Urlifestyle Magazine October 2016 October 2016 | Page 34

Heroes and Villains: THe rise of ProHibiTion
By Michael Kashey
Staff Writer and Cocktail Historian
Al Capone, Elliot Ness, Enoch
Lewis (or for Boardwalk Empire
fans, Enoch “Nucky” Thompson”) are
names often associated with Prohibition. And although important figures
during this time, they were simply results of “the noble experiment” as it
has become called. Without the pioneers of the Temperance Movement,
the speakeasy and bootleggers most
likely would have never existed. In
this issue we will explore those who
made Prohibition possible. Luckily for
us, despite their best efforts, we can
enjoy a beer or cocktail at our favorite
drinking establishments while we admire their handiwork.

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Women’s Rights and Prohibition
It is of no surprise that among the first
members of temperance and abolition

movements were women suffragettes.
For the 19th century contemporary
woman, alcohol more often than not
lead to abusive relationships, orphans
and rape. A common legal belief in
marital rape can be stemmed from Sir
Matthew Hale, an English jurist from
the 1600s. In his 1736 The History of
the Pieces of the Crown, he stated that
husbands are incapable of rape due
to the fact that his wife, “hath given
up herself in this kind to her husband,
which she cannot retract.” This lack of
women’s well-being made a woman’s
movement focusing on the dangers of
alcohol inevitable.
In last month’s issue we learned
about a movement that began in Hillsboro, Ohio led by Eliza Thompson.
Thompson and her group of followers convinced virtually all liquor selling establishments in more than 110
towns to discontinue their services.
Their method of attack, praying for

the souls of the shopkeepers and imbibers. Her movement was so successful that by February of 1874, tax collections on liquor were short by more
than $300,000 in just two revenue districts.
Despite its initial success, much
like Neal Dow’s liquor ban, in just a
few months the effects had ended and
business returned to usual. Thompson’s success (however brief) has had
a lasting legacy. From that time to now
saloon keepers (now bartenders) have
had a certain stigma associated with
their profession. To many this will
comes as a surprise, however from the
1700s to the early 1900s, bartenders
were heroes of the working class.
In New York City bartenders were
known to sway elections, an idea that
would shock many today to hear a bartender talk politics. But all good things

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