In 1920, the United States tried a bold social experiment: banning alcohol entirely.
No more beer, no wine, no whiskey. The idea was to fix problems like crime, poverty, and public drunkenness — to make America “cleaner” and more moral.

It began with the 18th Amendment and something called the Volstead Act, which made it illegal to produce, sell, or transport alcohol. The government hoped the country would sober up and thrive.

Spoiler: it didn’t go as planned.

Instead of turning America into a nation of teetotalers, Prohibition fueled one of the wildest eras in history.
Illegal bars, called speakeasies, popped up in every city — often hidden behind secret doors or coded passwords (“Joe sent me”).

Bootleggers smuggled liquor across borders and homemade gin flowed in bathtubs. Organized crime exploded, led by notorious figures like Al Capone in Chicago, who built empires supplying the nation’s underground thirst.

And while drinking became illegal, jazz, rebellion, and creativity flourished. The Roaring Twenties were born — loud, flashy, and anything but sober.

By the early 1930s, it was clear Prohibition wasn’t working.
Crime had skyrocketed. The government lost millions in potential alcohol taxes. And the Great Depression hit, leaving millions jobless.

Breweries and distilleries, once thriving industries, sat empty — at a time when the economy desperately needed them. The public had had enough. Even law enforcement was tired of enforcing a law that almost everyone ignored.

Finally, on December 5, 1933, the U.S. ratified the 21st Amendment, officially ending Prohibition. It remains the onlytime in American history that an amendment has been completely repealed by another.

That evening, champagne corks popped across the country. Breweries reopened. Bars unlocked their doors. And for the first time in 13 years, Americans could raise a legal glass of beer to freedom.

Franklin D. Roosevelt — who had campaigned on ending Prohibition — famously quipped:

And the country agreed.

The end of Prohibition taught a timeless lesson: banning something doesn’t make it disappear.
People will always find creative ways around rules that clash with real life.

But it also showed how society can evolve — how mistakes can be corrected, and laws rewritten when they no longer make sense.

So whether you prefer cocktails or coffee, December 5 is a toast to adaptability, resilience, and the freedom to learn from our experiments — even the messy ones. 🥃