1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you so much for tuning in. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: We are returning with a classic episode. This is about. 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,039 Speaker 1: This is about a period in US history that always 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: amazed us. Noel, you and I talk about this often. 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: Prohibition doesn't really work for anything. 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of like the streisand effect. 7 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, you really want people talking about your business, you 8 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,639 Speaker 3: should tell them to buzz off. 9 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 2: Yeah. 10 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: We looked back in twenty nineteen at the National Prohibition 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: Act of the United States. So from nineteen twenty to 12 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:47,200 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty three, the US was technically a dry country 13 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: because this Act made it illegal to manufacture, sell, or 14 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: transport alcohol. But there were a lot of loopholes, and 15 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: they got so ridiculous they did. 16 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 3: And I'm certain that in the episode, I bring up 17 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 3: the classic I Love Lucy episode where she shills for 18 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 3: a company called Vita Meta Veggamin that is basically just 19 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 3: a bunch of booze. 20 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 1: Well, let's find out together. Thank you again, folks, will 21 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: roll the tape. Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. 22 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: The actor, vaudeville performer, cowboy and humorist Will Rogers once 23 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: famously said that the American people will vote dry so 24 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: long as they are able to stagger to the polls, 25 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: voting dry meaning voting against legalized alcohol. Welcome to the show. 26 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: I'm Ben. 27 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 2: My name is No. 28 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 3: That's really funny, Ben. That's a very good little loaded it. 29 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 2: What do you call it? 30 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 3: Is like a pun a turn of phrase, I mean, 31 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 3: uh yeah, sort of a sort of a double message. 32 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,359 Speaker 3: It's like a hidden meaning. Voting dry to me would 33 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 3: mean voting sober. But as long as they can stumble 34 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:21,799 Speaker 3: the poles applying voting drunk. 35 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 2: There's a lot going on there. There's a lot of stuff. 36 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 2: There's a lot of meaning. We got to unpack them. 37 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,119 Speaker 3: That that has to do with today's story, because, as 38 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 3: we know, voting also has a history of drunkenness. Remember 39 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 3: we did an episode about when people used to booze 40 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 3: people up and at the polls and then keep them 41 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 3: then keep them hostage, the weird little you know, speakeasy 42 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 3: booze dungeons. We're not talking about that today, exactly. We 43 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 3: are talking about h prohibition and a particular exception that 44 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 3: was made for drinking alcohol during that time. 45 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: Right right, And speaking of exceptional people and circumstances, let's 46 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: give a shout out to our super producer Casey Pegram Casey, 47 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: just for the record to establish all three of us 48 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: are not Teetotaler's right. 49 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, it's correct. I'll have a drink now. 50 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 3: And again I mean I'm no, no, definitely not. I 51 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,679 Speaker 3: love that expression though, teetotaler, teetotaler. 52 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: It's fun to say, and it sounds like a test 53 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 1: for people who have been drinking exactly if you pronounce 54 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: it correctly. 55 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 2: But yes, yes, no, you're right. 56 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: Nowadays, when we think of prohibition, we think of you know, 57 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: al Capone, we think of some of us think of 58 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: the origin of some race cars. But this was a 59 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: very serious problem for thirteen years. The National Prohibition Act, 60 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: otherwise known as the Volsted Act, attempted to keep people 61 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: in the United States from drinking, transporting, even making any 62 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: intoxicating beverage. 63 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 2: How that worked, though, Ben, how'd that work? Percent abstinence? 64 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 4: Right? 65 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 2: Oh boy? Yeah, right, complete success. 66 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: I'm gonna move this microphone because oh yeah, I like 67 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: making icntact with you. 68 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 2: Can we keep that part in? Of course, it's some 69 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 2: Monday morning guys, it really is. 70 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 3: But no, I mean, I'm I'm obviously being a little 71 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 3: sarcastic because as we know when you when you make people, 72 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 3: when you tell people they can't do something, they just 73 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 3: want to do it even more, don't they. 74 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I absolutely agree with you. It's it's one of 75 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: the hallmarks of you as a parent. No. Reverse psychology 76 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 1: is one of the hallmarks of any social dynamic. 