The Prohibition Era Trivia Quiz

Answer: Camel

The camel is able to go a considerable amount of time without needing to drink, much longer than humans and longer than most animals in general. This makes for a fairly straightforward rationale behind its selection for the Prohibition Party.

The Prohibition Party was founded in 1869 and would go on to become one of the longest lasting third parties in United States history. It would decline over time following the Prohibition Era, progressively fading away from the federal politics scene- the last time a presidential candidate under the party even received 100,000 votes came in 1948, and the last time it got 10,000 votes was in 1976.

Answer: Maine

This only lasted four years until a large congregation of roughly three thousand people stormed city hall, only to discover that Neal Dow, the mayor at the time, had been harboring a significant amount of alcohol himself. The ensuing riot caused one casualty, many injuries, and essentially brought about the end of Dow's political career.

Answer: Winston Churchill

Typically, there was a strict limit to how much medicinal alcohol someone could consume. For Winston Churchill, the only limitations were imposed by himself. Otherwise, the typical maximum on a medicinal alcohol prescription was a pint a week. Churchill himself obtained the prescription as a result of being the victim of a car accident as he was traveling on foot in the US.

Answer: The Volstead Act

This was named after Judiciary Chairman Andrew Volstead of Minnesota, who was among the most noteworthy advocates of Prohibition. The act prohibits the production, sale and transport of "intoxicating liquids." It was initially vetoed by President Woodrow Wilson due to the fact that it included wartime prohibition, but this veto was overridden by Congress.

Answer: Eighteenth

The 18th Amendment specifically targeted the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors." Notably, it also does not cover wine, though the Volstead Act does cover wine, making this loophole generally inexploitable. The amendment itself was the culmination of many, many years of the nationwide temperance movement, which aimed to put an end to the general consumption of alcohol.

Answer: It is the only one to be repealed

On December 5th, 1933, the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed. After progressively worsening crime, corruption of public officials and a general lack of beneficial trade off, repealing this amendment was a wildly popular decision. This notably had a major impact on crime in particular, as with alcohol no longer illegal, it wouldn't be getting smuggled or otherwise illegally obtained.

Answer: George Cassiday

Cassiday was a World War I veteran who had struggled to find employment after the war. He claimed that this bootleg operation found himself "hustling when the offices opened at 9 o'clock" until late in the evening on a day to day basis. He suggested that he transported 35-40 quarts of alcohol routinely every day.

He earned his nickname after he was arrested while wearing a green hat. He would eventually do eighteen months in prison over his involvement in these alcohol deliveries.

Answer: The man's brain burst into flames.

McCandlish claimed that this happened when a doctor held a lit match near the dead man's head to check for alcohol. He did not ever retract this claim. Of course, this is an outlandish claim to have made in hindsight. McCandlish also claimed that this man had originally died by falling and snapping his neck while intoxicated.

McCandlish himself happened upon the man's body traveling home from work. He claimed that he witnessed the post mortem examination, which involved removal of the man's skull to examine his brain, when this then took place.

Answer: The production and sale of alcohol

The 18th amendment reads: "After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited." It notably did not address wine, making wine technically federally legal.

However, most states imposed the Volstead Act and, thus, criminalized wine in the process.

Answer: Ice cream

Yuengling in particular would take this concept and run with it, primarily producing ice cream until 1985, then making a comeback in 2014. They are notable for home brewed ice cream, just as they produced homebrew beer during the pre-Prohibition timeline.

Anheuser-Busch also sold ice cream during Prohibition, as well as refrigerated ice cream trucks, baby formula, frozen eggs, and a product called Bevo, which was advertised as a near beer.