As lawn care companies flood mailboxes with their best prices for spring weed control, some home owners deep in snow are beginning to think that the worst of their nightmares is really those cute little buttery yellow followers called dandelions! But, during the 1920's, a yard full of dandelions was as good as it could get.
Prohibition was in effect. Dandelions, wild grapes and elderberries were among the coveted ingredients for homemade wine. When Congress passed the Volstad Act in 1919, it became illegal to buy, sell or drink alcohol except for religious and medicinal purposes. The Volstad Act touched so many facets of American life that just touching an alcoholic product could have been a crime. Suddenly many had medical problems requiring alcohol, but physicians and drug stores also had problems with alcohol. If the government approved the sale of alcohol to a doctor, it was for one pint that was to cover ten days. A physician could get an emergency stock of six quarts of whiskey a year, but the sale was carefully documented.
Any physician wishing to prescribe whiskey was required to make a special request for a permit. Physicians had to describe the nature of the illness requiring the whiskey. If the physician succeeded in prescribing, the patient could get the whiskey only from drug stores having a special permit, Rates were set between $2.50 and $3.50 a pint.
On February 27, 1920 Algoma Record Herald pointed out the facts on whiskey consumption to city residents when it said none of the city druggists had made application for a government permit to sell whiskey, nor had any of the doctors asked for permission to prescribe whiskey as medicinal.
It was not long before there were rumors of bootlegging and moonshine in Kewaunee County. Raids followed. There were seizures of moonshine and then stills were found. A sizable still was found in Forestville - five miles north of Algoma in Door County - in 1921. Apparently the owners tried to destroy the still, but agents said they found corn and raisen cooked mash and a keg of moonshine whiskey. Just after that, agents intimidated a farm woman who would not unlock a shed. The agents broke in and found a fifty-five gallon drum. When agents simultaneously raided 16 - 18 taverns in the southern and western part of the county, only two saloon keepers were found with liquor. Agents found a still in the tree tops on a Town of Carlton farm. On completing the batch of moonshine, the farmer hid his still in what seemed to be an unlikely spot.
In one instance, a tavern was raided, product was seized and money was taken from the cash register. That turned out to be what some called a frame-up. The feds were on the way, but the scammers got there first. When some young Algoma men returned from a dance and were arrested for drunken driving, agents found shacks hidden in the hills west of town. They reported finding "real Kentucky product" there. A first offense usually brought a $200 fine. That Kentucky product must have been exceptionally good. The fine was doubled to $400. There are still some of Kewaunee County's elderly residents who tell stories of moonshine being hidden under the gutters in the barn. There was safety in manure.
Prohibition's greatest effect in Kewaunee County, as in the rest of the U.S., was disrespect for the law. Prohibition was repealed in 1933 during the depths of the Depression. After all, liquor sales are revenue enhancing.
Boedecker's Drug Store at the southeast corner of 4th and Steele was one which stopped the sale of alcohol before Prohibition. Boedecker Bros. ran ads saying alcohol could be bad for one's health. The photo was taken from a postcard in the author's collection.
No comments:
Post a Comment