Prohibition, Moonshining and NASCAR - I'm no camel, I want bear!
What do you think of when you hear the word moonshine? moonshine? Wooden huts in the mountains and illegal whiskey distilleries? If it's the latter, you're in the right place.​
Moonshining has been romanticized in many ways in movies and series, in stories and even in documentaries. It's all about the Prohibition of America. The period when it was forbidden to sell and drink liquor. Because demand was still high, illegal distilleries were run in the forests in the mountains of the southern states. You know the images of the shacks with a lot of smoke, glass jars, men with beards and sometimes without teeth, young boys with a lot of bravado and fast cars. ​ With these cars, in an ingenious way hid the drink in the cars and brought it to the town or city. Because it was illegal and cost the state money, agents were deployed to catch these guys. The downside was that the police cars were too slow and the boys drove well and had little to lose.
Whiskey was made in the distilleries. The liquid equivalent of a kick in the butt. Slightly exotic because of the atmosphere of illegality and a lot of risk. Today, it is fashionable to capitalize on this romance and companies are popping up everywhere that want to market legal whiskey as moonshine. Anyone who has known or knows the real moonshine, and I don't mean a weak infusion made in a bathtub, has a soft spot for the moonshiners. These men won't be joining this new hype anytime soon. There's no way a nice pot at a liquor store can match the honest country moonshine, it lacks the soul. In addition, a store-bought whiskey can never be moonshine! It's legal....
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Moonshine got its name from the fact that the distilleries were built and run by moonlight, away from prying eyes and the law. However, the name originated in Britain where it was a verb referring to a job performed in the evening.
From the moment the pilgrims got off the boat, there was already heating at home. Often the drink was made from corn. This all went great, even George Washington and Thomas Jefferson did it. It wasn't a way to earn extra money or a hobby for the early moonshiners, it was a way to survive. If you had a bad year as a farmer, you could still make a drink from the maize. If they had to pay taxes, they couldn't make ends meet. The tax inspectors were often attacked and tarred and feathered. This resulted in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. 13,000 soldiers were deployed and captured the moonshiners. Around 1860, the government tried to collect taxes to pay for the Civil War. The fights got more grim and often the origin of many legends.
Public sentiment turned against the moonshiners. Until the American government in 1919 decided that alcohol could no longer be produced, imported and sold. Drinking was not prohibited... This created all kinds of creative ways to let the drink flow. It couldn't get any better for the moonshiners, there was no more legal alcohol!
Moonshine, an illegal home-brewed liquor, usually whiskey, was distilled in the woods behind the houses and kept generations of moonshiners and bootleggers evading the law. You did moonshining to evade the permits, the law and the taxes. The immediate disadvantage was that there was no control. They were not known for working very cleanly, an insect would sometimes fall into the water and cornmeal mix, they did not wear hairnets etc. And because there was now more demand than supply, everything was done to make the profit increase, sugar-based drink was introduced, it was diluted, etc.
In addition to the illegal drinking moonshine was also a gamble. Bad moonshine can even make you blind or even die. The first few cl contains a high percentage of methanol, this can be done in very low amounts cause blindness, drink more than your body can convert and you could die. Some moonshiners simply sold everything that was brewed and others replaced their copper pipes with a car radiator that even allowed glycol to get into the mix. In the 1960s, there was even a government infomercial warning about the poison in moonshine.
The reason it was illegal was because of the taxes. For every 750 ml 40% drink is required the government $2.14, the state government has an own percentage. Alaska even charges $13 dollars for a gallon. This makes it miss man up to $25 a gallon. Bringing beer and wine only a fraction of this. Lost taxes could be high. In order to legally fire the stuff, white whiskey, hooch, rotgut, corn liquor or white lightnin', you must have proofs and permits from the government. To do this you must be able to afford the start-up costs for a distillery that meets government requirements, which can run into the millions.
With Prohibition, organized crime flourished as 'speakeasies' opened in every city. These secret taverns had hidden doors, passwords and escape routes in case the 'Feds' invaded. When it comes to crime today, you can't ignore Al Capone. Chicago mobster John Torria took Al Capone under his wing and eventually Capone took over Torrio's organization. This lifted the brothels, speakeasies, breweries and distilleries to a higher level. At its peak, his organization was making over $100 million a year. Finally, the mayor removed him from his city, he no longer wanted to cooperate with him. Despite the efforts of Eliot Ness and his team, Al was only caught on tax evasion for which he was imprisoned on Alcatraz. He was released due to health reasons and died in 1947 of cardiac arrest.
