[euge]

Wow! I didn't know much of this stuff about prohibition and consider myself somewhat informed. Homemade wine was legal but not beer.  You could still drink legally... Thought that was illegal as well. Makes the 21st seem much more relevant somehow.

Plus this is excellent Burns on his A-game. Very tasty.

[denny]

I've been working every night and didn't see it, but I did record it.Now, I just have to find time to watch it.

[Delo]

I recorded this too, I was hoping to hear some feedback. There were some mixed critic reviews, but I really dont pay too much attention to them.

[Slowbrew]

I only saw last night's episode (the last one).  It was interesting to see how the politicians tried to please every side of the issue and that women were the major force behind repealing the Volstead Act.  The fact the politicians would vote down bills to repeal the act and then show up at the leader of the repeal movements house for dinner and drink her booze was too much like today to laugh at though.

One of my coworkers said the moonshiner's stories were great.  Of course I didn't see that episode.  8^(

Paul

[beersk]

It seemed like there was a lot of hypocrisy going on.  I didn't see where they said drinking alcohol was legal.  I did see the part about making wine though, thought that was dumb.  It's higher alcohol than beer, fools!  What a stupid stupid part of our history.  I only saw part of the last episode, I think it was.  Would like to see the whole thing.
There was one part that was talking about how making alcohol illegal was a moral law.  "Can't put a law on morals," one of them said.  Ha!  Made me think about the same thing that's going on with marijuana right now.  Moral law, end of story.

[dbeechum]

You expect moral consistency from any body of more than 2 people who aren't family?

The Volstead Act never prohibited drinking - it prohibited the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol. That effectively outlawed drinking, but if you had pre-pro stashes, go for it.

Then let's not forget there were religious dispensations (Catholics have to have their sacramental wine after all) and medical dispensations - you could get a prescription for booze as well. (sound familiar?)

Yes, prohibition in this country is silly and wasteful. Now that's not to say there wasn't a point. If you read the history of the tavern culture in pre-prohibition society, it was not in a place where we'd considerable acceptable today. Far more old west and men getting soused every night, gambling fortunes and sleeping with women of ill repute, etc than the clean bright pub life we like to think happened. Could that have changed without prohibtion? Undoubtedly, it already was, but prohibition put the brakes on that culture and ironically opened up a more inclusive culture of illicit drinking.

[majorvices]

Far more old west and men getting soused every night, gambling fortunes and sleeping with women of ill repute, etc

You say that as if it's a bad thing. 

[beersk]

Touche, Drew. 

[euge]

It profoundly affected and shaped our culture and government and gave rise to Organized Crime. Seems to me this is where big government got it's roots- at least in the law-enforcement aspect. Since the states did little spending the govt was forced to form and/or expand agencies such as the FBI and what ultimately became the ATF.

Far more old west and men getting soused every night, gambling fortunes and sleeping with women of ill repute, etc

You say that as if it's a bad thing. 

Haha I was going to say the same!

[weithman5]

The Volstead Act never prohibited drinking - it prohibited the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol. That effectively outlawed drinking, but if you had pre-pro stashes, go for it.

.

kind of like having stocked up on montecristo cigars pre embargo

[tubercle]

 A lot of folks got rich during this time (see also: Kennedys). Nothing like un-reported income.

 When they show the G-Men busting up barrel after barrel of beer you start wondering...Hmmm, wonder where all that came from? That is not a backyard operation. The big boys still operated, the product just went out the back door instead of the front.

[dolecek21]

I've only seen the first 2/3 or so of the first episode, pretty interesting.  I didn't realize how close the movement for prohibition/anti-alcohol was to Women's suffrage. 

Also, you can stream all of the past episodes from the PBS website:

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/

[passlaku]

In fairness to Joe Kennedy, he never was a bootlegger.  According to Okrent's text (Last Call), he points out that Joe got into the legal medicinal alcohol business, then subsequently bought a distributorship.  Aside from the women, who were influential, there were a group of very rich men who funded wet candidates.  These guys wanted to repeal the 18th in an effort repeal the income tax.  Unfortunately, after the repeal, the income tax stayed and their leader (Dupont of the chemical company) lamented that his efforts were misspent repealing the wrong amendment.  

If you get a chance read Okrent's book: Last Call: The rise and fall of prohibition.  Excellent books and it seems that Burns based his doc on Okrent's research, he appears several times in the documentary.  

[euge]

Woohoo it's on again in a few minutes. Really this is important stuff folks. Could this happen again or are we too informed now?

[beersk]

Woohoo it's on again in a few minutes. Really this is important stuff folks. Could this happen again or are we too informed now?

It won't happen again.  Not no way, not no how!