After the passage of the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act in 1919, the making and selling of alcohol was illegal. This federal policeman uses a pickax to destroy a rum-runner's cargo in San Francisco during Prohibition.
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The roots of Prohibition lie in the Temperance Movement. Members of groups like the Women's Christian Temperance Union marched to support Prohibition. After the new laws were passed, the government started cracking down on illicit alcohol operations.
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Enforcing Prohibition was often a sensational public event. In this photo, barrels of contraband beer are poured out into the streets.
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The Blue Blazes whiskey still at Catoctin Mountain, Maryland, was a large commercial operation. More than 25,000 gallons of mash were found in 13 2,000-gallon vats when the operation was raided in July 1929.
Photo courtesy National Parks Service
Moonshine goes by many names -- white lightning, bathtub gin, corn liquor -- but no matter what it's called, this illegal alcohol is made in secret. Pictured here is an covert operation (thanks especially to the local lush foliage) at Pinckney Island, South Carolina, 1931.
Photo courtesy NOAA
Barrels are lined up by the side of a road where alcohol was found and confiscated during the Prohibition. The message was clear: no alcohol.
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Junior Johnson poses on the beach with his #55 B&L Motors 1955 Oldsmobile before the Beach and Road Course race on Feb. 27, 1955, at the Beach and Road Course in Daytona Beach, Fla. Johnson sometimes used his racing skills as a whiskey car driver -- delivering illegal moonshine.
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Agents capture this vehicle loaded with liquor as it got a flat tire. The truck is piled high and marked as a taxi.
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Barrels of illegal moonshine liquor being destroyed by American Revenue agents in Florida.
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This group portrait shows a police department liquor squad posing with cases of confiscated alcohol and distilling equipment. See some more liquor stings in the next few photos.
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Policemen confiscated makeshift distilling equipment, and posed for the victory photograph on the sidewalk outside.
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This raid happened on Mulberry Street in New York City, where a group was suspected of making hooch.
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A man destroys barrels of alcohol during Prohibition in America. Despite their best efforts, clever citizens still managed to manufacture, transport and consume alcohol. How did they do it?
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If you couldn't transport large volumes of alcohol easily, you had to be discreet. This gentleman's waistcoat was designed to hide whiskey under an overcoat. But you still couldn't drink in public...
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Speakeasies were hidden establishments where alcohol was sold. See inside a speakeasy in the next photo.
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This 1931 photo shows the bar at a speakeasy. Speakeasies were often run by criminal organizations, and were highly profitable because of the high demand for booze, legal or not.
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Although initially associated with a certain fashion that included shorter hemlines and hair, flappers were also associated with a new lifestyle that included decidedly unladylike behavior including smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol.
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This looks like a well-stocked speakeasy storeroom.
Image Credit: Discovery
Prohibition came close to destroying the brewing industry. Famous brewer Anheuser-Busch endured Prohibition by taking a turn at producing other goods, such as corn syrup, ice cream, malt extract and root beer. Although major brewing companies were out of the alcohol trade, there was still a market for their former products. The answer for the demand? Illegal stills like the one pictured here.
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Sicilian-born Carlo Gambino, a crony of Lucky Luciano's, made his mint by bootlegging liquor and managing gay bars in the 1930s in New York. He was charged with planning the robbery of an armed truck in the late 1960s, but his family staved off deportation by bribing two U.S. senators.
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Just as the Temperance Movement had its partisans, so did the Prohibition repeal effort. This cartoon satirizes the nanny-state attitude of Prohibition-era government.
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Prohibition protesters parade with signs and flags calling for the repeal of the 18th Amendment. Prohibition had long been unpopular, but when did it end?
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Finally, on December 5, 1933 the 21st Amendment was fully ratified and Prohibition was no more.
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You don't have to be a flapper or a gangster to know about the Lost Generation, Prohibition and the Roaring '20s.
A tribute to the Roaring '20s and Prohibition at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London, England. Wearing authentic costumes from America's prohibition period, guests dance the Charleston and play roulette much like those of the lost generation did.
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