of course, there were none.

Yet some of those companies did manage to survive.

Wisconsin's Pabst Brewing Company

struck the word "brewing" from its name

and started producing a cheese spread called

Pabst-ett, no word on whether the spread also

won a blue ribbon.

Yuengling switched to near beer with three offerings,

the Yuengling Special, Yuengling Por-tor, and Yuengling Juvo.

They also started making ice cream,

which maybe tastes like beer.

Anheuser-Busch also tried out the ice cream business

and experimented with soft drinks and non-alcoholic malt

beverages.

And a few distilleries like Jim Beam

managed to scrape by thanks to the medicinal alcohol exception

to the dry laws.

Believe it or not, the National Association

for Stockcar Auto Racing, or NASCAR,

traces its roots back to outlaw moonshiners

trying to keep one step ahead of the fuzz.

The practice of moonshining actually

dates back to the 18th century, but Prohibition kicked it

into high gear.

Both demand and supply skyrocketed,

and the Moonshiners needed a safe, effective, and low-key

way to move all that alcohol around.

The answer became cars that appeared

to be stock on the outside, but on the inside

were anything but.

These cars were outfitted with high-powered engines

so they could outrun the law, heavy-duty shocks and springs

to protect their cargo, and usually

had their backseats removed for additional storage space

but for some rad subwoofers.

When Prohibition ended, many of the moonshine runners

still had their souped up stock cars.

Organized races became common.

And in December of 1947, a mechanic

named Big Bill France decided to take it to the next level.

He met with various car owners, drivers, and mechanics

to establish a set of standardized racing rules.

The result of their agreement was NASCAR,

and beer commercials have never been the same.

In 1933, after what was undoubtedly a very long

13 years, the United States Congress

decided to repeal Prohibition.

The 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment,

was submitted to the states for ratification in February.

Legend has it that soon after, then President Franklin D.

Roosevelt opined to an aide that it was surely

a good time for a beer.

So what do you think?

Would you have tried making a living as a bootlegger?

Let us know in the comments below.

And while you're at it, check out some of these other videos

from our Weird History.