‘
Twas goodbye Prohibition
And all the through the nation
The whistles were whetted
For potent libations
That’s why we call April 6
NEW BEER’S EVE!
For those of you keeping score at home, these days are not the first time America went nuts.
For 13 long years, the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages was outlawed throughout the land, a disastrous Prohibition that brought us bathtub gin, speakeasies, hip flasks and a permanent class of wealthy, murderous gangsters.
Its repeal in 1933 sparked nationwide celebrations, and the first step was the legal selling of beer on April 7, 1933, making April 6 the eve of a great day, and called New Beer’s Eve.
Legal whiskey returned later that year, but on April 6, thirsty customers filled the nation’s saloons and taverns for New Beer’s Eve and consumed 1.5 million barrels of beer. April 7 was kind of quiet by comparison, as the nation nursed its first collective hangover in 13 years.
•Suggested Activities: Resisting impulses to outlaw the next guy’s fun.