Despite the fact that Prohibition was suspended in 1933, the brewers were still not spared. Due to an assistant's error, "and beer" was omitted from the text that making wine for one's own use was legal again. It wasn't until 1978 that President Carter signed a bill that passed tax exemption for beer. Some states and counties banned alcohol until the 1970s. The heyday of moonshining was over by then. Many believe that the end of the 2nd world war was over. Most of the boys went into service and after the war went to do something more legal with their talents.
Today, purchasing for legal distilleries is so affordable that despite the tax, the moonshiners' liquor is no longer cheaper. So it doesn't matter much to the consumer unless he wants to screw the government over....
So you can use a cupboard in your house to make beer or wine, up to 757 liters per year for a 2-person household, but you so can't make moonshine on pain of 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Some states allow it, but you must apply for a permit and pay $500 a year in tax. Because of this, you can still find moonshine (more like homebrew) in a liquor store. You can also distil alcohol for use as fuel with a license from the ATF. E85 also contains 85% alcohol, so you can drive your car on it, just like the T Ford used to be able to.
It also brought and brings a lot. A raid on Tennessee yielded 1,000 gallon jugs, $50,000 street value. $12.50 a litre. Moonshiners are rarely busted for illegal liquor production, but almost always for tax evasion. They are also more often suspected of money laundering. Also because the latest allegations result in 15 years in prison and 5 years for tax evasion. Their houses and other possessions are almost always seized so that their fines can be paid. In Franklin County, Virginia, the moonshiners sold so much booze between 1930 and 1935 that they would have brought in $5.5 million in taxes by 1920 numbers. After investigation, the IRS arrested 34 men, including 19 moonshiners, and 9 officials. Security money was paid to the police and the sheriff kept an eye on everything. Because of the big money and power, small bootleggers were even eliminated. 31 men were eventually found guilty and only given a suspended sentence to a maximum of 2 years in prison. This had little impact on trade and did not outweigh revenues.
How do you make moonshine?
Making moonshine whiskey works by distillation. It starts with yeast that breaks down on a mix of water and cornmeal to which sugar is sometimes added. The mass is brought to a boil in a cauldron and the resulting alcohol was evaporated at 78 degrees Celsius after which the steam was collected so that it condensed to liquid, usually through a number of copper pipes. The alcohol percentage was determined by shaking the jar and looking at the bubbles and the faster they popped, the bigger and faster, the more alcohol. 75% was not unusual.
Making moonshine also takes less time and attention than wine and beer. It does not have to mature, only the water and flour mix has to ferment for a few days, after which it is a job of a few hours. It should be as clear as water after that. It often tastes like corn or cleaning alcohol. Some mix it with fruit flavors to make it tastier. That was better than the tests with fertilizer, thinner, chlorine and other things, many people died from that. Moonshine was very strong depending on how many times it passed through the distillery. The pot or pitcher was marked with an X. If it had XXX on it, it was strong stuff, up to 75%.
Bootleggers
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Drink runners are called 'bootleggers' in English. This name came from colonial times when the product was hidden in the riding boots against the leg. In our time, it is the people who bring the product from the distillery to the customer.
Oakland Speedway
Short piece of history about moonshining, Nascar and muscle cars
Racing and NASCAR
Suppose you live in the countryside during the Great Depression. The harvest has failed and there is little work. All you have is your car. You have worked hours on it, there is now as much blood as oil on the engine. That car is your world, your only way out to a better life. The car drives well, but you are an even better driver. You occasionally win a race in the area and you stand out to some of the people who have jobs for you. Despite the fact that the reclamation is over, many villages in the south are still dry. Selling liquor is not allowed, so the suppliers of legal drinks also stayed away. It was still profitable to pay no taxes and provide moonshine. So your job will be delivering drinks to the dry villages. You have to evade the police or if that doesn't work they will drive out. Exactly what you and your car are made for! You prefer to drive at night and without lights, then they wouldn't see you coming. Sometimes someone had already driven ahead of you to see if the route was clear. The so-called 'whiskey cars' were often modified to deceive the police. Switches to disable the brake lights so they went into a corner too hard or from behind. The suspension was also modified to improve road holding, especially with a few hundred liters of drink on board. The car did not sink, making it less noticeable. Adjustments to the loading areas so that nothing was found during a search no longer worked, so avoiding the 'Feds' became increasingly important.
