Drinking Wine from a Teacup Trivia Quiz

Answer: Volstead Act

In 1919, the 18th Amendment was ratified. The Volstead Act, passed later that same year clarified the exact meaning of the Amendment and was the basis of the law concerning the manufacture and sale of intoxicating drink. It said that intoxicating drink meant any drink with an alcohol content of more than 0.5% by volume.

It also made it illegal to own equipment that would enable you to make alcohol. The penalties for breaching the Act, such as fines and jail sentences were also contained in it. Prohibition came into effect in January 1920.

Answer: If it was prescribed by a doctor

Although alcohol was illegal, drinking it was not. In the year between the amendment and the implementation of Prohibition those who could afford to bought cases of legal liquor and stored it for drinking at home, which was perfectly legal. Doctors found themselves very popular, as if your doctor said you needed a drink for your nerves, or any other ailment, then by writing you a prescription they enabled you to buy and consume alcohol perfectly legally. Those without the means to stockpile alcohol in advance, or whose doctor was not over obliging, had to find other means of getting a drink.

Answer: Canada

The rise in demand for illegal alcohol led to a rise in people willing to supply it. Rumrunners tried to smuggle in boat loads of rum from the Caribbean area, whilst Canadian whiskey was frequently stolen by the lorry load and smuggled over the border into America.

There was also a market for homemade liquor and wines made in illegal stills and breweries. Much of this was very low quality. Some stills even used lead coils and soldering, and creosote, iodine and ethanol were all included in the recipes. Too much consumption of this type of liquor could lead to serious illness or even death.

Answer: Grapes were sold in dried, compressed blocks

In the first five years of Prohibition, the California grape growers actually increased their area under cultivation by a considerable amount. They compressed the grapes into solid, dried blocks and sold them as "bricks of Rhine Wine", "bricks of port", or bricks of whatever variety of wine the particular grape would have made.

These blocks were light and portable and very easy to send through the mail to anywhere in the country without anyone in authority realising what they were. They were so popular that the Mayor of New York City even sent out wine-making instructions to his constituents.

Answer: Pauline Sabin

Almost before the ink on the Prohibition amendment was dry there were calls for it to be repealed. Originally Sabin had been in favour of the ban, but as time went on she, and many other women, felt that Prohibition was failing. Even the Temperance Movement, who were the prime lobbyists for the original ban, realised that their hope of a sober, alcohol-free society was not happening. Women were given the vote by the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, and most politicians felt that they would vote for Prohibition.

In fact, over 1.5 million joined the repeal movement. They felt that the binge drinking, rise in organised, violent crime and the mass flouting of the law by a large percentage of the population was not a good example for their children.

The Women's Organisation grew out of these feelings. By 1932, they had representation in forty-one states.

Answer: Blind pig

Blind pig or blind tiger was sometimes used to describe illegal bars. The proprietor would advertise an attraction, like a blind pig, a blind tiger or some other exotic animal, charge an entrance fee to see it, and offer a complimentary alcoholic drink. These were normally lower class bars set in working class areas.

Speakeasies were very profitable establishments. Often run by organised crime syndicates they were frequently raided by Prohibition agents, but as fast as one was closed down another two sprung up. They were multi-cultural and multi-racial establishments. Although at first they were dingy places, springing up in small back rooms or disused warehouses, the owners soon realised that if they offered something unique they attracted more customers. Entertainment such as musicians and dancers started to appear. Some offered gambling, others set out specifically to attract women. They rapidly became one of the most profitable businesses in America. Many served their liquor in tea cups so that if they were raided it looked as though the patrons were not drinking.

Answer: Cullen-Harrison Act

In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for President on a Repeal of Prohibition basis. In March 1933, he signed the Cullen-Harrison Act that allowed the legal sale of weak beer and wine. This effectively ended Prohibition. Towards the end of 1933, state conventions approved the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, which repealed the 18th Amendment.

In December 1933, this was fully ratified and all federal laws that enforced Prohibition were then repealed.

Answer: The Great Depression

The Wall Street crash of 1929 and the terrible economic depression that followed were prime economic factors in the repeal of Prohibition. Both jobs and tax revenue were desperately needed, and re-opening the breweries and bars gave both of these. The fact that it also diverted money from the organised crime syndicates that had flourished in major cities during Prohibition was a side benefit.

When people such as John D. Rockefeller, a life long teetotaller, who had originally supported Prohibition, added their voices to the repeal movement it became a question of not if but when.

Answer: 'Lucky' Luciano

Salvatore Luciano was born in Sicily and came to America at the age of ten. His family settled in a popular area with Italian immigrants, the lower east side of Manhattan. By the age of fourteen he had dropped out of school and was running his own gang and making a living from the streets.

When Prohibition arrived he was 24 and already knew many gangsters, including Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. These three started their own bootlegging business, and by 1925 were turning over in excess of $12 million a year. Even after bribes to various officials they had a substantial income. By 1931, he had, primarily by the murder of all his close rivals, risen to become the most powerful organised crime boss in America.

Answer: Mississippi

After repeal around two thirds of the states decided on local votes by the residents to see if they stayed dry or not. In fact, after repeal, around 38% of the American population lived in areas where alcohol was still illegal in all or part of the state. Sometimes an entire state stayed dry, sometimes it was individual counties within a state.

The very last state to repeal a state wide ban on alcohol was Mississippi, and this was not until 1966.