77 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 2: Right, absolutely. 78 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,119 Speaker 3: And I mean I have learned that anytime I tell 79 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,559 Speaker 3: my kid not to do something, or scold her about 80 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 3: doing something, I can see the little glint in her 81 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 3: eye of it, just the itch that she's got a scratch, 82 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 3: she's got to do that thing. If I tell her 83 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 3: not to play the drums on the dinner table with cutlery, 84 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 3: then the moment I look away, she starts like kind 85 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 3: of just itching to tap that fork on the table. 86 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 3: It's little paradidtal really, Yeah, exactly, No, And it's the 87 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 3: same with human nature in general. People don't like being 88 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 3: told they can and can't do, especially when it's something 89 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 3: they've done freely for a long time. 90 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. 91 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: Absolutely, it's easier to prevent someone from beginning a habit 92 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: or thing that and it's much more difficult to get 93 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,160 Speaker 1: them to stop after they have already acclimated to it. 94 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: And that's why Prohibition was a spoiler alert, ridiculous historians 95 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: not completely successful. From nineteen twenty to nineteen thirty three, 96 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,360 Speaker 1: Uncle Sam gave it the old College try, But very 97 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: very quickly doctors and politicians realized that some exceptions had 98 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: to apply. This could not be an absolutist rule because 99 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: you know, as you said, well, there were already people 100 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: very well acquainted with drinking. Some of these people had 101 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: become dependent on alcohol, so they would have painful physiological 102 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: withdrawal systems if they weren't able to have access to 103 00:05:57,560 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: that substance. 104 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 2: That's right, yeah, I mean the shape, the dts, that 105 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 2: stuff is real. 106 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 3: If you are absolutely addicted to alcohol, you can experience hallucinations, 107 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 3: all kinds of very disruptive things that can cause you 108 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 3: to not go about your normal existence. 109 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: And that's why. According to Daniel Okrint, the author of 110 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: Last Call, The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, some fifteen 111 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:28,679 Speaker 1: thousand doctors applied for permits during the first six months 112 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: of the Volstead Act. These permits would allow them to 113 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: prescribe alcohol, but not just like a I don't know, 114 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: like a regular medicinal alcohol. It allowed them to prescribe 115 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: specific types of alcohol, right. 116 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 3: Yeah, rye whiskey scotch. Also, I believe there were some 117 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 3: clear ones on the list. 118 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: Too, right, Oh yeah, I mean, why would you go 119 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 1: to a doctor's office if you don't leave with a 120 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: prescription for gin? 121 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 2: You know what I mean? That applies in the in 122 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 2: the modern day. 123 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 3: Probably jin is interesting too, because I always think of 124 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 3: jin as being sort of an herbal type tasting booze. 125 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 3: It's probably the closest thing to like what you might 126 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 3: have drunk for medicine anyway. 127 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: Right right, with a juniper berry base. Right, So already 128 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: we can see the opportunity for corruption, right That lingers 129 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: here because sure a lot of doctors during this time 130 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: were prescribing alcohol with nothing other than medicinal interest at hand. 131 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: But also you can't walk away from the money because 132 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: there wasn't much federal oversight of these doctors. You're a doctor, 133 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: You write prescriptions as long as it's not illegal. You 134 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: can write prescriptions for whatever you want, whenever you want. 135 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 2: But there was illegal not if you had the permit. 136 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 2: I see, got it? 137 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 3: You know, this reminds me of very obvious parallel in 138 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 3: our modern day with marijuana proit and that tide kind 139 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 3: of turning there was a while where it was a 140 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 3: little easier maybe than it should have been, to get 141 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 3: a medical marijuana card or prescription, and that was the 142 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 3: case with this situation as well. It became there's a 143 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 3: great story about Winston Churchill, a case study kind of 144 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 3: where he got hit by a car while doing a 145 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 3: lecture at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and he got 146 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,119 Speaker 3: a cut on his forehead, and he bruised his chest 147 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 3: and had a sprained shoulder, and he was prescribed kind 148 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 3: of carte blanche access to alcohol, where he had a 149 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 3: doctor's note more so than a prescription signed by doctor 150 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 3: Otto C. Pickart, that said, this is to certify that 151 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,559 Speaker 3: the post accident convalescence of the Honorable Winston S. Churchill 152 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 3: necessitates the use of alcoholic spirits, especially at meal times. 