Now that our last kid is off to college we’re catching up on a couple of decades of media consumption. You know, gorging on episodes of series that were popular five or more years ago. Lately we’ve been really appreciating both historical fiction and non-fiction and in that context found our way to Ken Burns’ three episode series, Prohibition, (easy access on Netflix), an apt pursuit given our Snob Free Wine Tasting Companion book.   What an eye-opener!

While much of our prior reading about Prohibition revolved around the impact on wine-makers and the corresponding upsurge in crime, bootlegging and black market sales, the Ken Burns series offers a much deeper dive into the topic including the 100 or so years that led up to Congress establishing the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Volstead Act, which abolished alcohol use in the country. Mind you, a Constitutional Amendment must be ratified by 36 states so the Act garnered significant national support. Imagine trying to ratify the U.S. Constitution in our current political climate!

Historians interviewed in the series concur that there was substantial alcholism in the 100 years leading up to Prohibition which had an impact on families in terms of spousal and child abuse, abandonment,  and plain old inability to work due to inebriation. Drinking was a morning, noon and night affair, indulged in far more by men than women. Apparently we were a country of lushes! The temperance movement had been heating up since the early part of the 1800’s but was derailed with the Civil War.

Women largely led the rally to abolish alcohol  buoyed by religious fervor (Protestants big time, Catholics, not so much). One reason that resistance ran strong to the lobbying and demonstrations of the “Drys”  was that the government relied heavily on taxes from alcohol sales. According to the Burns series, up to 70% of federal tax revenue came from alcohol until the income tax was put into place in 1913.

But  when the Drys prevailed with the establishment of the Volstead Act in 1919, the outcome was a painful illustration of unintended consequences. No funding was really put behind enforcement (sound familiar?) and on the flip side, plenty of money was spent bribing officials and cops to ignore law breaking.  Ironically, it seemed to spawn a hedonism in the upper class fueled by the great economy prior to the Depression. Lawmakers in congress actually had booze delivered at the Capital Building! Between the hypocrisy, graft, violent crime and flagrant lawbreaking by scofflaws (there were an estimated 32,000 speakeasies in NY city alone), the tide turned after 13 years and once again, women took the lead, now to eliminate Prohibition. The 18th Amendment was cancelled by the 21st Amendment and separately but almost in sync, Roosevelt established the legalization of beer to the relief and wild celebration of much of the country – especially Anheuser-Busch.

One of the refreshing things to see in the Burns film were the many film clips showing women in leadership roles in this time frame on both sides of the cause. While there were other strong women leaders of the era two that stood out in the series were Mable Walker Willebrant and Pauline Sabin. Mabel Walker Willebrant became Assistant Attorney General and aggressively prosecuted violators of the Volstead Act. Pauline Sabin a socially prominent and politically well-connected New Yorker formed the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform in 1929 and was pivotal in leading the movement to overturn Prohibition.

While we may ring our hands in consternation about the state of our government and polarized politics now, history lessons seem to provide perspective if not solace. Based on the Burns’ series, it would be hard to imagine more corruption at the local, state and federal levels and  more values conflicts between citizens than during Prohibition.