Prohibition Hangover-- Part 5: About Organized Crime and Capone

"Newly hired and poorly trained Prohibition agents, along with local and state police, targeted violators at the margins," McGirr wrote.  "But, they lacked the capacity, and at times the will to go after powerful crime kingpins."

It's simplistic to say Prohibition created organized crime in America, but it fueled a huge expansion as local crime gangs collaborated with those from other regions to establish shipping systems and set prices for boothegged alcohol.  Beneficiaries included Chicago-based Al Capone, who earned tens of millions of dollars annually from bootlegging and speakeasies.  

In the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929, gunmen disguised as polive officers killed seven men from a gang that sought to compete with Capone's empire.

Beyond the ranks of gangsters, legions of Americans were committing or abetting crime.

--CootGang

Prohibition Hangover-- Part 4: Getting Around It at McSorley's and Other Ways

What the statistics don't measure is how extensively Prohibition was flouted.  Bootleggers established vast distribution networks. Makers of moonshine and "bathtub gin" proliferated, sometimes producing fatally tainted liquor.  Determined drinkers concealed their contraband in hip flasks or hollowed out canes.  Maryland refused to pass a law enforcing the Volstead Act.

McSorley's Old Ale House, established in New York in 1854 and still flourishing as one of the city's oldest bars, bever closed during Prohibition.  Ostensibly, it served "bear beer" with permissibly low alcohol content, but in fact produced a strong ale from a makeshift brewery erected in the basement.

 "It wasn't a near beer.  It was McSorley's ale," said the pub's manager, Gregory de la Haba.  "At least once a week, people ask, 'What did we do during Prohibition?'  And my reply, 'We made a ton of money.' "

The federal government, as well as the state and local authorities, spent huge sums on enforcement yet never allocated sufficient resources to do the job effectively.  Bootleggers awash in cash bribed judges, politicians and law enforcement officers to let their operations continue.

--CootDrinkItUp