Prohibition; Raids. Detroit. destroying confiscated booze. 2 pix- liquor overflowing from 2nd floor balcony (1 pix is copy). 1 pix - man with axe & large pile of liquor bottles 12-10-29. 1 pix - police at brewery - large vats

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Description:

Streams of confiscated liquor pour out of upper windows of three--story storefront in Detroit during Prohibition. "Illegal liquor was the second biggest business in Detroit at $215 million a year in 1929, just behind automobiles, public opinion was against the liquor ban and no mayor was elected in Detroit who expressed favorable views of prohibition, there were as many as 25,000 blind pigs operating in the Detroit area, people drank everywhere, from speakeasies to private clubs to established restaurants to storefronts, and of course they drank at home, cocktail parties were the rage in society circles, and workmen wanted beer with their lunch or dinner, you could buy a shot from a car in the parking lots of the Hamtramck auto plants or in one of the four hundred 'soft drink parlors' licensed in that city in 1923, open flaunting of the unpopular law was pandemic," from Detroit News article.

Notes:

Collection located at the Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. To schedule an appointment to view the original image, order high resolution copies, or seek permission to use an image, contact the Walter P. Reuther Library Audiovisual Department at reutherreference@wayne.edu., Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University, and This metadata was created by Wayne State University Library system based on original description by the Walter P. Reuther Library

Date Issued:

1929-12-10T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Wayne State University. Libraries and Walter P. Reuther Library

Collection:

Virtual Motor City

Place:

Michigan and Detroit

Subject Topic:

Prohibition and Commercial buildings

Format:

photographs

Rights:

Copyright Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University

URL:

http://digital.library.wayne.edu/item/wayne:vmc16304