153 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 3: The quantity is naturally indefinite, but the minimum requirements would 154 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 3: be two hundred and fifty cubic centimeters. And then there's 155 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 3: a handwritten note on the top under this guy's letterhead, 156 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 3: this doctor from New York, saying keep on hand. 157 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 2: So basically this was just a get out of jail. 158 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 3: Free car for Winston Churchill to be able to drink 159 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,440 Speaker 3: as he typically did, which we know Churchill was fond 160 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 3: of his spirits. 161 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: I love the phrase they're naturally indefinite. He was walking 162 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: around with this doctor's note on his person whenever he 163 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: wanted to buy alcohol, and whenever. I don't think this 164 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: would happen very often because it's Winston Churchill, but whenever, 165 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:37,560 Speaker 1: maybe an authority figure stopped him and said, hey, you, 166 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 1: you absolute lush. Put this down. You're supposed to be 167 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: in charge of the country. 168 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 3: And this doctor's note from Churchill is dated January twenty sixth, 169 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 3: nineteen thirty two, which, as we know, was on the 170 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 3: tail end of prohibition, which wrapped up in nineteen thirty three. 171 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 3: In earnest but by this point, according to a fantastic 172 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:02,079 Speaker 3: Atlas Obscure article by Paula Masia, the doctors were becoming 173 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 3: much more like the modern day equivalent of marijuana dispensaries 174 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,200 Speaker 3: than they were doctor's offices, where they were stocked with 175 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 3: every type of booze you could imagine. They were almost 176 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 3: more like an off the books liquor store than even 177 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 3: a doctor's office. Because they were cleaning up doing this, 178 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 3: they were able to make good money and have a 179 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 3: legal loophole out of prohibition. 180 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,439 Speaker 1: Absolutely, as you find in a great article on How 181 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: Stuff Works by Michelle Constantinovski. Pretty much right after prohibition 182 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:36,199 Speaker 1: began and doctors realized they could get these permits, they 183 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 1: also realized that alcohol was a useful treatment for no 184 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: less than twenty seven separate medical conditions. This included stuff 185 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: like cancer, incurable cancer, anxiety, but it also included diabetes, 186 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:56,680 Speaker 1: snake bites, and even lactation problems. So you're a nursing 187 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:59,679 Speaker 1: mother and you're having issues lactating, you know what, you 188 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: need some of Grandpa's leg medicine, which is a weird 189 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:05,520 Speaker 1: I think Tennessee term for whiskey. 190 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 2: It's actually my favorite brand. 191 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: Grandpa's like medicine. Oh maybe I'm thinking of moonshine. I 192 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:14,840 Speaker 1: smell a T shirt, nol. I think that's a great 193 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: It's a great T shirt, right, Grandpa's like. 194 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 2: Medical Grandpa's Medicine. 195 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 3: I can picture that with like an old timey label 196 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 3: with like xxx on it, you know, yeah, and then 197 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:24,559 Speaker 3: ridiculous history written really small on the bottom. 198 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 2: Yeah. I'm fine with that. 199 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: I mean, I have no problem with us advertising alcohol 200 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: as long as it's our own fake alcohol exactly. 201 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 3: Speaking of which, just to take a quick pause from 202 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 3: today's topic. Have you seen the amazing Casey on the 203 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 3: case t shirts that are now available in the Tea 204 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 3: Public store. 205 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 2: Oh, saving it for the end, but I'm glad you 206 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 2: brought it up. I just want to make people make sure, Yeah, yeah, 207 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 2: stop what you're doing. 208 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,679 Speaker 1: You can go to our website Ridiculous hisstoryshow dot com, 209 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,440 Speaker 1: or you can go directly to our store Tea Public 210 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 1: dot com slash Ridiculous History and check out our newest shirt, 211 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: which I pulled it up because I love I love 212 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: looking at this. We we've revealed this on air, right 213 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: that Casey used to be a child model. Okay, so, 214 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: uh so Casey, can you tell us about how this 215 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: how this hall came to be? 216 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 5: Yeah, well, there was, you know, kind of a grassroots 217 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 5: campaign to uh have my face on a T shirt. 