They were often young boys, sometimes even 14 years old. They worked on the farm with their families and were used to handling machines and cars. They had a mix of street smart, nerves and local knowledge. Junior Johnson said he had a light and siren. When he approached the police and there was a blockade, he turned on the lamp and siren, which made it thought that an agent was coming and the blockage was removed so that he can continue driving. Charlie Mincey recalls, “You paid the moonshiner $2.50 a gallon and sold it in town for $3.50 a gallon. I often took 200 gallons with me. My first car was a Ford that I bought for $575 and had the engine modified. You ran off at every headlight in the rearview mirror. Sometimes when I was bored I would have the police called and when they came I would race off with them after me'.
The officers weren't from the area and didn't know their cars as well as the bootleggers. These agents were tax inspectors of the internal revenue service and not drivers.
Nascar fan? You owe its existence to the moonshiners and their bootleggers. During Prohibition, the drink runners learned that it was necessary to drive out the tax inspectors. This resulted in tuned cars and of course little competitions to brag about. Large V8 engines were the norm. The drivers wanted to make them faster and faster so they were drilled, honed and fitted with turbos or superchargers. Especially the strong Cadillac engines were popular, just like later the Chevrolet 350 blocks. That is why you also see Ford hot rods with Chevy engines.
In the small villages of the 1930s, 40s and 50s there was little entertainment, unless you find poverty entertainment. Most had no cinema and driving to another city cost time and money. Also, there were no sports games, baseball and football didn't come south until later. What they did have was space, fast cars and ditto drivers and smart farmers who used fields for races. For a small fee one could come and watch the races, the racers earned a small extra cent and a lot of extra bravado.
Bootlegger races became organized races in the 1940s. On 12/17/47, Big Bill France brought some racers, car owners, mechanics and promoters to the Streamline hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida to set the rules for the game. As a result, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was founded. The ever winner of the first NASCAR race, Red Byron, won at Daytona Beach on 2/15/1948. The week before, he had used his car for a run! The goal was to race standard cars, the same cars people had come to it with. From that moment on there was a separation between the whiskey cars and the NASCAR cars. The cars had to meet certain requirements. When they had to evade the IRS, there were no rules. As NASCAR became more popular, bootlegging declined. Whiskeycar racers now had a legal and lucrative outlet for their talents. In the meantime, the legal drink suppliers had now also arrived in the south. Although people like to drink a beer when watching a sport, I don't know any other sport that has arisen from alcohol. 1-0 to Moonshine!
The Prohibition of 1920 - 1933
The idea of outlawing booze gained momentum around 1830. It was believed that booze had a lot to do with madness, poverty, and other evils. These were ideas of the Temperance Movement. The number of people who certainly sold 'demon rum' among other things grew exponentially. Hundreds of thousands of people scattered the word and early temperance laws began to take shape.
In 1838 Massachusetts decided to limit the sale of liquor in large quantities so that those with little money could no longer buy anything. In 1846, Maine became the first state to outlaw alcohol. As a result, other cities and municipalities were also crossed the line. Around 1850, the First Reform Era started with the idea of changing things in certain social areas, namely slavery. The anti-alcohol movement followed, the Irish and German immigrants now became the focus. Most of the successes came in the west and south, city dwellers were not as interested in giving up alcohol as the admirers in the bible belt were. The civil war caused interest to decline, but because after the war drink consumption increased considerably, interest was rekindled.
The Prohibition Party, formed in 1869, was tired of the evasive behavior of Republicans and Democrats on alcohol laws. The party believed that banning alcohol would end social and political corruption. The Women's Christian Temperance Union was founded in 1873 by 70 women from Hillsboro, Ohio. They went to pray in a pub after there was an anti-demonstration in their church. Eventually they got members from all over the nation.
The 18th Amendment
The groups that were in favor had some reasons for it. They found that there was a link between drinking and anti-social behavior such as child abuse and domestic violence. Henry Ford also had problems with alcohol, which he felt had a negative impact on productivity. Anti-German sentiment also played a role during the 1st World War. Many breweries were run by German immigrants. The sentiment was that the grain would be better used to feed the soldiers than to produce alcohol.
