At the stroke of midnight, American beer drinkers were no longer breaking the law when they broke open a beer.
Breweries and beer lovers around the country were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the return of beer on April 7, 1933, as the Prohibition era was drawing to a close. It wasn‘t quite the end of Prohibition, and it wasn‘t quite beer, but after 14 thirsty years, it was close enough. What became available that day was only 3.2 percent alcohol by weight (compared with up to 5 percent in full-strength beer), but still, it was a step up from the virtually alcoholfree “near beer” that had been sold since 1920.
Nothing to celebrate Remnants of Prohibition survive today in the form of state-owned liquor stores and local laws that, for example, prevent sales of alcohol on Sundays or in grocery stores. Some counties remain entirely dry, banning alcohol sales altogether, and 3.2 beer is still sold in six states (Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma and Utah), according to Modern Brewery Age magazine. And there are those who think a beer-related anniversary is nothing to celebrate. “It is the product of choice for underage drinking,” said Michael Scippa, advocacy director for the Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog group. “We‘re not neo-Prohibitionists,” he said. “We‘re not trying to tell adults what to do. “ He said his group just wants the industry to operate more responsibly.
Speakeasies The size and enthusiasm of those that gathered around breweries all over the country on “New Beer‘s Eve,” April 6, 1933, in anticipation of the return of legal beer that actually had some alcohol in it, was huge. “There was dancing in the streets and lines outside brewery doors,” said Julia Herz, spokeswoman for the Brewers Association, which represents smaller “craft” brewers. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been president barely a month, and sweeping into power with him was an anti-Prohibition majority in Congress known as “the wets.” Together they fulfilled their first campaign promise with passage of the CullenHarrison Act, which increased the amount of alcohol allowed in beverages from 0.5 percent to a discernible 3.2 percent by weight.
When the act took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET April 7, trucks and carriages burst out of brewery gates bearing cases and barrels of beer for a parched republic -- at least for the District of Columbia and the 20 states whose laws permitted it. Several breweries dispatched cases directly to the White House and the Capitol. According to the Brewers Association, more than 1.5 million barrels were snapped up in the first 24 hours. Full-strength beer and hard liquor were still a few months away. National Prohibition wasn‘t repealed until the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on December 5.
The first day of beer sales reaped $7.5 million in tax receipts for the U. S. Treasury. About half the nation‘s breweries went out of business during Prohibition, but others survived by converting to products such as oleomargarine, ice cream, cheese and smoked ham. So at the Storck brewery in Milwaukee, for example, children could enjoy a sundae while Mom or Dad slipped away to a room where illicit beer was served from a hidden tap, according to the American Brewerania Association‘s Web site. Yes, despite Prohibition, Americans could go for the gusto. Chicago had as many as 20,000 speakeasies, Bob Skilnik, author of eight books about beer, said. “If you couldn‘t find a beer during Prohibition,” he said, “you really weren‘t trying.”
