What It Was Like to Be a Prohibition Bootlegger
video description
Date: 2022-12-29
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 20
Professor
I have some antique bottles and through them I learned about Jamaican ginger! It was for tummy ache but became a go to drink for booze during the prohibition and then the government put actual poison in it so folks would not abuse it drinking whole bottles. Every bottle haunts me a bit because the death rate for those who drank it was the highest for any medicine that was tainted intentionally to prevent abuse by the public. Could you please do a video about the medicines that people turned to when booze was gone? The buyers for Jamaican ginger were usually poor and they usually died after the additive of a poison was added. The idea is people know its got an additive taste bad and would stop drinking it but people being people and loads of denial they just drank it and died. Could you also do a video about Paraquat? When I grew up in the 70's and 80's I saw on the news some folks smoked the marijuana that government sprayed with paraquat and died. Being from the emerald triangle and having a dope attorney for a dad we all knew to stay away from Mexican grown marijuana until the paraquat was abolished. Basically same story as the alcohol. The US said hey Mexico do something to abated the import of marijuana and so they poisoned it!
reply
I have some antique bottles and through them I learned about Jamaican ginger! It was for tummy ache but became a go to drink for booze during the prohibition and then the government put actual poison in it so folks would not abuse it drinking whole bottles. Every bottle haunts me a bit because the death rate for those who drank it was the highest for any medicine that was tainted intentionally to prevent abuse by the public. Could you please do a video about the medicines that people turned to when booze was gone? The buyers for Jamaican ginger were usually poor and they usually died after the additive of a poison was added. The idea is people know its got an additive taste bad and would stop drinking it but people being people and loads of denial they just drank it and died. Could you also do a video about Paraquat? When I grew up in the 70's and 80's I saw on the news some folks smoked the marijuana that government sprayed with paraquat and died. Being from the emerald triangle and having a dope attorney for a dad we all knew to stay away from Mexican grown marijuana until the paraquat was abolished. Basically same story as the alcohol. The US said hey Mexico do something to abated the import of marijuana and so they poisoned it!
reply
Emily
If such a prohibition were to happen again, I wonder if the crackdown would have to be worse to contain it, especially if it were cigarettes rather than alcohol.
It wouldn't personally affect me or my immediate family, because none of us drink or smoke, but I do know extended family that drinks and/or smokes, and I've seen a variety of people that still do. I'll bet many would be very unhappy.
I'll admit that I would almost want a cigarette prohibition to happen, though. In addition to all the litter it causes, it smells disgusting, and affects far more than just the smoker negatively. I've caught people breaking smoking laws by smoking less than 25 feet away from a non-smoking building and smoking in designated non-smoking areas (my local train platform. They've even done so in areas that they'd be in close proximity with other people, such as sheltered bus stops.
reply
If such a prohibition were to happen again, I wonder if the crackdown would have to be worse to contain it, especially if it were cigarettes rather than alcohol.
It wouldn't personally affect me or my immediate family, because none of us drink or smoke, but I do know extended family that drinks and/or smokes, and I've seen a variety of people that still do. I'll bet many would be very unhappy.
I'll admit that I would almost want a cigarette prohibition to happen, though. In addition to all the litter it causes, it smells disgusting, and affects far more than just the smoker negatively. I've caught people breaking smoking laws by smoking less than 25 feet away from a non-smoking building and smoking in designated non-smoking areas (my local train platform. They've even done so in areas that they'd be in close proximity with other people, such as sheltered bus stops.
reply
btetschner
Those people had nothing better to do during those days but kill time and drinking alcohol was the most effective way to do it.
Everyone had to know about those speakeasies, it is a joke to think they were a true secret.
Even law enforcement was lazy during that time.
While other generations promoted the internet, technology, the arts, science, popular culture that is still popular today, etc, those losers spent their entire lives scrapping for alcohol and eventually sending the country into a depression.
reply
Those people had nothing better to do during those days but kill time and drinking alcohol was the most effective way to do it.
Everyone had to know about those speakeasies, it is a joke to think they were a true secret.
Even law enforcement was lazy during that time.
