Thanks to Kristen for forwarding the article<\/i><\/p>\n
Today marks the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. That’s right. 75 years and one day ago, it was illegal to drink a beer. Sad times indeed! The following snippet is from a piece on CNN regarding this special day (and where is the petition to declare today a National holiday?):<\/p>\n
Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been president barely a month, having been sworn in on March 4 after a landslide victory the previous November. Sweeping into power with him was an anti-Prohibition majority in Congress known as “the wets.”<\/p>\n
Together they fulfilled their first campaign promise with passage of the Cullen-Harrison Act, which increased the amount of alcohol allowed in beverages from 0.5 percent to a discernible 3.2 percent by weight.<\/p>\n
When the act took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET April 7, trucks and carriages burst out of brewery gates bearing cases and barrels of beer for a parched republic — at least for the District of Columbia and the 20 states whose laws permitted it. Several breweries dispatched cases directly to the White House and the Capitol.<\/p>\n
According to the Brewers Association, more than 1.5 million barrels were snapped up in the first 24 hours.<\/p>\n
Full-strength beer and hard liquor were still a few months away. National Prohibition wasn’t repealed until the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on December 5. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
For the full article, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Below is the announcement made by August Busch Jr. on the morning of the repeal.<\/p>\n