“Because the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act did not make it illegal to drink alcohol, only to manufacture and sell it, many people stockpiled liquor before the ban went into effect. Rumor had it that the Yale Club in New York City had a 14-year supply of booze in its basement” (“Roaring Twenties”).
The Roaring Twenties was a time in American history when the American people started to change physically and emotionally. Girls were wearing shorter dresses, smoking, and attending raucous parties, while men began drinking all day long and partying at night. Even though the 1920s were known ironically to be a decade of scandal, it is also known as the Prohibition Era. An era where strict alcohol regulations were suppose to decrease crime …show more content…
Bootleggers obtained alcohol from foreign places like Cuba, the French islands of St. Pierre, Bahamas and Miquelon. Once the alcohol was acquired, they would take it off the ship and place them on a faster boat. The most famous area for this contraband to happen was just outside of Atlantic City, NJ. The officers did not check that area for smugglers, so it allowed the alcohol to get transported without much difficulty. However, once officers got wind of what was occurring, this area became hazardous for bootleggers. Once the bootleggers got the alcohol on land, many times they had to cross borders to distribute it across the states. To do this they had to disguise their intentions by using various materials, from coconut shells to baby carriages (S. Jen and A Ceyana). These weren’t the safest or most effective methods all the time, resulting in the development of more advance processes. The first manner was by forging prescriptions for whisky that was sold for medicine. The next form was producing their own alcohol and also bottling it. They came to these means because some industries would poison the alcohol that was given to them. Bootlegging was such a profitable business that gangs began to invest in them. They were in charge of speakeasies, distilleries, breweries, etc. However, this was not enough for them. The bootlegging business extended to prostitution, extortion, narcotics, and much more. The most famous of the bootleggers to rise out of this time, was the Mafia. The rise of bootleggers also helped to form the speakeasies
The Roaring Twenties was a time in American history when the American people started to change physically and emotionally. Girls were wearing shorter dresses, smoking, and attending raucous parties, while men began drinking all day long and partying at night. Even though the 1920s were known ironically to be a decade of scandal, it is also known as the Prohibition Era. An era where strict alcohol regulations were suppose to decrease crime …show more content…
Bootleggers obtained alcohol from foreign places like Cuba, the French islands of St. Pierre, Bahamas and Miquelon. Once the alcohol was acquired, they would take it off the ship and place them on a faster boat. The most famous area for this contraband to happen was just outside of Atlantic City, NJ. The officers did not check that area for smugglers, so it allowed the alcohol to get transported without much difficulty. However, once officers got wind of what was occurring, this area became hazardous for bootleggers. Once the bootleggers got the alcohol on land, many times they had to cross borders to distribute it across the states. To do this they had to disguise their intentions by using various materials, from coconut shells to baby carriages (S. Jen and A Ceyana). These weren’t the safest or most effective methods all the time, resulting in the development of more advance processes. The first manner was by forging prescriptions for whisky that was sold for medicine. The next form was producing their own alcohol and also bottling it. They came to these means because some industries would poison the alcohol that was given to them. Bootlegging was such a profitable business that gangs began to invest in them. They were in charge of speakeasies, distilleries, breweries, etc. However, this was not enough for them. The bootlegging business extended to prostitution, extortion, narcotics, and much more. The most famous of the bootleggers to rise out of this time, was the Mafia. The rise of bootleggers also helped to form the speakeasies