Despite the efforts of anti-prohibition organizations, the 18th Amendment was passed on January 16, 1919. The Volstead Act, more commonly known as the National Prohibition Act, prohibited the manufacture, sale, export, import and transportation of liquor, except for personal possession and drinking. So if your wine cellar was well stocked, you wouldn't have any problems, at least if you drank quietly. It also provided for the amount of fines, exceptions (medication and religion) and the alcohol percentages that were qualified as 'intoxicating'. Anything over 0.5% was over the limit.
Enforcement Issues and the 21st Amendment
Passing a law is one thing, enforcing it is another. Illegal alcohol couriers, such as drug couriers today, were common. They could charge a lot of money for their services to smuggle alcohol into the country
The demand for $10,000 bills soared around 1926. This would be a sign of large transactions. European rum fleets were also successful. Small boats sailed from shore to boats in international waters and returned with copious amounts of liquor. Smuggling from Canada was also easy.
Corruption in politics was rampant, the pockets of politicians were well stocked when condoning all illegal transactions.
Before prohibition, there were 15,000 legal cafes in America. By 1927 there were 30,000 speakeasies and more than 100,000 people were brewing their liquor at home.
Undercover agents were also barely able to do their job. In the case of arrests, hardly anyone could subsequently be convicted because of corruption within the police apparatus. There were also too few people, given the size of the industry. At one point, there were 7,000 arrests and just 17 convictions in New York City. Many states were tired of it. By 1925, 6 states had passed laws banning police from investigating violations. Cities in the Midwest and Northeast no longer enforced the law at all. New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia said in the 1940s that it was not known whether prohibition was good or bad, because it had never been enforced, he said.
The prohibition also caused a lot of economic misery. Many breweries went bankrupt or switched to the production of ice cream, alcohol-free beer and corn syrup. The start of the Great Depression changed the outlook on prohibition. Why were the criminals allowed to profit? The state lost revenue.
The numbers said a lot, per 100,000 people died in 1929 10.7 men, compared to 29.5 in 1911 of liver cirrhosis. On the other hand, more than 50,000 people have died from contaminated drink, which would not have happened otherwise. Alcohol consumption, as far as it was measurable, decreased by 30 to 50 percent. There were also more alcoholics and cafes (illegal or otherwise) than before the prohibition.
In 1932, the 21st Amendment was passed, the only law ever to restore rights that have been repealed by another law. After 3/4 of the states passed the law, it was introduced nationwide. Former opponents even joined in the celebrations that arose because they too realized that the disadvantages of alcohol did not outweigh the disadvantages of the prohibition.
The states then had to set their own rules. In most states 21 was the drinking age, in some 18. National rules were not introduced until 1984. Even in these times there are still counties and villages that are 'dry'. In some, you are not even allowed to have a drink in your car to take home!
The law enforcement officers
The agents charged with tracking down moonshiners and bootleggers were the tax inspectors of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US version of our tax authorities.
In 1862 the Department of the Treasury established the Internal Revenue department to collect taxes, including high import taxes on imported liquor and tobacco. In 1862, income tax was also levied for the first time. 3% on income of $800 or more. This was to finance the civil war. In the end, 21% of the costs were covered by taxes. The law was temporary and eventually expired. By 1863, the department was hiring 3 detectives. Tax evasion had really taken off and they had to investigate (alcohol) tax evasion.
It was not until 1913 that a new tax law was passed, the 16th Amendment, which gave the government the power to levy taxes on income. Only people with an income of $3,000 or more had to file a tax return (in 2011 that is $68,612). In the first year no money was collected, partly due to a shortage of personnel. In 1919 the declarations of 1917 were still being processed. From 1918 the name Internal Revenue Service was used. Not yet official, because that only happened in 1953. Outwardly, the name Bureau of Internal Revenue was used.
The Prohibition Act is passed on January 19, 1919. The law also included fines and prison sentences for violations of the law. The responsibility for enforcement was delegated to the head of the Internal Revenue. On January 20, 1920, the country was 'drained'.
