How Dry I Ain’t: Prohibition – the Ignoble Experiment that Failed

This year we celebrate the centennial of the beginning of the Volstead Act (1920 – 1933), the enforcement legislation of the 18 ^th Amendment. The Prohibition movement had its origins in the Northeast and Midwest, with very little enthusiasm in the West, and particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. But it was the “Law of the Land,” and we had to obey its restrictions. The 13 years of Prohibition have been sensationalized, primarily because of gang violence and dramatic law enforcement methods in big cities and smaller communities in other regions of the nation. This presentation will focus on the less dramatic activities of citizens in our area, who found ways to circumvent what President Herbert Hoover called the “noble experiment” with a much more relaxed attitude.