. However, hard liquor was stronger and could be easily smuggled in small amounts, and it’s popularity rose. Another dilemma brought on by prohibition was that illegal products had no standards. Deaths from drinking denatured and poisoned alcohol rose from 1,064 in 1920 to 4,154 in 1925. Although one would think that prohibition would reduce the availability of alcohol, it was actually very easy to acquire. The bootlegging business was so immense, customers could easily come by alcohol on most city streets. Replacing saloons, were speakeasies. Hidden by basement and back door entrances, speakeasies operated under a “members only” basis. Bootleggers, having very profitable businesses, either illegally imported liquor, stole it from government warehouses, or make their own (Bowen 170). Many home products were sold to those customers who wanted small quantities of alcohol. Vine-Glo, a type of grape juice, was sold with clear-cut instructions for “preventing” the product from fermenting into wine. Wort, a sort of half-brewed beer, was legally produced as it contained no alcohol whatsoever; it could be fully brewed into beer when yeast was added. Alcohol could be prescribed by a doctor under the pretense that it was to be used for some legitimate medical treatment. Most doctors, however were willing to prescribe alcohol for any and Curry 5all ailments; soon more than a million gallons a year were being sold for medicinal uses (Altman 18). By 1929, America was becoming disenchanted with prohibition. It was seldom enforced, and when it was, there was usually a massive outburst in response. However, anti-prohibitionists needed something to feed the fire, to cause others to unite for the common cause and act. They found what they needed in the stock market crash in October of ‘29; the economy took a dive and prohibition was blamed. The government had lost vital tax dollars that had previously come from alcohol...
