90 years ago today. 12/5/1933

Alcohol is a poison.

Went up to Canada's Vancouver earlier this year, and visited their maritime museum. There they had an exhibit about the bootlegging operations from Victoria and Vancouver smuggling alcohol from Canada into the United States during the prohibition era. The cat and mouse games of having ships sitting off shore, just outside of territorial waters. The methods of making sure the deliveries were to the intended customers instead of undercover agents. It was pretty much the economic engine for the two cities during that time.

The point being the fools of the temperance movement thought it would limit or stop consumption. There goal was to limit alcohol so it could not be consumed. 

I spent half my money on whiskey and women. The rest I just wasted.

Technically, the 18th Amendment did nothing.  It only provided the Federal government the ability to pass a law on the issue.

The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919.  Oregon was state 33 on January 15, 1919.  The next day, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming ratified the Amendment, which officially took the Amendment past the 3/4-majority required to ratify the Amendment nationwide.  Minnesota and Wisconsin ratified the next day.  New Mexico ratified the following Monday.  Nevada, which was a different beast back then, ratified the next day.  New York and Vermont ratified the following Wednesday, and Undersecretary and acting Secretary of State Frank Lyon Polk certified the 18th Amendment's ratification.  Frank Lyon Polk was the grandson of Confederate General Leonidas Polk, who was President James Polk's cousin.  Pennsylvania ratified the 18th Amendment almost four weeks later.  New Jersey ratified the 18th Amendment more than three years later.  Connecticut and Rhode Island never ratified the Amendment.

The actual act was the Volstead Act, a/k/a the National Prohibition Act.  That Act passed on October 28, 1919 over President Woodrow Wilson's veto.  By its terms, the Volstead Act went into effect at a second after Midnight on January 17, 1920.

The Volstead Act differed from the 18th Amendment, because it defined "intoxicating beverages" as having an alcoholic content of greater than 0.5%.  Before the Volstead Act was passed, several states understood that beer and wine would not be included.  However, they were ultimately included in the Volstead Act.  Several Northern states refused to prosecute violations of the Volstead Act.

The Volstead Act had several exceptions.  Among them were medicinal and religious exceptions.  Doctors sold approximately $4 million worth of "medicinal" whiskey every year.  Additionally, there was no law against consuming previously-acquired alcohol or giving it away, as long as it was not sold.  Further, people were allowed to produce up to 200 gallons of "non-intoxicating cider and fruit juice."  This was almost immediately expanded to include self-made wine.  Beer did not fall under that exception, though.  To get around the law in 1929, companies started to market "Vine-Glo," a grape concentrate, with specific instructions to not create wine from it.  That was eventually stopped by the Director of the Bureau of Prohibition in 1931.

The seeds for the 21st Amendment started with the 1930 elections in response to the 1929 Great Depression.  The election resulted in a big swing toward the "wets" and against the "drys" in Congress.  FDR came out as wet on February 20, 1932.  Hoover continued on as the "dry" candidate.  After FDR's election, the wets pushed forward in the Senate.  John J. Blaine, a centrist Republican Senator from Wisconsin, drafted up what would be the 21st Amendment on January 5, 1933.  It passed Committee for days later.  It was proposed to the full Senate on St. Valentine's Day in 1933.  The wets pushed the Blaine Act forward, despite an eight-hour dry filibuster, which held up both the Act and needed action on the ongoing banking collapse.  Both the Senate and House passed the Blaine Act six days after Blaine submitted it to the full Senate.

A law, which changed the Volstead's 0.5% rule to 3.2% passed on March 21, 1933, and was signed into law by FDR the next day.  The law went into effect on April 7, 1933.  After signing the law on March 22, 1933, FDR famously said, "I think this would be a good time for a beer."  April 7, 1933, is still National Beer Day.

Oregon ratified the 21st Amendment on August 7, 1933, the 17th state to do so.  North Carolina rejected the 21st Amendment on November 7th and South Carolina rejected it on December 4th.  Utah, oddly enough, was the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933.  17 minutes after Utah ratified the 21st Amendment, Under Secretary and acting Secretary of State William Phillips certified the ratification at 5:49 p.m. EST.  FDR issued a proclamation shortly thereafter.

It should be noted that Oregon actually had gone mostly dry in 1916 but had voted to go wet when allowed to in 1932.  Oregon was thus able to start selling producing and selling alcohol again on December 5, 1933.

I’ll drink to that