218 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 4: I really didn't like the idea at first, but I apologize. 219 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 5: I kind of thought, you know, we could kind of 220 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 5: kill two birds with one stone here. We could finally 221 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 5: deliver those modeling picks from a youth and my face 222 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 5: on a T shirt. So just kind of combined the two, 223 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 5: and you know, I think the results pretty spectacular. 224 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 3: You got to say, I agree, so check it out. 225 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 3: It's it's worth your worth, your worth, your dime for sure. 226 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 3: Casey on the case. 227 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 1: We are exploring the story of prohibition, and as you 228 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: would pointed out, man, there are quite a few modern 229 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: parallel especially when we talk about the purpose for a 230 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:10,840 Speaker 1: prescribed substance. So this medicinal alcohol, sort of like medicinal marijuana, 231 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: becomes a popular loophole. Funny thing is, before Prohibition was 232 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: in effect, doctors knew the score. They knew that alcohol 233 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:24,680 Speaker 1: was not medicine. But during Prohibition, the American Medical Association 234 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: or AMA changed its opinion. And the weird thing is 235 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: that the US Treasury Department backed them up. They authorized 236 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: doctors to write prescriptions for alcohol, and they were given 237 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 1: the doctors were given these government prescription forms to prescribe quote, 238 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 1: medicinal whiskey at pharmacies. But this was so corrupt and 239 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 1: was so open to abuse, because we're not just talking 240 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: about people stealing prescription pads. We're talking about people making 241 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: counterfeit prescription pads and then using that to pass around 242 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: with their friends. And let's just point out that the 243 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: pharmacies did not ask as many questions as they should have. 244 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 2: Oh, certainly not, certainly not. 245 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,360 Speaker 3: And it's like I said, with the whole comparison to 246 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 3: the modern day marijuana prescriptions, you could kind of just. 247 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 2: Go in and say you had it. 248 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,920 Speaker 3: Got to the point eventually, as a pretty recently where 249 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 3: you can kind of just say you have a little 250 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 3: back pain, or you have maybe you got an eye twitch. 251 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's about all it takes. 252 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 3: And you have a seat on a couch, talk to 253 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 3: somebody behind a desk, answer these few questions. You know 254 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 3: what they're looking for, so you just give it to them, 255 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 3: give them what they want, and they don't really ask 256 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 3: any questions. They certainly don't run any tests or require 257 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 3: any real burden of proof. And that was exactly the 258 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 3: case with these with these these pharmacies giving out these booze. 259 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: Prescriptions a vague sense of unease, that's right, walking in 260 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 1: and saying I don't trust my elbows and there's nothing 261 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: I could do about it. 262 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 3: Well, the funny thing is like, isn't that why people 263 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:56,640 Speaker 3: drink in the first place, to combat the elbows, to 264 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 3: combat with that vague sense of honeyes about life right 265 00:14:59,360 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 3: in the world. 266 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: So this leads us to an interesting story because we're 267 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 1: emphasizing the role of the doctors, but we haven't talked 268 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: a lot about the pharmacist. And the pharmacist are part 269 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: of this supply chain. Historians have suspicions about one famous pharmacist, 270 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: Charles Walgreen. 271 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 2: Of the Walgreen Walgreens. 272 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: Yes, of the Walgreen Walgreens, the very same. Throughout the 273 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties, the Walgreens pharmacy change encountered tremendous growth. They 274 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: expanded from twenty stores to five hundred and twenty five. 275 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: For a long time, people would credit the introduction of 276 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: the milkshake to the pharmacy's success, but it sounds like 277 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: alcohol may have played a more prominent role. In an interview, 278 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: Charles Walgreen Junior said that while his father worried about 279 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: the danger of stores catching fire, he always wanted the 280 00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: fire department to get in and out as quickly as possible, 281 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: because whenever they came in, the fire department would steal 282 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: a case of liquor from the back. 283 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 3: Yikes. 