This card was sent in 1919, just before the enactment of Prohibition, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol for consumption in the United States. Prohibition was enacted as an amendment to the U.S. Constitution (the 18th Amendment.) President Woodrow Wilson did not support Prohibition, but was unable to stop Congress from passing the act to enable it. People did not stop drinking because of Prohibition (what a surprise!), but instead went to speakeasies and manufactured their own alcohol. Prohibition became increasingly unpopular, and in 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution repealed the 18th Amendment.
Prohibition was one of the most curious aspects of the American experiment, and a lesson not yet fully absorbed. What a telling artifact.
ReplyDelete