A Brief History of Prohibition and How It Shaped American Drinking

On January 17, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect, and the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages became illegal across the country. What followed was thirteen years of unintended consequences, creative lawbreaking, and a fundamental reshaping of how Americans drink.

How We Got There

The temperance movement had been building for nearly a century before Prohibition became law. Religious groups, women's organizations, and progressive reformers argued that alcohol was the root cause of poverty, domestic violence, and social decay. The Anti-Saloon League, one of the most effective political pressure groups in American history, pushed state by state until they had enough support for a constitutional amendment.

The arguments were not entirely wrong. Saloon culture in the late nineteenth century was genuinely problematic. Saloons were often controlled by political machines, served as fronts for gambling and prostitution, and contributed to real social harm. But Prohibition's solution — banning all alcohol — was a sledgehammer applied to a problem that needed a scalpel.

The Speakeasy Era

Prohibition did not stop Americans from drinking. It stopped them from drinking legally. An entire underground economy emerged overnight. Speakeasies, secret bars hidden behind unmarked doors and false storefronts, proliferated in every major city. Estimates suggest there were more speakeasies in New York City during Prohibition than there had been legal bars before it.

The quality of alcohol plummeted. Without regulation, bootleg spirits were often dangerous. Methanol poisoning killed thousands. Bathtub gin — spirits redistilled in home stills — was harsh and unpredictable. This is where cocktail culture became essential. Bartenders developed recipes specifically to mask the taste of bad spirits.

The Bee's Knees Was Born

The Bee's Knees cocktail is a direct product of Prohibition. The combination of honey syrup and fresh lemon juice was designed to make bootleg gin palatable. The name itself was period slang meaning the best of the best, an ironic compliment for a drink born out of necessity.

Other Prohibition-era cocktails followed the same logic. The Sidecar used lemon and orange liqueur to smooth rough brandy. The Last Word used chartreuse and lime to balance dubious gin. Many of the classic cocktails we drink today exist because someone needed to make bad booze drinkable.

The Aftermath

Prohibition was repealed on December 5, 1933, with the Twenty-First Amendment. But the damage to American drinking culture lasted decades. An entire generation of bartenders had left the profession. Many of the best had emigrated to Europe, Cuba, and Mexico, taking their expertise with them.

The post-Prohibition era saw a simplification of American cocktails. Complex pre-Prohibition recipes were forgotten. Vodka, which required less bartending skill to mix, rose to dominance. The cocktail dark ages lasted roughly from the 1950s through the 1990s.

It was not until the craft cocktail revival of the early 2000s that bartenders began rediscovering pre-Prohibition recipes and techniques. The Bee's Knees, the Last Word, and dozens of other forgotten classics were resurrected and reintroduced to a new generation.

Prohibition lasted thirteen years. Its effects on American drinking culture lasted a century. We are still recovering, one well-made cocktail at a time.