On this date in History .... May 20, 1929:
President Hoover
establishes the Wickersham Commission look
into prohibition and make
recommendations on how it was working out. It was the first national review of
crime and law enforcement and the final report spanned fourteen volumes.
The
majority of the commission rejected the idea of repealing prohibition but at
the same time agreed it was unenforceable. The biggest reason, they found, was
that the public found prohibition laws contemptable and there was pride in
violating the prohibition laws. This attitude also saw an increase in “dry”
politicians being voted out of office and replaced with “wet” politicians.
Prohibition, the law that gave birth to bootleggers and an increase in
organized crime, was eventually repealed.
On this date in History .... 1933:
When Pres Franklin Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison
Act
on March 23rd, allowing the manufacture
& sale of 3.2 beer & light wines during Prohibition, he made his famous
remark; “I think this would be a good time for a beer.” The Cullen-Harrison Act
became law on April 7, 1933, and on April 8, 1933, Anheuser-Busch sent a team of Clydesdale horses to deliver a case of Budweiser to the White House.
On this date in History .... 1838:
Tennessee
passes the first prohibition law. No
longer could “spirituous liquors” be sold
and those who did would be fined “at the discretion of the court” with the
monies going to support schools. In
1919, the state’s General Assembly voted almost unanimously for the 18th
Amendment (Prohibition).
However the terrain in Tennessee made it ideal for
making moonshine and with easy untaxed money to be made, law officials were
easily bribed. This type of corruption (which was not limited to Tennessee by
any means) made it fashionable to flaunt the law.
Although Prohibition was repealed in 1933,
Tennessee remains in a minority of states that still prohibit the Sunday sale of whiskey, tequila and
other distilled spirits. Moore County, the home of the Jack Daniels distillery,
is located in a dry county, prohibiting this whiskey from being sold in the
county in which it is made. However, a state law was passed to permit a
distillery to sell one “commemorative” product and the Jack Daniels Distillery
has one blend of whiskey in a commemorative bottle which can be sold locally.
