Drinking whiskey and gin in the United States in the 1940s


Although alcohol is as much a part of the ordinary history of the United States as coffee, or doughnuts, it's still a touchy subject, as it should be. I've lived long enough to know that people's lives can be ruined by alcohol. So I'm going to try to just look, and try to avoid judgement, here in this blog post. This won't be easy, so bear with me.

I found this billboard on the Duke University site ROAD (Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions) and it's nothing special, it's just typical. And specifically, it's from 1949, and somewhere near Atlantic City, New Jersey, so it's the United States sixteen years after the repeal of Prohibition. Prohibition, by the way, made alcohol (including beer, wines, and spirits) an illegal drug in the United States from 1920 to 1933. It was called a "noble experiment", that failed.


I'm no expert on whiskey and gin, but this billboard seems be sending a clear message to gin drinkers - it says "High Proof Gin". It may have had a noble flavor, but I doubt it. It was very potent!

Selling alcohol has always been a big business. During Prohibition most of that money went to people like Al Capone, but before then, and nowadays, it supports business, who pay taxes, and most people who aren't drinkers just turn a blind eye. In my lifetime drunk driving has become a serious crime, but most high-end restaurants serve liquor, and most people drive to these places. Drunk driving tickets are also big business, along with the increased rates that insurance companies can charge for someone who has a DUI (Driving Under the Influence).

As a history adventurer, and a technology person, I see a future with self-driving cars and the end of drunk driving. As for the effects of alcohol drunk at home, with its effects on health, and families, it looks like that will never change. The U.S. tried to solve the problem with laws, and it really made no difference.
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