So this ep is titled “A Nation of Scofflaws”. Why? Well, apparently The Boston Globe ran a contest to come up with a new term for people who disobeyed Prohibition. And two people tied because they came up with the same term, “scofflaws”. I plan on bringing this back for other lawbreakers. Watch out, jaywalkers!
Part Two’s Tidbits:
- Coca Cola stock more than doubled during Prohibition.
- Oops: a lot of people who voted for the 18th amendment thought that it wouldn’t include beer and wine. Ha ha, said the Volstead Act!
- When Roy Olmstead was on the Seattle police force he was known as The Baby Lieutenant but then was fired for bootlegging. When he began doing that full time, he earned the name, “The Good Bootlegger,” because he only hustled quality liquor. Or he just liked having nicknames.
- New York City was the Wettest City. Best of all, Prohibition scored this segment with some awesome wah-wah trumpet music.
- George Remus was a defense attorney in Chicago and defended bootleggers. He went into the biz by buying up distilleries and selling it to pharmacies for medicine. However, shipments would get “lost” i.e. Remus’ men would hijack his own cargo and then sell it.
- Paul Giamatti was the voice of Remus. I wonder if the other Famous Voice Overs were jealous that Giamatti was getting so much play this episode. “I have two Oscars and all he has is an Emmy!” So OK, I wonder if Tom Hanks was jealous…
- More on Remus: he paid off a government guy so that he wouldn’t ever go to jail. However, gov guy killed himself when his corruption was found out. Remus goes to jail. That’s OK, he says, because I trust my wife with everything I have. Cut to: wife and guy from Prohibition force hooking up and cleaning Remus out. Remus gets out, promptly shoots his wife and turns himself in. Golly.
- Winston Churchill thought Prohibition was “an affront to the whole history of mankind.”
- Mabel Walker Willebrandt was chosen to prosecute Prohibiton cases. Around here, she is known as Mabel Two Dubs. Not really but considering the subject, I just assume that there is a nickname somewhere.
- Yuck: bootleggers “extended” liquor with rubbing alcohol, wood grain alcohol, paint thinner, etc.
- Al Capone! No wait, so we’re not going full force Capone this episode? OK. But I did learn that he lived at 7244 S. Prairie Avenue in Chicago.
- Oh boy. The KKK were Prohibitionists.
- Fake milkmen delivered alcohol.
- Brewers got crafty and sold malt syrup which could be made into beer at home.
- Wiretaps! Tapper tried to bribe Olmstead and he said, “Scram!” (paraphrase) So tapper showed the Prohibition department and Olmstead was arrested. Eventually, Olmstead was pardoned because his right to privacy was violated. And I bet that was the end of it and the government never listened in on our private conversations ever again.
- A brief mention of Frank Costello, Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano and other guys probably played by Richard Grieco in Mobsters.
Is there anything else I learned from Prohibition, Part Two? Some moonshine names were Goat Whiskey and Jack Ass Brandy. No thanks. And apparently, there’s more Capone on Part Three. I will get to see how much The Untouchables lied to me.