284 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: So this we know that there was a lot of 285 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: money to be had. I mean, organized crime had a 286 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: bonanza with this, right. 287 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, sure, you got your al capones. You got 288 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 3: your bootlegging Tommy gun Totin gangsters, you know, running those 289 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,400 Speaker 3: speakeasies and all the flapper girls and all that thing. 290 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 3: You know, this is the they were high times underground. 291 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 3: But I didn't really realize that this was happening above 292 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 3: ground as well, completely legally, and that Walgreens played a 293 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:35,800 Speaker 3: huge part in that. 294 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 2: I mean, there's an. 295 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 3: Article on vinepaar dot com called the seventy five billion 296 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 3: dollar business that was built selling whiskey during Prohibition legally 297 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 3: by Emily Bell, and it shows a fantastic shot of 298 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 3: a behind the counter situation at Walgreens would have looked 299 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 3: like and that you know, you've got your apothecary type 300 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 3: bottles and you know things with their little plastic you know, 301 00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 3: glass stoppers in it, but a lot of it is 302 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 3: right up booze. 303 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 2: That's right. This was a business. 304 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:08,400 Speaker 1: Every ten days, patients could pay about three dollars for 305 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: a prescription and another three or four dollars to have 306 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,960 Speaker 1: it filled, and they would get about a pint of booze. 307 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: And that's not necessarily beer, of course, this was again 308 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: medicinal liquor. So ultimately, according to Okrant, the guy I 309 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier in last call. According to him, what this 310 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:35,160 Speaker 1: really functioned as was a new revenue stream for physicians 311 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: and pharmacists. You know, every ten days you're getting three bucks, 312 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 1: the pharmacies getting three or four bucks, and multiply that 313 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,359 Speaker 1: out by the number of patients you have. Not to 314 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: put too dark a spin on it, but similar circumstances 315 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: have occurred recently in the last few years, not just 316 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,120 Speaker 1: with marijuana, but with opioids. The so called is tough 317 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: for my Tennessee accent, the so called pill mills. 318 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, where again, it doesn't take much burden of 319 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 3: proof to get a doctor to prescribe you whatever you 320 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 3: tickles your fancy as far as heavy opioid drugs are concerned. 321 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:16,120 Speaker 3: And there's also the whole idea of doctor shopping. If 322 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 3: you've got multiple pill mill situations, you can go from 323 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 3: one to the other and have none of them really 324 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:23,879 Speaker 3: know about each other, and you can just be kind 325 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 3: of swimming in this stuff. And that is one of 326 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 3: the reasons, aside from laxness and utter irresponsibility on the 327 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,480 Speaker 3: part of big pharma, that caused the opioid epidemic that 328 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 3: is such a huge problem in our country. 329 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,400 Speaker 1: And we see the same sort of federal level corruption 330 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:45,159 Speaker 1: in the turn of the century Prohibition days. There's a 331 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: great example about you remember the Great Gatsby, right, I 332 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: have Scott Fistory. 333 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:49,720 Speaker 3: Yeah. 334 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, So there's a real life guy named George Remis 335 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:57,360 Speaker 1: who inspired the Great Gatsby, and he figured out how 336 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,439 Speaker 1: to play the system. He thought medicinal whisky. He was 337 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 1: a bang up business model. So he bought a ton 338 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: of distilleries which had these storage areas full of whisky 339 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: that could not be sold. So he bought pharmacies for 340 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 1: the express purpose of distributing this whiskey. And then he 341 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 1: bribed the Feds to allow more and more whiskey to 342 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: sort of what they call it in retail stores shrinkage. 343 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:27,959 Speaker 1: Allowed whiskey to disappear from the official record, and so 344 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 1: in a very short amount of time he made quite 345 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 1: a bit of money. And let's get back to those justifications, 346 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: because there is one great example from the Atlas Obscure 347 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: article he mentioned earlier. In Providence, Rhode Island, one physician 348 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:49,919 Speaker 1: prescribed whiskey for a single condition debility, and debility just 349 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 1: beans by the way, physical weakness, just feeling down. 350 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 2: It's sort of like a lighter version of being debilitated. 