It had little effect on America's thirst and crime soared. The 'Prohibition Unit' was established they became known and famous for tackling mobsters like Al Capone. Ao by Eliot Ness. Ness had assembled a team to take on Capone. Capone has tried several times to bribe Ness and his team. He did not accept that, so his team was given the name 'The Untouchables'. In the end, Capone was caught on tax evasion and was sentenced to 11 years in prison 2 years before the prohibition ended.
On July 1, 1919, the IRS establishes a law enforcement division, the IRS Criminal Investigation division, IRS-CI. It was founded because of the need to investigate rumors of tax evasion. They can investigate (criminal) violations of people who do not comply with the tax rules. They were known for the financial research talents of their Intelligence Unit. They were the only division of the IRS allowed to carry guns. They became known in the 1930s for the conviction of public enemy no. 1, Al Capone, for tax evasion and also for his role in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping case. In 1978 the Intelligence Unit was renamed Criminal Investigation. Since its inception, the conviction rate never been below 90%, unprecedented in law enforcement.
In 1927 the Prohibition Unit became a separate department, the 'Bureau of Prohibition'. At its peak it employed 4,300 people. The prohibition made collecting and controlling taxes less important and even disappeared. They no longer protected the income but switched to tackling crime. They went after the gangsters. By 1930, the new mission began to run afoul of the philosophy of voluntarily complying with the law. The unit was transferred to the Department of Justice and it remained there until 1933.
When prohibition was lifted in December 1933, the Alcoholic Beverage Unit, the successor to the Bureau of Prohibition, was also abolished. Some of the 'old' employees rejoined the 'US Department of the Treasury' and there they fell under the responsibility of the IRS. The new unit was called the Alcohol Tax Unit (ATU). Special Agent Eliot Ness and some members of The Untouchables who have already entered the Bureau of Prohibition had worked at the time of prohibition also transferred to the ATU.
Enforcing the new law was difficult. Corrupt officials could not be changed overnight. Public tolerance of the illegal liquor trade left uninterested prosecutions, juries and judges. Crime organizations continued with their illegal practices. The ATU rolled up a lot in the early months of their founding. Citizens' support grew and the institution changed as a result of the collapse of a number of large organisations of the judges. However, the criminals got smarter, but so did the cops.
Gangs fought over the distilleries and the distribution networks. Machine guns remained the most commonly used weapons. Gangsters kill each other on street corners, in clubs and restaurants. Innocent people often got involved as well. The citizens who were initially impressed by the glamorous gangsters distanced themselves from the violence. The government passed a law requiring all importers and manufacturers to obtain a license, pay taxes and keep records of all gangster weapons. This became the National Firearms Act of 1934. This was followed in 1938 by the Federal Firearms Act whereby dealers of weapons and ammunition had to be licensed and also had to pay taxes. The ATU took responsibility for compliance. The ATU was also given additional duties including drafting requirements for labels, manufacturing standards, advertising control, and industry control oversight.
In 1951, the Bureau of Internal Revenue became the Internal Revenue Service. The ATU incorporated the Miscellaneous Tax Unit to comply with tobacco tax laws. In 1952 this resulted in the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division.
Prosecuting moonshiners was dangerous work. Between 1934 and the 1960s, 17 people were killed and hundreds injured in shootings, attacks and accidents. During the prohibition there were many times more. During the 1950s there was a 'Preventative Raw Material Program' that allowed inspectors to arrest moonshiners if they possessed large amounts of sugar. A parallel program urged sellers not to sell large quantities of products to suspect persons.
In the years that followed, the requirements of the gun laws became increasingly strict. Including the murder of JFK and RFK and also that of Martin Luther King. New laws now also added missions that had to do with explosives. In 1972 it became an independent agency. The investigations into crimes related to weapons and explosives became more important than alcohol. The knowledge and research techniques that were used to comply with the alcohol laws were now also used to prosecute criminals who violated the Weapons Act, Explosives Act or Tobacco Act. Due to the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in 2001, the bureau no longer reports to the Treasury but to the Department of Justice.
Adopting the Early Prohibition Agents like Eliot Ness started a continuous line of descendants all the way to today's ATF Special Agent. The bureau is now fully called: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco. Firearms and Explosives.
Pitsburgh 1922
The end of Prohibition in 1933 is celebrated! Probably with alcohol...
A cop with proof of a confiscated stock of sugar
