Repeal Day - Ending Prohibition

December 5, 2020, marks the 87th anniversary of Repeal Day, the day that the last state necessary -- Utah -- ratified the twenty-first amendment, officially ending the United States' 13 year ‘experiment’ with prohibition. It is history that deserves to be remembered.

This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.

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Script by JCG

#history #thehistoryguy #ushistory

[tolfan]

I'm 56 years old my grandmother was always proud to tell us that my grandfather made the best beer. She said when the prohibition agents came around they never broke his barrels they took them. She also said they never busted up his brewing equipment too bad they more or less just took it apart so he could put it back together. Grandpa was an immigrant learn the craft in Germany so it's a very believable story

[Jay-lnco]

Prohibition worked about as well as the war on drugs.

[brianwestberry]

"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." - Henny Youngman

[fredhannum]

I inspected a home in approx 2010 near the Griffith park Observatory, and the owner had just discovered a speak easy (hidden bar) in his basement. It had a 30 ft. Long bar with about 10 booths. What a find in his own home!

[emergingloki]

"They say they are going to repeal prohibition; what will you do then?"
"Think I'll have a drink" Last line, The Untouchables.

[salsaul]

Off topic, but congrats on 900k man, you deserve it!

[longhairbear]

I was a bartender in the mid 1970's until my retirement. The man who taught me how to tend bar worked thru prohibition, and often called the bars gin mills. Where we worked was the first bar built, and opened after prohibition in Salem MA. The bar, and back bar was deliciously art deco, mirrors etc.

[lelandframe]

My Dad told me about during the Depression, his family needed money--so my grandfather made and sold Bathtub Gin--with the blessings of the county Sherriff--who would come over every Saturday night for a private party!
Kansas remained dry until the 1960's.(In fact, there are still a few counties in Western Kansas that are still dry!) When my Dad was old enough, he drove a truck for a living. (And that's just about ALL he did for a living!) During the 50's, whenever he had a run into Missouri, he would bring back a few cases of beer for his brothers and Grandpa. (Dad did not drink, himself. In fact, our family were, and still are, teetotalers!) But for some reason--Dad's favorite movie was "Smokey And The Bandit"! 😉

[dodden]

The man at the store told my mother and her younger sister one day that if they found any bottles, he would give them a nickle each. One day they found a whole pile of bottles and loaded up their wagon and brought them over, thinking they would be rich. When they got there, the man told them that Prohibition was over and he didn't need the bottles anymore. In 1933 she would have been 9 and her sister 6.

[derekfelska]

I was literally talking about this to my class today. My wife's father was by his own words a 'repeal baby' as his birthday was virtually 9 months to the day to the repeal of Prohibition. Happy Days Are Here Again indeed! Great show as usual!

[robertbates]

the lessons of the 18th are vast. unfortunately few of our bloviating lawmakers today seem unable (or unwilling) to learn that using words like 'ban' in a law will almost always create more far more problems than they solve. oh well, petty dictators have always reveled in keeping people down. (I bet THG could compile a much larger list than I could)
It's just a shame that so many Governors today seem to have failed to learn anything from this period.
thank you, for your entertaining snippets, you are engaging and professional and should be proud of your channel.

[otpyrcralphpierre]

I have in my possession a "Prescriptions Forms for Medical Liquor" book of prescriptions, issued by the U.S. Treasury Department. The first prescription in it was November 22, 1932. It lists the name and address of the "patient", the type and amount of the liquor prescribed, and the name and address of the prescribing doctor, all on the receipt part of the book. It has 100 prescriptions in the book, each with a carbon copy of the prescription. There are 22 prescriptions filled with the originals and the carbon copy duplicate removed. A further three originals are missing, I assume from a collector. The pharmacy was in the New Orleans area, as all of the names have New Orleans addresses. All of the prescriptions given are listed as "Whiskey, Q", which I assume means Quart. I have NO idea of it's value.

[popuptarget]

There is always a bunch of people who believe they have a right to interfere in your life. They just switch targets from time to time.

[elviejodelmar]

Between 1971 and 1973, I was an instructor in the Mountain Ranger Camp in Dahlonega Georgia, which is located in Lumpkin County. Lumpkin County was a completely dry county. back then and the moonshiners liked it that way.
I was riding with an NCO on one of the backroads when I spotted the remnants of a trailer.
I asked sarge about it and he answered, that it used to be the trailer of a new deputy sheriff who had come down hard on the moonshiners. So, one night when he was on duty (they didn't want to kill him, just send a friendly message), somebody put a box of dynamite under his trailer and blew it up.
They went looking for someone who was suddenly deaf, 'cause the fool only ran out about a 100 feet of wire -- way short of what was needed for that amount of explosives.

[earlystrings]

I went to college in a small Ohio town that was still dry in the 1970s. There was a liquor store, much frequented by us students, one inch over the town line. The town finally went wet in the 1980s, a half century after the general repeal.

[claudeanmankin]

My dear sweet husband managed to show me how to watch at 90% speed. Dyslexic, love your videos, and now, I don't have to complain you are still talking too fast for me to comprehend. I certainly don't mind watching you for 10% longer. Thank you!

[vespelian]

This nicely clarifies the reasoning behind prohibition. When my great grandfather came to New York in 1929, armed with a letter of introduction from William Randolph Hurst, he came specifically in search of speakeasies to write about in his newspaper column. In his book The American Ilusion 1929, he was surprised to find New Jersey operating as usual as though the Volstadt act did not exist. He travelled extensively throughout America - meeting Hurst and playing table tennis with him - and getting his book out just before the Wall Street crash.

[jetsons]

I'm a strong support of personal choice, I don't drink alcohol or use drugs. I do have friends that drink, some more than others BUT we still get along and are friends. I don't drink just because I want to be in full control of my life at all times. If you do drink just don't drive or anything else that might cause harm to yourself or others, now where's my Henry Weinhard's Gourmet ROOT BEER. Thanks History Guy for another great video...

[benkrug]

This channel is awesome. Very entertaining, and I actually learn stuff! Thanks THG!

[thedungeondelver]

That Coors ceramic was used in Project Pluto, which was a nuclear-powered cruise missile designed to stay aloft for weeks or even months during and after a nuclear war, flying over and dropping 1mt warheads on enemy targets, all the while moving at Mach 3+. The engine needed to function at extremely high temperature for months (potentially); the fuel elements were clad in high grade ceramic to prevent their melting, and the Adolph Coors company produced the ceramic cladding for the lone example of the engine that was produced (and successfully stand-tested).