Loch Fyne Whiskies - Scotch Whisky Review - Edition 18

I have reached the 1920s in the history of Scotch whisky I have been writing over the past two years. The era of Prohibition, which ‘banned the manufacture, sale, transportation or exportation of intoxicating liquors within the United States, and the importion of same’.

As I am sure you know, the flow of liquor – especially Scotch – into the U.S. continued unabated, mainly via Canada and the Caribbean. I was surprised, however, to discover just how readily available alcohol was in many states - certainly if the following report is to be believed. It was written by Mr. F. Redfern, a rep for Johnnie Walker, who spent three months in the States in late 1928 or early 1929.

As soon as he arrived at his hotel in New York, he noticed “quite a number of quietly dressed and somewhat sad-looking individuals arriving and departing, all carrying suit cases. On inquiry I was told that they were bringing in supplies of liquor to the guests. Nobody appeared to take any notice of them…The chambermaid in attendance on my room informed me that practically all the guests in the hotel had liquor in their bedrooms. I found during my stay in the States that this was general”.

While in New York he visited “a large number” of speakeasies, where “you could get all the liquor you wanted”, in spite of the 1920 boast of the city’s Chief Revenue Agent, Colonel Daniel Porter, that “the penalties for violation are so drastic, that the people of New York will not attempt to violate it [i.e. the Volstead Act]”.

Redfern writes: “There are upwards of ten thousand of these in New York, all paying their ‘rake off’ to the police and the authorities charged with the enforcement of the law. These speakeasies vary in character from mere drinking dens to palatially appointed private houses…Now and again these places are raided by the authorities just to advertise in the newspapers their determination to vindicate the majesty of the law. When the fuss is over, the same place re-opens and everything goes on as before….It rejoices the heart of a bootlegger to be fined. His name and address are then broadcasted in the newspapers, and he is engulfed in a new wave of prosperity”

“Everywhere I went people sang the praises of the honest bootlegger. It was clear that none enjoyed more respect than he, or stood higher in the social hierarchy. I visited many restaurants in New York where whisky is openly served. In private houses where I dined with friends not even remotely connected with our Trade, it was the custom to consume cocktails innumerable before the meal….”

While he was in Washington his hotel was “invaded by hundreds of men attending a great trade conference. Most of these men had their private sitting rooms, where they dispensed ‘Scotch’ to friend and foe alike. These congresses are very popular. Some people call them ‘souses’.”

Many hotel rooms displayed notices informing guests that: “The proprietors of this hotel have given an undertaking to co-operate with the Authorities charged with the enforcement of the National Prohibition Law”. Yet you could still order bottles of Scotch or Rye from the ‘Captain of the Bell Boys’. Notices reading “Gentlemen are requested to open their medicine in the bathroom” were also common. Here would be discovered a ‘crown cork opener’ and a corkscrew, both chained to the wall. “Hotel keepers soon found themselves compelled to defend themselves in this way after the ‘dry’ law was enacted, as guests were known to wreck whole suites of bedroom furniture in desperate efforts to remove a closure”.

He travelled hundreds of miles by motor-car around the country and “every chauffeur I engaged had bootlegged liquor at some time or other, and undertook to procure me anything I wanted”. Yet such traffic was not without danger: “An American friend with two quarts of Scotch in his motor car was held up by two Prohibition officers, who pushed automatics into his stomach whilst they secured his ‘hooch’. These officers sat up carousing far into the night, whilst my friend languished in his cell. Next morning, in Court, the officers were challenged by my friend to produce the bottles. Alas! They could not, since, as my friend wittily remarked, ‘they had drunk the evidence’ “.

“In one town I visited they had just sent the principal Prohibition officer to gaol for five years for making ‘moonshine’ in the mountains. In another state I went to, a poor wretch was lying in prison serving a sentence for life for his third offence under the ‘dry’ law – the offence of ‘being in possession of one pint of whisky’”.

On the other hand, in some towns open drinking was tolerated – “I consumed beer with my lunch, along with hundreds of other good citizens, including policemen” – and each town he visited boasted that it was the “wettest in the States”.

“On my last day in New York I walked into the principal book store and said I was prepared to buy all the books dealing with Prohibition they had to sell. They had none. ‘Phohibition!’, said the salesman to me, ‘Prohibition! Why there ain’t no sech thing.’ Next day I got on board the largest ship in the world, owned by the USA Government. It was bone dry, not merely until the Statue of Liberty was passed but, after much fuss, scandal and debate in Congress, throughout the voyage…I had no need to worry. You could have filled the swimming bath of that ship with the champagne and other liquors which were supplied openly to the passengers by the ‘wine steward’.”

Ironically, it was Prohibition which gave Americans a taste for Scotch. After the Act was repealed by F.D. Rooseveldt in 1933, the demand was insatiable, and it was quickly met by Scotch whisky companies which had quietly prepared their agency networks during the dry years, through the good work of unsung heroes like Mr. F. Refern.


