Page 12 - August 2019 Final

THE ROARING TWENTIES COMES TO WAL

By Carolyn Winters, Social Committee Chair
The Roaring ’20s comes to WAL on hol consumption, so US citizens cre- Cabaret emerged in the high-quality
Saturday, September 7 at 6 p.m. in ated stockpiles of beer, wine and al- speakeasies of New York City and
the Terrace Lounge! Don your flap- cohol. High-end nightclubs and bars gave jazz musicians such as Duke
per dresses and pinstripe suits at the closed and more “mom and pop” es- Ellington and Bessie Smith new ven-
Watergate Speakeasy featuring the tablishments opened. ues to perform.
Vaughan Ambrose Quartet and a din-
ner from Aldo’s Italian Kitchen. You How did speakeasies impact Amer- Some speakeasies became places
might ask, “What’s this speakeasy ican culture? where criminal—and sometimes vio-
business all about?” Well, I’ve re- Prohibition forever shifted social life lent—behavior occurred according to
searched some interesting facts to tell in America. Many of the speakeasies Legends of America. Organized
you about that era in our history. were owned by Italian- and Chinese- crime came to prominence during the
Americans. These owners targeted Prohibition era. Bootlegging and sale
What’s a Speakeasy? women through serving cocktails at of illegal alcoholic beverages became
Speakeasies, also known as a blind the table and created a demand for widespread. Al Capone was the most
pig or a gin joint according to several their cuisine according to table- notorious gangster who made his for-
online sources, were unlicensed sa- tune selling illegal alcohol. Mobmu-
loons during the time of Prohibition. seum.org reports that by 1927, Ca-
The name came about due to the pone made on average $60 million
practice of speaking quietly about per year in “sales.”
such places in public or while in them
so that the police or non-members Prohibition agent Elliot Ness and the
wouldn’t be alarmed according to Untouchables raided speakeasies,
travelcostamesa.com. Prohibition was stills and breweries. These FBI
a nationwide ban on the sale and im- agents, dubbed the G-Men, located
porting of alcoholic beverages that the speakeasies by tailing the trucks
lasted from January 17, 1920 with the returning empty beer barrels to Al
th
ratification of the 18 Amendment to Capone’s breweries.
st
December 5, 1933 when the 21
Amendment abolished it. Member- The Great Depression, the brutality of
ship cards were required to enter organized crime, the large number of
many speakeasies. Strangers were unemployed and a need to tax reve-
admitted only if they knew the own- nue following the market crash on
er, gave the right password or could Be sure to buy your “Membership Card” Wall street led to ending Prohibition.
produce the card of a trusted refer- from the Activities Office to attend this event! Things would never be the same after
ence. Prohibition ended.
spoon.com. Italian-American speak-
What Led to Prohibition? easy owners, for instance, sparked the Event Details
People banded together across faith, demand for Italian food by serving it Buy your “Membership Cards” from
politics, and gender lines to bring with wine according to mobmuse- the Activities Office ($45 ticket price,
about the end of the sale or produc- um.org. those who attended the Will Rogers
tion of alcohol. The Anti-Saloon show get $10 off), find the secret
League is a non-partisan movement More women, having recently gar- “door” near the Terrace Lounge and
that believed Prohibition would fix nered the right to vote, took the new- step into the 1920s with your fancy
the increasing societal problems in found freedoms and began to enter outfits at the Speakeasy event on Sat-
America according to the Anti- such establishments. This brought urday, September 7 at 6 p.m. with the
Saloon League Website. They about what we now know as dating, Arts & Entertainment and Social
frowned upon the heavy drinking cul- and speakeasies allowed young sin- Committees.
ture that came along with the saloons. gles to meet without parental supervi-
sion. Hope you enjoyed learning about this
The law did not outright outlaw alco- aspect of the Roaring ’20s!

Page 12 Wheel August 2019