Prohibition Started 100 Years Ago Today, and Iowans Saved The Day
January 17th, 1920 marked the start of a 13 year ban on alcohol in America.
The 18th Amendment dropped on a Saturday, harshing out the whole weekend, and banned the "manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors."
As the country began to deal with the lack of production, farmers were losing their farms because of rye no longer being used. A group of farmers in Templeton, IA decided they weren't going to lose theirs. Templeton Rye Whiskey was born.
The farmers began to produce their own top notch, amber colored whiskey that was the most popular liquor at speakeasies in Chicago, Omaha, and Kansas, known as The Good Stuff, which was even Al Capone's favorite drink. The farmers had no interest in the life of crime, only in keeping food on the table for their families, and not being another statistic in the Farm Crisis in Iowa.
The end of the prohibition came about in 1933, ultimately because the laws meant nothing when there were so many speakeasies, and bootlegging bringing a rise to the mob scene.
Prohibition was also the unofficial start of Nascar, and the street racing scene. The bootleggers needed fast cars to outrun police, and what else are a bunch of drunk guys with fast cars going to do?
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