The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America from Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet

327 Pages·2009·1.16 MB·English

by  Garrett Peck

The
Prohibition
Hangover
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The
Prohibition
Hangover
Alcohol in America
from Demon Rum
to Cult Cabernet
Garrett Peck
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peck, Garrett.
The prohibition hangover : alcohol in America from demon rum to cult cabernet /
Garrett Peck.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978–0–8135–4592–9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Prohibition—United States. 2. Drinking of alcoholic beverages—United
States—History. I. Title.
hv5089.p364 2009
394.1´30973—dc22
2008051502
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the
British Library.
The author gratefully acknowledges permission to reprint Noah S. Sweat Jr.’s
“Whiskey Speech” in its entirely. Copyright © 1952, renewed 1980 by Noah S.
Sweat, Jr. Reprinted by permission from Sweat’s estate.
Copyright © 2009 by Garrett Peck
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press,
100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception to this
prohibition is “fair use” as defi ned by U.S. copyright law.
Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Dedicated
to Anthony Kennedy
Associate Justice,
United States Supreme Court
and
to the federal worker.
You keep our country safe,
rescue us from hurricanes,
deliver our mail,
clean up our air and water,
collect our statistics,
and go where angels fear to tread.
Underpaid, unappreciated, never thanked,
but always loved.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 The Noble Experiment 8
Chapter 2 So What Are We Drinking? 25
Chapter 3 Whiskey and Rye 53
Chapter 4 Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer 78
Chapter 5 The Golden Age of Wine 100
Chapter 6 The Supreme Court Decides 138
Chapter 7 Alcohol and Your Health 158
Chapter 8 What Would Jesus Drink? 179
Chapter 9 Beating the Temperance Drum 198
Chapter 10 Not until You’re Twenty-one 230
Conclusions 257
Notes 271
Index 295
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Acknowledgments
The Prohibition Hangover did not rise out of a vacuum. Many people infl u-
enced it, and many graciously shared their time to be interviewed. I have nu-
merous individuals to thank for their help in making this book come to life.
My editor at Rutgers University Press, Doreen Valentine, is a tremendous
coach and friend who took a big chance on a fi rst-time author and midwifed
this book into the world. Beth Gianfagna was my dynamite copy editor
who fi nalized the manuscript for production. In addition, I want to express
my heartfelt thanks to an anonymous expert reader, a historian with deep
knowledge of alcohol in America.
A slew of people test-marketed the book and provided invaluable feed-
back on shortening the story and making it more accessible to readers: Jim
Gore, Edward Cavalcanti, Bill Nelson, Dennis Pogue, Chris Morris, Edward
Stringham, Julia Filz, Gary Regan, Phil Greene, and John McCardell. You all
have my undying appreciation.
Juanita Swedenburg of Swedenburg Estate Vineyard took her case to the
Supreme Court and won. I am forever grateful that she spent a warm Sunday
morning in November 2005 with me, and I mourned her passing on June 9,
2007.
Thomas Sweat Jr. granted me permission to quote the “Whiskey Speech”
in its entirety. His uncle, Noah Sweat, gave the speech in 1952.
Brooke Gowen Smith, my fi rst editor at Beverage Media, gave me my fi rst
break at writing for a trade publication and then supplied me with a constant
stream of assignments. Her successor, Alia Akkam, has been equally gener-
ous. My platform for this book is entirely because of their generous spirit.
I am not a lawyer, but I have many friends who are, and they reviewed my
analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in Granholm v. Heald. Max Barger,
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