While other generations promoted the internet, technology, the arts, science, popular culture that is still popular today, etc, those losers spent their entire lives scrapping for alcohol and eventually sending the country into a depression.
reply
Professor
Members of my grandmas' family the Hatfields who shortened the last name to Fields because they were the murderous Hatfields, ran liquor in South Eastern Kentucky and other smuggling up the missippi and in Louisiana. See what happens if you study the maternal sides of the family? The big picture gets a lot more interesting! Her family was renowned for being fast and reckless drivers who could beat the police driving the backwoods. That would be good for video too where were the famous backroads in Kentucky?
reply
Members of my grandmas' family the Hatfields who shortened the last name to Fields because they were the murderous Hatfields, ran liquor in South Eastern Kentucky and other smuggling up the missippi and in Louisiana. See what happens if you study the maternal sides of the family? The big picture gets a lot more interesting! Her family was renowned for being fast and reckless drivers who could beat the police driving the backwoods. That would be good for video too where were the famous backroads in Kentucky?
reply
JIm
Later in the forties and fifties a lot of counties in Oklahoma and Texas were dry and the bootleggers of wet cities would run booze to the drys. We knew which fast hot cars were popular from the rides of the bootleggers. The V-8 Fords and Mercurys were popular, then the Hudson Hornet, and finally the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was the choice of bootleggers. Lubbock was dry and many of the Texas Tech students from Wichita Falls paid their tuition by bootlegging.
reply
Later in the forties and fifties a lot of counties in Oklahoma and Texas were dry and the bootleggers of wet cities would run booze to the drys. We knew which fast hot cars were popular from the rides of the bootleggers. The V-8 Fords and Mercurys were popular, then the Hudson Hornet, and finally the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was the choice of bootleggers. Lubbock was dry and many of the Texas Tech students from Wichita Falls paid their tuition by bootlegging.
reply
Nerathul1
While the women of the temperance movement might seem silly to us now, at the time alcohol consumption per capita was three times as high as it is today, AND women were not allowed in bars and saloons, meaning that the vast majority of booze was drunk by men. When you mix rampant blackout alcoholism with practically zero safety net for women or protection from abuse you can imagine why women weren't thrilled about alcohol.
reply
While the women of the temperance movement might seem silly to us now, at the time alcohol consumption per capita was three times as high as it is today, AND women were not allowed in bars and saloons, meaning that the vast majority of booze was drunk by men. When you mix rampant blackout alcoholism with practically zero safety net for women or protection from abuse you can imagine why women weren't thrilled about alcohol.
reply
Shane
My grandfather was a moonshiner in Wisconsin, Trempealeau County. Distilled in a silo, transported horse and buggy, hidden under loads of cord wood. To get a drink one had to stand at a certain part of the Cafe counter and ask for a certain drink special. Grandfather would be gone for days and return unconscious because horses knew where to go. Grandmother would speak of this occasionally, Grandfather never mentioned it.
reply
My grandfather was a moonshiner in Wisconsin, Trempealeau County. Distilled in a silo, transported horse and buggy, hidden under loads of cord wood. To get a drink one had to stand at a certain part of the Cafe counter and ask for a certain drink special. Grandfather would be gone for days and return unconscious because horses knew where to go. Grandmother would speak of this occasionally, Grandfather never mentioned it.
reply
btetschner
An excellent video about subject. and a fun drama. but those people were the slime of the earth.
A bunch of government dependents created an entire culture around alcohol and inspired backwoods criminals for decades.
We wouldn't even have a country if those losers didn't finally run themselves to the ground, they really took every advantage we had and used it for themselves.
reply
An excellent video about subject. and a fun drama. but those people were the slime of the earth.
A bunch of government dependents created an entire culture around alcohol and inspired backwoods criminals for decades.
We wouldn't even have a country if those losers didn't finally run themselves to the ground, they really took every advantage we had and used it for themselves.
reply
Dolores
One amusing thing from the time period were grape bricks. These were openly advertised in magazines as mail order confections made of raisins, sugar and yeast, compressed into blocks. They came with a warning: After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine.
reply
One amusing thing from the time period were grape bricks. These were openly advertised in magazines as mail order confections made of raisins, sugar and yeast, compressed into blocks. They came with a warning: After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine.
reply
BreakinGames
I live in a campervan in Detroit. my grandpa drove liquor across the Detroit river every winter. He made good money then met Roy Kroc the founder of McDonald's, he helped his start and grow the business. he was married in Roy's living room in Chicago then Roy gave him a 1962 rolls Royce which my grandma still owns and will be passed on to me
reply
I live in a campervan in Detroit. my grandpa drove liquor across the Detroit river every winter. He made good money then met Roy Kroc the founder of McDonald's, he helped his start and grow the business. he was married in Roy's living room in Chicago then Roy gave him a 1962 rolls Royce which my grandma still owns and will be passed on to me
reply
Shawn
My grandpa would run alcohol from Nebraska to South Dakota. Before a dance he and his brothers would burry alcohol around the field outside the dance. People would pay him at the dance, he would tell the people where the alcohol was for that amount. He would have the map and they would find it, like a treasure hunt.