351 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 2: I guess just my. 352 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:06,200 Speaker 1: Debility, but I'm going to bring debility back. So legally speaking, 353 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,840 Speaker 1: these physicians could get their licenses revoked if they were 354 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: found to be distributing medicinal liquor for anything less than 355 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,680 Speaker 1: medical purposes. However, what that really translated to, if we're 356 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: being honest, is they were either super blatant about what 357 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,359 Speaker 1: they were doing or they didn't bribe the right people. 358 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 1: Only about one hundred and seventy doctors per year ever 359 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: had their licenses revoked. 360 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:35,880 Speaker 2: And here's the thing. 361 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 3: I mean, it really wasn't as it progressed throughout prohibition. 362 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 3: It really was not just a flash in the pan 363 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 3: or like the exception to the rule. 364 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 2: It kind of became the rule. 365 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 3: And I don't I don't know, but I don't know 366 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 3: if you can tell me this, but I did get 367 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,200 Speaker 3: a sense that the Winston Churchill example was. 368 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,159 Speaker 2: Kind of how it was. 369 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 3: It was a little bit more something that was available 370 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 3: to the privileged or people that had act access to 371 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:02,640 Speaker 3: doctors that would work with them. 372 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, if you had the money, you could play ball, 373 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So this is still this 374 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: is still a time where there's a lot of institutionalized racism, 375 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,000 Speaker 1: there's class warfare, you know, it's it's the Gilded Age, 376 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:22,159 Speaker 1: the Roaring twenties of inequality. This stuff was not necessarily 377 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: cheap for the average person, but it was still a 378 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:32,280 Speaker 1: big business. Physicians wrote and estimated eleven million prescriptions per year, 379 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: and the Prohibition Commissioner John F. Kramer cited anecdotally one 380 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: doctor who wrote four hundred and seventy five prescriptions for 381 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: whiskey in one day. 382 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 2: Jeez. Yeah. 383 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:50,439 Speaker 3: And I believe the rough estimate of the number of 384 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 3: prescriptions written throughout this period when prohibition was the law 385 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 3: of the land was around eleven million prescriptions. So while 386 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,439 Speaker 3: it certainly wasn't available to everybody, it was a to 387 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 3: quite a few individuals that knew how to milk this 388 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 3: particular loophole. And as we know, this was just one 389 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 3: of several loopholes. 390 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 2: Right. 391 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: We already talked about in the past, the hilarious practice 392 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: of selling concentrated grape juice with very specific instructions on 393 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: what not to do, because if you obeyed these instructions, 394 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 1: you would accidentally make wine and you should turn that 395 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: into the authorities. If you happen to accidentally take these 396 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,320 Speaker 1: like three or four steps, So everybody was lying to 397 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:49,879 Speaker 1: themselves as individuals, as communities, as a nation, and the 398 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:56,800 Speaker 1: numbers spoke for themselves. Upper crust Americans would take advantage 399 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:02,679 Speaker 1: of French champagne, which was imported for medicinal use, so 400 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: much so that imports skyrocketed by three hundred and thirty 401 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: two percent in nineteen twenty alone. People who still had 402 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: the drive to drink but maybe not the scratch to 403 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: go to the pharmacy would make alcohol for themselves, using 404 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: corn syrup to make moonshine. The moonshine would be counterfeited 405 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 1: or adulterated and supplied to speakeasies, which used to be cool. 406 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: Speakeasies aren't really that cool anymore, right am I old 407 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: speakeasy is are cool. Yeah, when's the last time you 408 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:36,959 Speaker 1: went to a cool speakeasy? Oh? 409 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 2: I went to? I don't know. I mean, what makes 410 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 2: what makes a Speakeasy's? There's the basement, right, it's like. 411 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: The whole story of you know, the whole dogg and 412 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,879 Speaker 1: pony show business of like you have to go to 413 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 1: apecerfic thing, you know, a password. 414 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 2: Seek phone booth or something like that. Yeah, I think 415 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,679 Speaker 2: that's fun. But people told me it's corny now maybe so, 416 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:56,159 Speaker 2: I don't know. 417 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:58,679 Speaker 3: I'm not saying I'm like the arbiter of cool or anything, 418 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 3: but I did go to I think it was considered 419 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 3: a speakeasy a couple months ago in New York, and 420 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 3: it was like a Japanese themed one, and all the 421 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,399 Speaker 3: drinks were like match up powder and like different Japanese whiskies, 422 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 3: and it was good. 423 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 2: I think other thing that makes the speak easyest speakeasy 424 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 2: is that it's very expensive. Dare I say over price? 