Missouri bicentennial: State played central role in Prohibition

This is the 23rd in a series of articles with Kellerman Foundation for Historic Preservation board chairman Frank Nickell, an emeritus faculty member of Southeast Missouri State University, commenting on Show Me State history on the 200th anniversary of Missouri being received as America's 24th state in 1821.

Prohibition, a 12-year social experiment authorized by the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, banned the manufacture, sale and transportation of "intoxicating liquors" in the United States from 1919 to 1933.

The archives of the Southeast Missourian show numerous stories culled from the period.

One such article is dated Jan. 17, 1920.

"Beer, valued at about $10,000, was destroyed yesterday by the Cape Brewery and Ice Company (with) the beverage being poured into the sewers from 1,000 barrels. The management is planning to enlarge the ice plant and go into the retail ice business on March 1."

Another article was published June 6, 1919, five months after full ratification.

"Last night at midnight, the doors of the Hoffman and Lail Saloon (in Jackson) closed and this famous thirst emporium is no more after having been in existence about half a century."

On May 12, 1924, the following story appeared with a dateline from the Cape Girardeau County seat.

"Circuit Court (in Jackson) orders sheriff to destroy moonshine, mountain dew, bug juice, white mule, home brew, busthead, squirrel whiskey and snakebite that had accumulated to be used as evidence in liquor cases."

The Star Bar, the light-colored building at the left edge of the photograph, was considered one of the "wettest" saloons in Cape Girardeau prior to the advent of Prohibition in the United States. This photo was taken near Sprigg Street, looking east along Good Hope Street.Southeast Missourian archive ~ Photo courtesy of Tom Hopen

Show Me State

Missouri played a central role in Prohibition, which resulted from a decadeslong push by temperance movements traced back to the nation's founding — including the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

Carry A. Nation (1846-1911), a Kentucky native whose name is synonymous with anti-alcohol efforts, traversed into Missouri often.

The activist was arrested 32 times for her assaults on taverns, saloons and barrooms. In 1901, in Kansas City, Missouri, Nation used a hatchet to destroy liquor bottles at various bars along the city's 12th Street.

"(Nation) was the face of temperance and she was probably the wrong person to be its symbol," said historian Nickell. "She was quite manic about it and an extremist when it came to the use of alcohol."

St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch "not only survived but thrived" during Prohibition, Nickell said.

Anheuser-Busch continued its business during the dry years by selling and shipping ice, vendors were kept on the payroll, and the company found beverage substitutes in the meantime such as "near beer," with an alcohol content of 0.5% or less. Also, A-B "produced malt syrups and yeast, which when added to water and properly aged, produced a homebrew" that slaked the thirst of some consumers, according to prohibition.themobmuseum.org.

"(A-B) moved back into production of its usual products within days of the repeal of the 18th Amendment in December 1933," Nickell said.

Prohibition's legacy

Nickell said for all its many flaws, Prohibition had a positive impact on the U.S.

"(Prohibition) was referred to as a noble cause, to try to get rid of often-horrific saloons and barrooms," he said, noting such establishments in the 18th and 19th centuries had no restrictions.

"(Taverns) were open 24 hours a day and there were no legal age limits to the consumption of alcohol," Nickell said, adding Prohibition firmly established the concept of moderation when it came to "devil's brew," the derisive term used by alcohol's opponents.

"Now there are age limits and legal hours of distribution," Nickell said.

Also, cases of cirrhosis of the liver and resultant deaths saw a marked decline as did police reports of booze-fueled violence toward women, so there is evidence Prohibition did have some influence over the very worst aspects of alcohol abuse in America, the historian said.

Lost cause

The longtime Southeast Missouri State University faculty member acknowledged Prohibition had little chance of succeeding long term.

"There were 1,500 agents engaged in liquor control for the entire country," Nickell said, "(and) that's not even enough people to regulate alcohol sales in St. Louis on a Saturday night."

Enforcement was only one problem; geography was also an issue.

Products came into America from Canada and Mexico — nations with very long borders with the U.S.

Combined with the comparatively few liquor control agents employed by the government — alcohol was virtually impossible to stop.

"It was simply too big of an industry to deal with effectively," Nickell said.

Timeline

• 1913 — Ratification of the 16th Amendment creating the income tax (an initiative that helped salve the loss of revenue necessitated by the later impact of Prohibition.)
• January 1919 — Ratification of the 18th Amendment (Prohibition).
• October 1919 — Passage of the Volstead Act, containing enforcement provisions for Prohibition taking effect in 1920.
• 1933 — Ratification of the 21st Amendment, repealing Prohibition.