You know how some people “live blog” a broadcast or “live tweet” an event? Well, I “live note-took” Part One of PBS’s new documentary, Prohibition. I am now “live typing them up” and will “live post” them as soon as I’m done.
Prohibition is the latest from Ken Burns (co-created with Lynn Novick, the Bernie Taupin to Burns’ Elton John, I’m assuming). This is, if you can believe it, my first Ken Burns doc. I’ve seen many a parody of a Ken Burns’ doc but have yet to see the real thing until last night. So behold, my random notes that may make no sense out of context but for some reason, I felt the need to jot down:
- The Mayflower had beer!
- I wonder if historians get crazy excited when Burns announces a new doc. I think I’ll write a script about the murderous, sleazy rivalry between two competing historians vying for one spot on a Burns doc. (My idea! I call dibs!)
- Peter Coyote is narrating. Oh yeah, famous people read letters and stuff. Let’s play Name That Voice Over.
- Jeremy Irons!
- Teetotal comes from the phrase “Capital T Total Abstinence”. (Wikipedia says there are other possible origins so take this with a grain of salt. In fact, take what Wikipedia says with a grain of salt as well. I would even question what it says about “grain of salt”.)
- Why are old portrait photos so damn creepy? Hardly anyone smiles and if they do, it’s more like an evil grimace.
- I think that was Frances Sternhagen.
- Damn, they just called out Maine as being the drunkiest state. Needless to say, Maine was the first to prohibit alcohol.
- Tom Hanks!
- Bootleggers got their name because they would hide liquor in their boots. Makes sense.
- I love that they showed a picture with a horse-drawn carriage and put in a whinny sound effect. Thanks, Prohibition.
- The female-led Temperance Societies fought against saloons and alcohol. They also worked for suffrage, equal pay, kindergarten for all kids, and raising the sexual consent from 10 to 16. Ten?!?
- So one of the Temperance groups, the WCTU, went a little nutty with their forced alcohol abstinence education and tried to scare kids by suggesting that alcohol may cause spontaneous combustion. Gives new meaning to Fire Water, am I right, folks?
- Patricia Clarkson!
- You could get your mail and cash your paycheck at saloons.
- There was an Alderman and bar owner in Chicago named Mike “Hinky Dink” Kenna. No explanation given on the Hinky Dink issue.
- Wait, is that Patricia Clarkson again now doing a southern accent?
- Fun fact: Carrie Nation’s mother thought she was Elizabeth I! As for Carrie, she vandalized and destroyed saloons with her hatchet. Later she “played” the vaudville circuit. The things we do for money. Just think, Carrie Nation would be on Dancing With The Stars if she was still around.
- Lithgow!
- Wow, they just listed horse racing and murdering in the same vice list.
- Ack, I just fell asleep. I took a beginner’s belly dancing class earlier and was exhausted. No judgments.
- Once the Federal Income Tax was voted in, the government didn’t have to rely as much on the taxes from alcohol so it paved the way for the 18th Amendment to be introduced.
- It was “Wet Cities Vs Dry Counties”. I wonder if the Wet Cities were in current Blue States and the Dry Counties were in the Red ones. Hmmm…
- Sam Waterston!
- When we entered World War I, we renamed Sauerkraut as Liberty Cabbage. So we’ve always been like this!
- On January 16, 1919, the 18th Amendment banning alcohol was ratified. It went into effect one year later.
- Now how did I miss Campbell Scott’s voice? My 19-year-old self would be severely disappointed in me…
To sum up, what did I learn from Prohibition, Part One? My celebrity voice identifying ability is average at best. And so is my spotty note taking. Please don’t rely on this for your AP American History exam.
