Prohibition: Atlanta’s Inadvertent Savior?
Decatur Metro | August 28, 2010Where would Atlanta be without Coca-Cola? And where would Coca-Cola be without prohibition?
From the January 11, 1908 issue of The Atlanta Georgian.
Where would Atlanta be without Coca-Cola? And where would Coca-Cola be without prohibition?
From the January 11, 1908 issue of The Atlanta Georgian.
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The “Ginger Stew” doesn’t sound very inviting with or without a stick.
And trying the “Mexican Hot” might get me in some trouble.
Good thing that cola company came along with addictive cocaine among its ingredients because that was way better for you than a cold beer.
I read somewhere recently that the Italian aperitif Campari was considered “medicine” during Prohibition and that Americans would bring it home from visits to Italy. So I guess not all drinks were “soft” I’m guessing there was a lot of call for “medicine.”
This is from 1908? Prohibition in the US didn’t start until the Eighteenth Amendment came into effect in 1920. Or was there a local Atlanta/Georgia law before that?
From the New Georgia Encyclopedia…
Georgia had statewide prohibition from 1908 until 1935, a period that began before and extended beyond national prohibition (1920-33).
We still have statewide prohibition. On Sundays.
Like in many places, Prohibition in GA started with an effort to hew to the new rules, and then people threw caution to the winds and started getting alcohol anyway they could. Many just found local illegal speakeasies; some got Rx’s from their MD for bottles of alcohol; some churches and synagogues even upped their membership by trading in grey-market booze that was meant for sacramental use only.
Prohibition WAS a good time for Coke. But it’s not like the world suddenly stopped drinking. Actually, Coke was a great mixer, for it helped kill the taste of some truly wretched moonshine that was sold as fine liquor in those days.
My grandfather owned a bar in Garfield, New Jersey that never closed during Prohibition- NEVER! My guess is that Southerners figured out a way to keep the stuff around.
Speaking of Prohibition, I remember when most of DeKalb (except for DeKalb in Atlanta) was dry. You had to drive to Manuels for a bar beer or to a package store near the East Lake Marta station to buy beer. Being a good Catholic boy, I NEVER DID THAT SORT OF STUFF but there were plenty of my friends who would hitchhike to the beer store and try to get one of the men, who always seemed to be hanging out in front of the store, to buy the stuff.
Its hard to believe now that 35 plus years ago, this area was as dry as a summer day. Times have changed!
Thanks DM for recent postings on a variety of history topics…refreshing indeed!
Prohibition was a good example of what happens when people are denied access to substances they wish to injest. The Federal or State Government has no right to tell someone what they can or cannot injest into their own body. When they outlawed alcohol many people begin smoking marijuana more frequently as it was legal at the time. The black market for liquor exploded and the organized crime organizations made a killing and crime went through the roof. There was an all out war in the streets amongst competing mobsters who sold illegal liquor. The people demanded liquor and despite the fact that it was illegal they got it and murders were rampant in most US cities. Sound familiar? Marijuana needs to be legalized and taken out of the hands of organized criminal groups. Infact all drugs should be legalized or atleast decriminialized because you will never make human beings stop using a substance they wish to. We have spent trillions of our tax dollars to fight the so called “War on Drugs” and guess what? We’re losing and badly. All of the billions of dollars the American public spends on drugs every year could go to things that we need in THIS COUNTRY. But it isn’t. it’s going to MEXICO. We have people in prison, locked in a cage like an animal for smoking a joint. It is absolutely ridiculous. Take the drugs out of the hands of criminals, regulate it, and use the money for rehabs and education etc. Crime would drop dramatically and billions would stay in OUR COUNTRY!
One of my favorite prohibition stories was when Atlanta only allowed beer (ie no liquor by the drink) but the site of the Henry Grady Hotel (where the Westin Peachtree is now) was leased from the state after the governors mansion moved to Ansley Park and had some perfectly legal loophole to serve. I have a feeling those Decatur Street saloons figured out some way to serve liquor back then too
Great article! Thanks