The Repeal Of Prohibition And The Historic Revelry That Followed
When Prohibition finally ended with the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933, America kicked off the biggest impromptu party the country had ever seen.
A woman poses on top of barrels of beer as Prohibition ends in 1933.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images A crowd of people comes out to Times Square to celebrate the repeal of the 18th Amendment.New York. December 1933.
Tom Watson/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images The first legal case of beer arrives at the White House.Washington, D.C. April 1933.
New York Times Co./Hulton Archive/Getty Images Workers at a brewery unload thousands of crates of beer, getting ready for the end of Prohibition.New York. April, 1933.
Keystone/Getty Images The patrons at a bar in New York hold up their glasses, toasting the death of the 18th Amendment.New York. December 1933.
Imagno/Getty Images Crowds of people swarm outside of the Belmont Grill, waiting for its doors to open so that they can taste their first legal drop of liquor in 13 years.Los Angeles. December 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library Men clean a huge beer tank in preparation for the end of Prohibition.New York. 1933.
Imagno/Getty Images A huge group lines up outside the Board of Health offices in New York for licenses to sell alcohol shortly after the repeal of Prohibition.April 14, 1933.
Keystone/Getty Images Men and women celebrate the repeal of Prohibition by rolling a barrel of alcohol down the street and toasting the 18th Amendment's demise.Chicago. December 5, 1933.
Chicago History Museum/Getty Images Workers unload cases of liquor from marble blocks, which were used to conceal alcohol, on a pier following the repeal of Prohibition.Brooklyn. October 31, 1933.
New York Times Co./Getty Images Arthur Ernstahl, the first person to bring liquor into the U.S legally after the repeal of the 18th Amendment, declares two bottles of cognac to customs inspector Leo Shettel after arriving in New York on December 5, 1933, the day of the repeal.New York Times Co./Hulton Archive/Getty Images Customers buy beer at a makeshift bar on the street after the repeal of prohibition.Location unspecified. November 10, 1933.
FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images A crowd salutes the camera, holding up their drinks at a newly-opened bar.Location and date not specified. 1933.
Flickr/Kent Wang Actress Jean Harlow christens the first legal bottle of beer at midnight in Los Angeles.Los Angeles. April 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library The protests that brought beer back. Workers take to the streets, calling for the end of Prohibition.New York. 1930.
Imagno/Getty Images The patrons at the Senator Hotel fill the room with music and dancing.Los Angeles. November 1933.
California State Library A worker at the Eastside Brewery gets the shipment ready for the first day of legal liquor sales.Los Angeles. 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library The first truck load of beer to leave New York exits the Jacob Rupperts Brewery.New York. 1933.
Bettmann/Getty Images A car covered in slogans joins in a parade calling for the end of the 18th Amendment.Sonoma County, California. 1932.
Sonoma Library An employee at the Eastside Brewery clears the cobwebs off of a wagon full of liquor. For the past 13 years, they've only been able to sell soft drinks and non-alcoholic near-beers.Los Angeles. 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library Three girls hold up their drinks, celebrating the repeal of Prohibition.Los Angeles. November 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library Bartenders at Sloppy Joe's bar pour a round of drinks on the house for their smiling customers.Chicago. 1933.
American Stock/Getty Images A woman shows off the sign on the back wheel of her car, calling for the repeal of the 18th Amendment.January 1927.
Library of Congress People celebrate at the Club Airport Gardens, holding up the skeleton of the 18th Amendment.Los Angeles. November 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library A crowd of people at the College Inn celebrate the end of Prohibition.Los Angeles. November 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library A worker carries a keg of beer into the Malamute Saloon, getting ready for the crowds that will come flooding in. The sign outside his store advertises that they are the "First to Open in 13 Years."Los Angeles. 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library The first patrons at the Senator Hotel hold up their drinks.Los Angeles. November 1933.
California State Library Bartenders serve the first customers at the Malamute Saloon.Los Angeles. 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library A man carries a case of whiskey over his shoulder.Date and location not specified.
Library of Congress A crowd of people at the Belmont Grill holds up their glasses and toast to their first legal drink in 13 years. The Belmont Grill's slogan, celebrating the end of Prohibition, was, "Happy days are here again."Los Angeles. December 1933.
Los Angeles Public Library
Inside The Repeal Of Prohibition — And The Wild Celebrations That Followed View GalleryThe end of Prohibition was an incredible, inimitable moment. President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed that the 21st Amendment had been ratified, nullifying the 18th Amendment, on December 5, 1933. Jubilant crowds gathered as liquor flowed through the streets of the United States. People crawled out from the dark of the speakeasies and out into the open, raising their glass and drinking a toast to their first legal drop of alcohol in 13 years.
Since Jan. 17, 1920, the 18th Amendment had made it illegal — except for those with medical or legal exemptions — to drink or sell any beverages containing at least 0.5 percent alcohol by volume anywhere in the United States.
The law did accomplish much for public health. Rates of cirrhosis of the liver dropped under prohibition by between 10 and 20 percent, according to the National Bureau for Economic Research. Alcoholic psychosis likewise declined sharply from 10.1 per 100,000 to 4.7, and arrests for the violence and disorderly conduct that often comes with drunkenness went down by 50 percent.
The law also led to lawlessness, however. A new wave of criminals met the new need for illicit alcohol and plagued the country for more than a decade — including, most infamously, Al Capone.
But in 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt finally brought the end of Prohibition — which he had consistently called a "complete and tragic failure." But Roosevelt didn't necessarily free Americans to drink legally again for the reasons you may think.
At that time, America had been raked over the coals by the Great Depression. People were starving and struggling and, when the people had nothing, the government had nothing to tax. Roosevelt's administration brought alcohol back, hoping to bring money back into the government via taxation and thus kickstart the economy.
Nevertheless, the end of Prohibition didn't come all at once, but instead in stages. First, on March 22, 1933, it became legal to sell drinks that had four percent alcohol by volume or less. Americans could drink again and celebrated accordingly – even if it was only light beers and wines.
In Los Angeles, none other than the original "Blonde Bombshell" of Hollywood, Jean Harlow christened the first step of the end of Prohibition at the Eastside Brewery. Flanked by other Tinseltown royalty, Harlow broke a bottle of beer over the first truckload to roll out legally.
Then, on Dec. 5, 1933, the 18th Amendment was repealed entirely and people across the nation could truly drink freely. Roosevelt urged Americans to use moderation after he signed the 21st Amendment into law.
"I trust in the good sense of the American people," Roosevelt said, "that they will not bring upon themselves the curse of excessive use of intoxicating liquors, to the detriment of health, morals and social integrity."
However, jubilation spread across America, with parties spilling out from bars and into the streets in Chicago and New York, and even at the White House. Breweries had been cleaning their tanks, bartenders had been brushing up on their cocktails, and Americans had been lining up to get bottles of their own — or get their very own liquor licenses in advance.
People came out in droves, forming massive crowds outside breweries and bars. Inside, people danced, sang, and raised their glasses in a toast to the death of the 18th Amendment. Fortunately, many of these celebrations in 1933 were captured by photographers of their day. Enjoy these 30 photos of the repeal of prohibition.
Next, have a look at legendary photographer Weegee's images from the New York City gang wars of the post-Prohibition era. Then, allow this map to show you all the world's countries, ranked by alcohol consumption.
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