		F. REDFERN WHISKY HERO Charles MacLean I have reached the 1920s in the history of Scotch whisky I have been writing over the past two years. The era of Prohibition, which ‘banned the manufacture, sale, transportation or exportation of intoxicating liquors within the United States, and the importion of same’. As I am sure you know, the flow of liquor – especially Scotch – into the U.S. continued unabated, mainly via Canada and the Caribbean. I was surprised, however, to discover just how readily available alcohol was in many states - certainly if the following report is to be believed. It was written by Mr. F. Redfern, a rep for Johnnie Walker, who spent three months in the States in late 1928 or early 1929. As soon as he arrived at his hotel in New York, he noticed “quite a number of quietly dressed and somewhat sad-looking individuals arriving and departing, all carrying suit cases. On inquiry I was told that they were bringing in supplies of liquor to the guests. Nobody appeared to take any notice of them…The chambermaid in attendance on my room informed me that practically all the guests in the hotel had liquor in their bedrooms. I found during my stay in the States that this was general”. While in New York he visited “a large number” of speakeasies, where “you could get all the liquor you wanted”, in spite of the 1920 boast of the city’s Chief Revenue Agent, Colonel Daniel Porter, that “the penalties for violation are so drastic, that the people of New York will not attempt to violate it [i.e. the Volstead Act]”. Redfern writes: “There are upwards of ten thousand of these in New York, all paying their ‘rake off’ to the police and the authorities charged with the enforcement of the law. These speakeasies vary in character from mere drinking dens to palatially appointed private houses…Now and again these places are raided by the authorities just to advertise in the newspapers their determination to vindicate the majesty of the law. When the fuss is over, the same place re-opens and everything goes on as before….It rejoices the heart of a bootlegger to be fined. His name and address are then broadcasted in the newspapers, and he is engulfed in a new wave of prosperity” “Everywhere I went people sang the praises of the honest bootlegger. It was clear that none enjoyed more respect than he, or stood higher in the social hierarchy. I visited many restaurants in New York where whisky is openly served. In private houses where I dined with friends not even remotely connected with our Trade, it was the custom to consume cocktails innumerable before the meal….” While he was in Washington his hotel was “invaded by hundreds of men attending a great trade conference. Most of these men had their private sitting rooms, where they dispensed ‘Scotch’ to friend and foe alike. These congresses are very popular. Some people call them ‘souses’.” Many hotel rooms displayed notices informing guests that: “The proprietors of this hotel have given an undertaking to co-operate with the Authorities charged with the enforcement of the National Prohibition Law”. Yet you could still order bottles of Scotch or Rye from the ‘Captain of the Bell Boys’. Notices reading “Gentlemen are requested to open their medicine in the bathroom” were also common. Here would be discovered a ‘crown cork opener’ and a corkscrew, both chained to the wall. “Hotel keepers soon found themselves compelled to defend themselves in this way after the ‘dry’ law was enacted, as guests were known to wreck whole suites of bedroom furniture in desperate efforts to remove a closure”. He travelled hundreds of miles by motor-car around the country and “every chauffeur I engaged had bootlegged liquor at some time or other, and undertook to procure me anything I wanted”. Yet such traffic was not without danger: “An American friend with two quarts of Scotch in his motor car was held up by two Prohibition officers, who pushed automatics into his stomach whilst they secured his ‘hooch’. These officers sat up carousing far into the night, whilst my friend languished in his cell. Next morning, in Court, the officers were challenged by my friend to produce the bottles. Alas! They could not, since, as my friend wittily remarked, ‘they had drunk the evidence’ “. “In one town I visited they had just sent the principal Prohibition officer to gaol for five years for making ‘moonshine’ in the mountains. In another state I went to, a poor wretch was lying in prison serving a sentence for life for his third offence under the ‘dry’ law – the offence of ‘being in possession of one pint of whisky’”. On the other hand, in some towns open drinking was tolerated – “I consumed beer with my lunch, along with hundreds of other good citizens, including policemen” – and each town he visited boasted that it was the “wettest in the States”. “On my last day in New York I walked into the principal book store and said I was prepared to buy all the books dealing with Prohibition they had to sell. They had none. ‘Phohibition!’, said the salesman to me, ‘Prohibition! Why there ain’t no sech thing.’ Next day I got on board the largest ship in the world, owned by the USA Government. It was bone dry, not merely until the Statue of Liberty was passed but, after much fuss, scandal and debate in Congress, throughout the voyage…I had no need to worry. You could have filled the swimming bath of that ship with the champagne and other liquors which were supplied openly to the passengers by the ‘wine steward’.” Ironically, it was Prohibition which gave Americans a taste for Scotch. After the Act was repealed by F.D. Rooseveldt in 1933, the demand was insatiable, and it was quickly met by Scotch whisky companies which had quietly prepared their agency networks during the dry years, through the good work of unsung heroes like Mr. F. Refern.