reply
My grandpa would run alcohol from Nebraska to South Dakota. Before a dance he and his brothers would burry alcohol around the field outside the dance. People would pay him at the dance, he would tell the people where the alcohol was for that amount. He would have the map and they would find it, like a treasure hunt.
reply
LaGaspa
At timestamp 8: 44
You didn't mention Detroit's Purple Gang, who were running liquor from Windsor across the Detroit River and were far more violent than Al Capone. Capone was terrified of them. Instead of going to war and trying to take over the Detroit, he used them to supply his illegal liquor for Chicago.
reply
At timestamp 8: 44
You didn't mention Detroit's Purple Gang, who were running liquor from Windsor across the Detroit River and were far more violent than Al Capone. Capone was terrified of them. Instead of going to war and trying to take over the Detroit, he used them to supply his illegal liquor for Chicago.
reply
Loki
I may not be remembering correctly but when I was little I remember my grandma telling me that my I don't know how many greats grandpa was smuggled booze in from Canada (we are from Michigan) and he was also a butcher and gave away free meat during the depression. But I may not be remembering correctly
reply
I may not be remembering correctly but when I was little I remember my grandma telling me that my I don't know how many greats grandpa was smuggled booze in from Canada (we are from Michigan) and he was also a butcher and gave away free meat during the depression. But I may not be remembering correctly
reply
Jane
My father had a deal with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard would intercept the rumruners and leave a few cases on the pier on Catalina Island, where my father and friends would pick it up for later retrieval. For this service, my father and buddies got to keep half.
reply
My father had a deal with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard would intercept the rumruners and leave a few cases on the pier on Catalina Island, where my father and friends would pick it up for later retrieval. For this service, my father and buddies got to keep half.
reply
Sebastian
Since you brought up Gangsters, how about Gangs before prohibition. The rivalry between Paul Kelly who Founded the Five Points Gang (Former Members were All Capone, Johnny Torrio, Lucky Luciano, Frankie Yale, e. t. c) And Monk Eastman of the Eastman Gang.
reply
Since you brought up Gangsters, how about Gangs before prohibition. The rivalry between Paul Kelly who Founded the Five Points Gang (Former Members were All Capone, Johnny Torrio, Lucky Luciano, Frankie Yale, e. t. c) And Monk Eastman of the Eastman Gang.
reply
James
As a young man, my father in law was a cook in Cedar Rapids Iowa. The restaurant owner told him to expect a big black limousine at 10 o'clock every Friday night. Don't bother them while they put some stuff in the basement. They were very polite.
reply
As a young man, my father in law was a cook in Cedar Rapids Iowa. The restaurant owner told him to expect a big black limousine at 10 o'clock every Friday night. Don't bother them while they put some stuff in the basement. They were very polite.
reply
James
I would make a great bootlegger I distill my own alcohol already, so I could cut out the middleman for more profit, more people died during prohibition from the poisons the government added to industrial alcohol than died from moonshine
reply
I would make a great bootlegger I distill my own alcohol already, so I could cut out the middleman for more profit, more people died during prohibition from the poisons the government added to industrial alcohol than died from moonshine
reply
Bob
Those were the early days of aviation, and in southern CA a female flyer named Pancho Barnes. depicted in the movie The Right Stuff, simply flew her plane to Tijuana, Mexico and loaded it with cases of booze and flew it home.
reply
Those were the early days of aviation, and in southern CA a female flyer named Pancho Barnes. depicted in the movie The Right Stuff, simply flew her plane to Tijuana, Mexico and loaded it with cases of booze and flew it home.
reply
Teabag
Al Capone was in life for himself. He was not as he seemed. He maintained a positive image. But he was known for both a violent temper and to loan shark anyone. He didn't care about anyone but himself.
reply
Al Capone was in life for himself. He was not as he seemed. He maintained a positive image. But he was known for both a violent temper and to loan shark anyone. He didn't care about anyone but himself.
reply
Its
I would love to hear about prohibition in Utah. Ogden Utah supposedly has a huge underground rail system for bootlegging. And Al Capone supposedly hid there for a while and said it was too much for him.
reply
I would love to hear about prohibition in Utah. Ogden Utah supposedly has a huge underground rail system for bootlegging. And Al Capone supposedly hid there for a while and said it was too much for him.
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
