National Bootlegger’s Day

National Bootlegger’s Day is January 17. I doubt you knew that. I certainly didn’t know it. The last few years have seen a resurgence of interest in moonshine, Prohibition, and the resulting legal penalties. When I think of bootlegging, I think of a copper still hidden way back in the woods, a fast car with a trunk filled with liquor (small barrels with XXX on them), and a car chase. All as if I’m seeing a black and white movie.

Anyone who has watched the Discovery Channel is familiar with Tim Smith and his sidekick, Steven Ray Tickle, on the show Moonshiners (and its spin-offs, Tickle, Moonshiners: Whiskey Business, and Moonshiners: Master Distiller). In the original show, Tim and Tickle get into many humorous scenarios as Tim distills his moonshine and hides from the revenue men.

Beyond the silliness, it was interesting to learn what a “still” actually is, how moonshine is made (and, likewise, how alcohol is made), and some of the history behind bootlegging. This leads us directly to the passage of the 18^th Amendment and the Volstead Act, their effects commonly referred to as “Prohibition.” 

Prohibition was put in place as a way to curb Americans’ drinking of alcohol. It dealt specifically with its manufacturing, selling, and transportation. If you can’t make it or sell it, then people can’t drink it. Prohibition helped initially, but soon alcohol consumption levels rose again. Organized crime flourished – Al Capone and his Chicago Outfit being big players in smuggling and transporting liquor (National Bootlegger’s Day is also his date of birth). For an overall history of the period, read Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal and Prohibition: A Concise History by W.J. Rorabaugh.

I wasn’t overly interested in Prohibition until I read the book The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Science in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum. As you read through the different techniques developed to detect poisons, you learn that Prohibition itself was a murderer. By restricting the sale of ‘safe’ alcohol, bootleggers would often distill industrial alcohol. The government mandated chemicals be added to industrial alcohol to prevent it being drunk – usually methyl alcohol (wood alcohol), as well as many additional poisons. Distilling the industrial alcohol wasn’t guaranteed to remove the poisons, and numerous people died as a result. The scariest thing about drinking methyl alcohol is its insidious effect upon the body – you drink it and feel fine; over hours, the alcohol metabolizes, eventually changing to formic acid. Without treatment – and often even with treatment - blindness, paralysis, or death could occur.

Another entertaining, if grim, way to learn about Prohibition and bootlegging – and specifically the criminal enterprise involved with both - is to watch the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. A fun part of this series is that it’s set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and many characters are real people from history (or based on real people). For example: Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, Alf Johnson, Arnold Rothstein, Mabel Walker Willebrandt, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, and, of course, Al Capone. My favorite characters weren’t based on real people, but did bring a lot of interest to the storyline – Chalky White and Richard Harrow. Mercer County Library System owns all seasons of the show on DVD/Blu-ray. Or, read the book it’s based on - Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson.

To find out more about Al Capone himself, watch PBS American Experience’s Al Capone: Icon or read John J. Binder’s Al Capone’s Beer Wars: A Complete History of Organized Crime in Chicago During Prohibition and Al Capone: His Life, Legacy, and Legend by Deirdre Bair.

And, if you want to try some moonshine yourself, take a look in hoopla for the eBooks, Moonshine Cocktails by Paul Knorr and The Moonshine Guide by Geoff Reynolds. For more history, read Moonshine: A Cultural History of America’s Infamous Liquor by Jaime Joyce.

- by Andrea, Hopewell Branch