Delaware Prohibition
Published on 14. June 2021
153 pages
978-1-4396-7277-8 (ISBN)
Description
Prohibition attempted to kill John Barleycorn, the personification of intoxicating drinks, but in Delaware the notice of his death was premature. Government agents tried in vain to stop bootleggers and rumrunners, who fed the speakeasies that quenched the thirst of the people of the First State. Against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties, bootleggers sped up and down the new Du Pont Boulevard, while enforcement agents, such as the Bible-thumping "Three Gun" Wilson, tried in vain to stop them. The stock market crash and the Great Depression ended dry laws and brought about the resurrection of Barleycorn. Local author Michael Morgan recounts the dramatic tales of this unique period of Delaware history.
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Michael Morgan has been writing articles on the history of coastal Delaware for more than three decades. He is the author of the "Delaware Diary" (which appears weekly in the Delaware Coast Press), the Wave and the Salisbury Daily Times and has also published articles in Delaware Beach Life. Morgan is the author of several histories of Delaware and the Delmarva Peninsula, including Hidden History of Lewes, Delmarva's Patty Cannon: The Devil on the Nanticoke and Deadly Storms of the Delmarva Coast, along with other works.
Content
- Intro
- Half Tile
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Preface
- 1. Delaware Goes Dry
- John Barleycorn in Delaware
- Beer Is Liquid Bread in Delaware Saloons
- Clarence True Wilson Fights Alcohol
- The Slow Death of John Barleycorn
- 2. Doctors, Rumrunners and the Klan
- No Booze for Flu
- Bone Dry by 1921
- Smokey Hollow Raid
- By Land and Sea
- Don't Return
- 3. Rise of the Rumrunners
- Rich Hooch Harvest on the Delaware River
- I'm Not So Bad
- Presidential Interlude
- Dragon's Blood for Sale
- Bombarded with Rifle Shots
- Shootout in Wilmington
- 4. The Truth About Prohibition
- Delaware Launches a Counterattack
- Dapper Dan Collins
- Rumrunners Lose a Landmark
- Hijacking the Bootleggers
- Yes, Dear
- 5. Pussyfooting Days Are Gone
- Romanism and Rum
- Bootleg Fraternity
- Look at the Christmas I Could Have Had!
- New Sheriff in Town: Three-Gun Wilson Arrives
- Booze on the Beach
- Last Call
- 6. Happy Days Are Here Again
- The New Delaware
- Epilogue: Bootleg Chickens
- Notes
- Bibliography
- About the Author