425 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 2: Dare you dare? 426 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,520 Speaker 3: Because can you imagine in prohibition era? You know, it 427 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 3: was basically that wasn't basically it was an illegal enterprise, 428 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 3: so of course the markup was probably nuts. 429 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, you couldn't get it right, and you might not 430 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: know exactly what you're buying if you haven't checked it 431 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:36,440 Speaker 1: out before. Check out our previous episode on the US 432 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: government's plan to poison the heck out of. 433 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:42,360 Speaker 2: Hundreds of people. That'll show them. 434 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, through adulterating the alcohol that was being sold illegally, 435 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: this was not sustainable. There were other exceptions that we 436 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: should list to be fair. There were religious exemptions. You know, 437 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:00,880 Speaker 1: if you were a priest administering communion or or a rabbi, 438 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: you had you had the ability to create your own 439 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: alcohol or obtain it for use in religious services. But 440 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,520 Speaker 1: these things were not as big of a business as 441 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: the medical loophole, which seems like a no brain you 442 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,639 Speaker 1: know what. I know, this is a history show, but 443 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,040 Speaker 1: I predict this kind of loophole will come up again. 444 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: Whatever the next substance our nation attempts to prohibit is, 445 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: we will find ourselves in a situation where someone says, 446 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: I need a prescription for my debility, for my general honease, 447 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: and nothing but quaaludes will help. 448 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's true. That's what I call it. That's where 449 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,880 Speaker 2: the quail comes from. And coeludes because it's for quelling. 450 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,880 Speaker 2: That just generalized unease facts. These are facts. 451 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: So as we know, prohibition ultimately came to an end. 452 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: The twenty first Amendment was ratified in nineteen thirty three, 453 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:04,320 Speaker 1: ending the era of illegal booze and ending the financial 454 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:08,639 Speaker 1: windfall for a lot of pharmacies and a lot of doctors. 455 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 1: And going back to what we said at the top 456 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:19,680 Speaker 1: about reverse psychology, Oxford University Press noted that alcohol enthusiasts 457 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: actually drank more liquor during prohibition than before prohibition. 458 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 2: And is that itch man telling you that? Tell me? 459 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 3: You tell me what I can't do, Now I'm gonna do. 460 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 3: I'm gonna double down and say, oh I can do it, 461 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 3: and I will. 462 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:39,640 Speaker 1: An alcoholic consumption pre prohibition, so pre nineteen twenty had 463 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: been trending toward beer, you know what I mean, Like 464 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: you get off work, you have a couple of beers 465 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: with your buddies, right, and then you go home to 466 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: dinner or you cook something. I don't know, but during 467 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: the era of prohibition, seventy five percent of all alcoholic 468 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 1: beverages were liquor. Because now people they didn't just drink more, 469 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: went for the hard stuff because why risk of getting 470 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,679 Speaker 1: on the wrong side of the law over. You know 471 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: a Miller Light or what's a what's another beer? I 472 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: don't want to just named Miller Light. There are other beers. 473 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: There's a Miller High, Miller highlighte the Champagne. 474 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 3: Of beers, the Champagne of beers. I believe Miller makes 475 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:19,880 Speaker 3: other products as well. 476 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: I heard the phrase for Budweiser. I heard the phrase, 477 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 1: you know bud light. We all know bud light. But 478 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 1: I heard someone describe regular Budweiser as bud heavy, which 479 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 1: sounds about right, but it seems like an awkward phrase. 480 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: But now, if you are listening to this, we hope 481 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: that you enjoy the freedom to have a boozy cocktail, 482 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,880 Speaker 1: a nice cold beer, a glass of wine to your 483 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:52,000 Speaker 1: heart's content, as long as you are responsible about it. 484 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:56,919 Speaker 1: And hey, maybe maybe we end today's show on a 485 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: question about modern prohibition. Do you believe that there are 486 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:06,800 Speaker 1: examples of prohibition working or is prohibition inherently doomed to 487 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:12,560 Speaker 1: fail due to you that reverse psychology trick that we 488 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,639 Speaker 1: were talking about earlier, or is it just a matter 489 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,199 Speaker 1: of what is most profitable for the government and the 490 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: companies involved. 