Wednesday, November 24, 1892Est. 1869 Price 6d

Moonshine Makes History!Pre-

Prohibition. Moonshining was popular in the south during the 19th and early 20th centuries and was concentrated in the Blue Ridge Mountain, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, northern Georgia, and western South Carolina (Moonshine 2000). Most of the pre-Prohibition history focuses on the states of Virginia, western North Carolina, and limited information in eastern Kentucky.

During Prohibition. The advent of national prohibition began on January 16, 1920 as the United States officially became dry and the 18th amendment was made to the constitution. The years of hard work by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti Saloon League were finally becoming fulfilled. However is was not the 18th Amendment alone that saw the end of legal liquor sales but also the enactment of The Volstead Act which stated that no more than one half of one percent of alcohol could be

Post Prohibition. Despite the end of prohibition legalizing alcohol sales nationally, many states and counties kept alcohol sales illegal. Also during prohibition, many people became fond of the price of moonshine, leading to demand for it even in counties where other alcohol was legal. Though the popularity of moonshine has ebbed and flowed since the 1930’s, it is still a mainstay in many cultures across America.

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Pre- Prohibition EraBefore 1920’s

Moonshine is “illegally distilled whiskey that earned its name because it was made under the cover of light”

Moonshine is made from a mash of grain, yeast, sugar and water; the mesh is fermented and boiled; the alcohol fumes are cooled to liquid in a long twisted pipe known as worm

Moonshine was popular in the south during the 19th and 20th centuries; It was concentrated in the Blue Ridge Mountains, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, northern Georgia, western South Carolina and eastern Kentucky

Moonshine, Corn Whiskey, White Lightnin...what is this stuff?

Names for Moonshine:corn liquor white lightning sugar whiskey skull cracker popskull bush whiskey stump stumphole

'splo ruckus juice rotgut stumphole catdaddy mule kick hillbilly pop white lightning panther's breath tiger's sweat

sweet spirits of cats a-fighting alley bourbon city gin

Moonshine began with a great wave of Scotch-Irish settlers that flowed down the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road between 1730s and 1770s. They later moved

south to Virginia. By the late 15th

century, the Irish and the Scots developed distinct distillation methods

The per capita percentage of alcohol manufactured in the mountain region increased at a faster rate between 1810 and 1840

Alcohol manufacturing was vital to the cottage industry in western North Carolina during the late 18th and 19th centuries; this would allow families to earn money which was a scarce commodity on the frontier.

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Pre- Prohibition Era

The moonshine industry evolved from an illegal folk art to a big business involving dozens of suppliers, distillers and distributors

Corn Whiskey is World Wide!

Pre- Prohibition Era

By the 1830s, new social and economic forces were conspiring against mountain distillers and their clientele

Moonshine aka “White Lightning” was brewed in hidden caves in the hills of eastern Kentucky

Moonshine was outlawed in 1791 when the federal government imposed a tax on all liquor

The moonshine industry evolved from an illegal folk art to a big business involving dozens of suppliers, distillers and distributors.

Moonshine is big business!

Pre- Prohibition EraThe

Revenue Bureau of the Treasury Department was formed to seek out moonshiners in their home environments

In 1894, Congress increased the whiskey tax to $1.10 per gallon

The advent of North Carolina statewide prohibition in 1908 and national prohibition in 1919 intensified North Carolinians’ appetite for liquor and increased the profitability of moonshining

Is this the end of moonshine and bootleggers?

Prohibition Era1920-1933US is Voted Dry!

The advent of national prohibition began on January 16, 1920 as the United States officially became dry and the 18th amendment was made to the constitution.

The years of hard work by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti Saloon League were finally becoming fulfilled. However is was not the 18th Amendment alone that saw the end of legal liquor sales but also the enactment of The Volstead Act which stated that no more than one half of one percent of alcohol could be used for any purpose.

Prohibition EraWhat was once the fifth largest

industry in the United States was now made illegal?

1920-1933

Before prohibition was put into effect the federal government did enact a new income tax on the people as a way of combating the loss of the seventy percent of the federal revenue that came from beer and liqueur sales.

What they did not predict was the large scale unemployment that would be caused by the closure of the breweries and saloons. Tens of thousands of people were now out of work and desperate to make a living.

The desperation caused by the change in laws opened the door for gangsters and a whole new era of criminal activity. In the big cities speakeasies, dive bars and brothels started to pop up all over town being supplied by bootlegged liquor brought in.

