Tuesday, December 31, 2019

December 31, 1919, New Year's Eve, and . . .

contrary to widespread commentary here and there, it wasn't the last New Year's Eve prior to Prohibition.

A scene not yet arrived.  Woman pouring whiskey into a glass of Coca Cola in 1922.

That's because Wartime Prohibition remained in effect, the Supreme Court having decided that "wartime" meant until a peace treaty with the Central Powers was entered into by the United States, which had not been done.

The war was over, of course, and the Versailles Treaty had been entered into, but the Senate hadn't ratified it. A technical state of war therefore remained. And so did wartime prohibition.  This New Years was dry.

And that even where state prohibition, as in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado, hadn't taken effect.

Of course, people here and there did hoist a glass. And bootleg liquor, including deadly wood alcohol stuff, was already making the rounds.  But for a lot of people, indeed most people, this New Years would be celebrated sober.

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