491 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:21,199 Speaker 2: Let us know. 492 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: You can find us on our Facebook page, where we 493 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 1: are ridiculous historians. You can find us on Twitter. You 494 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: can find our show on Instagram. But wait, as Billy 495 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,879 Speaker 1: Mays was want to say, there's more. You can find 496 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: my co host and I on our own personal instagrams. 497 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 2: Turns out we have lives. It's weird. 498 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 3: We're not just locked in the shipping container twenty four 499 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,520 Speaker 3: hours a day. And although we as a decent percentage 500 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,040 Speaker 3: of the day, I am at Embryonic Insider. 501 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:52,600 Speaker 1: And I am at Ben Bollen big thanks to our 502 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: super producer, Casey Pegram. Again, if you thought that we 503 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: were just blowing smoke about this. 504 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 2: Casey on the case T shirt, we really like. 505 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: We're over the moon about it, and we have had 506 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: a pretty tough time not mentioning this on previous episodes 507 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: because we didn't want anyone to know about it until. 508 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 2: It hit the store. Right, that's accurate. 509 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 3: Casey is adorable, little dickens, and it really has the 510 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 3: appearance of some kind of eighties noir la detective kind 511 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 3: of thing, whereas this very stark black and white image 512 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 3: of young Casey and the text looks like dirty dancing 513 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:32,760 Speaker 3: or something like that. 514 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 2: It's pretty fantastic. 515 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 3: And his face is all power move, very pensive, very 516 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,560 Speaker 3: power move. A lot going on behind those deep baby 517 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 3: blue eyes. All you can't tell. I don't know what 518 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 3: color are your eyes, Casey, They. 519 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 4: Are blue, all right, nailed the images black and white. 520 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 2: Yes you'd never know. 521 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: Well that will have to wait for the next T shirt, 522 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: but yeah, do check it out. We're ordering some for ourselves, 523 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: which Casey apologies. 524 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 2: An advanced effect. 525 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 1: It's weird in the meantime, we'd also like to thank 526 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, who composed our track. You'd like to think 527 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: our research associate Gabe and you know what, while we're 528 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,120 Speaker 1: while we're handing out thank yous, like their booze prescriptions 529 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 1: during prohibition. 530 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 2: That should be a thing that needs to take off. 531 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,720 Speaker 2: We need to make that happen. Oh, handing out things? 532 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:17,719 Speaker 3: No, no, no, just just that as an expression sort of 533 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 3: like selling selling. I could sell something to a man. 534 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 3: I could sell a catchup popsicle to a man in 535 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 3: white gloves. This idea of like Willy nilly, just giving 536 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 3: things away, passing stuff out like booze prescriptions during prohibition. 537 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:30,760 Speaker 2: Helps the rhymes, right, I like it. 538 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: I would like to think what was that band who 539 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: did level terrorists apart? 540 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 2: Again? 541 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: That was a Joy Division, Joy Division. I'd like to 542 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: thank Joy Division. I quite enjoy that song. 543 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 3: I would like to think a New Order who I 544 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 3: kind of prefer Hot Take No, I know right, oh wow, yeah. 545 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 1: No, I'm not picking battles of the bands. I'm just 546 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: saying I like that song. There's a surprisingly wide variety 547 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,960 Speaker 1: of covers of that song as well. But I'd also 548 00:30:59,320 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: like to. 549 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 3: Think, you know, Ben, I accept your thanks with an 550 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 3: open heart, and I shoot it back at you care 551 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 3: Bears style, nice, nice, nice care bears too. Scared the 552 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 3: heck out, are you kidding? That green face in the book, 553 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 3: And that was some devil worship stuff, my friend. The 554 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 3: way she like basically bewitched that young boy, the young 555 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 3: wizard's assistant. She bewitched him and kind of like lured 556 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,960 Speaker 3: him into her creepy caravan. And yeah, no, no, thank. 557 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 2: You made him evil. He had debility, he sure did, Ben, 558 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 2: you sure did. We'll see you next time, folks. 559 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 560 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,560 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.