Prohibition EraHere at home 1920-1933

The brewery site covered five acres at Sixth and Columbia streets in Newport, which included a five-story brew house and a 150-horse stable

Wiedemann tried to get through those dry years by producing nonalcoholic drinks and alcohol used for industrial purposes. In reality, the brewery was a major supplier for George Remus, a well known bootlegger. Remus and his political connections kept the company safe until 1927 when the brewery was shut down by the government.

The small city of Newport hosted home to the Weidemann Brewery and in the surrounding area boasted over 150 breweries

Prohibition EraKing of the bootleggers

1920-1933

Newport achieved its "Sin City" status, as bootleggers, gamblers and members of organized crime descended on the city.

George Remus

Peter Schmidt-The Beverly Hills Club

The picture is a FT-17 tank from the Kentucky Army National Guard crushing captured moonshine stills during the Newport Rolling Mills Strike.  The National Guard was sent in on Dec. 24th, 1921, and the strike did not end until April, 1922

Prohibition EraProhibition causes crime! 1920-1933

Liquor was in higher demand than ever and those who had never drunk much previously spoke of their bootlegger as commonly as they would their hairdresser.

Not only did the gangsters and

criminals have a hand in the illegal liquor business but four out of five families were now brewing their own at home for personal consumption or to be shared with family and friends.

People could go out and purchase their own “alky cooker” marketed as a water treatment system. In household where families were brewing even the children would be recruited to assist and often sending them to school intoxicated

This new era brought about by the enforcement of prohibition and the influx of crime changed with the youth and lead way to what would later be called the roaring twenties. The youngsters including women now frequented the speakeasies and took on a liberated flapper style unknown by their predecessors.

Prohibition EraMoonshine kills! 1920-1933

In the hills of Appalachia what was once something passed down from generation to generation and used for the moonshiners family and friends would now become a money maker.

As the demand increased moonshiners of the hills of the Appalachian Mountains started to be recruited by big operators from the large cities to make the liquor they would sell in the speakeasies and dives.

The greed of the city had now even started to reach the moonshiners and the once pure white lighting started to be compromised. The liquor was starting to be cut down to create more by adding in a variety of other chemicals such as wood alcohol.

In Kansas there was an epidemic when an estimated 15,000 people died due to what they called Jake paralysis caused by tainted liquor. The good whisky was often kept for the privileged people such as the politicians and police chief.

Post-Prohibition EraProhibition ends at last! 1930-40’s

• Revenue agents mostly transitioned to working in legal distilleries

• Cars were becoming more modified for eluding police

• Smokers introduced with belched clouds from exhaust

• Bottles, spikes, and nails also commonly thrown from car

Ford began selling models with modifications already made

• bigger engines• better handling

Post-Prohibition EraProhibition ends at last! 1930-40’s

• drivers became popular in folklore, organized races ensued

• Reasons for remaining poplar

• price better than legal alcohol

• population grew to like the taste during prohibition

• health reasons• family traditions

Post-Prohibition EraThree “Moonshine Capitols” formed and disappeared

1950’s-70’s

Dawson Creek, GeorgiaServiced Atlanta and surrounding areasAtlanta's suburbs took over former

moonshining areasFormer moonshiners sold land as a form of

retirement as new generation not interested in carrying on tradition

Cocke County, TennesseeServiced much of AppalachiaFormer moonshining lands taken over by

factoriesFormer moonshiners also went to work in

factories for better pay Influx of other areas' moonshine

Post-Prohibition EraThree “Moonshine Capitols” formed and disappeared

1950’s-70’s

Wilkes County, North CarolinaServiced some of Appalachia up the east coastConsidered largest of the three Increased law enforcement led to inability of

continued productionHotrodsMore highways (straighter roads with smoother

pavement)Cars even faster and better handlingNew laws enacted for unsafe driving often more

severe than moonshine transportBy 60's hotrods were replaced with disguising of

cars and trucksLaw enforcement started concentrating on large

distillers

Post-Prohibition Era1980’s-90’s

ATF's focus shifted to guns and explosives

Marijuana and Methamphetamines viewed as larger threat

Production may have dropped

Worse threats than “Moonshine !

Post-Prohibition EraCurrent

Now, mostly first time in-home distillers making “craft moonshine”Grew out of in-home brewing of beerDo not view themselves as traditional

moonshinersGrowing industry of distiller makers Is there legal moonshine?Still traditional illegal being made

Moonshine today

www.coppermoonshinestills.com

http://homedistiller.org/forum/

Post-Prohibition Era

Wednesday, November 24, 1892Est. 1869 Price 6d

That’s All Folks!

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