Here's a clip from 1932 on the banning of alcohol in America, the so-called prohibition era.
The clip begins with men hurling bottles of alcohol at a wall. The bottles shatter and spray foam seemingly everywhere. A pile of broken bottles and glass shards lie on the ground.
People discuss the pros and cons of prohibition.
The first man describes liquor traffic as so personally, morally, socially, economically, and industrially antisocial that it will never be acceptable.
Another man describes how the past 12 years of prohibition have been a total failure—there had been bribery, corruption, bootlegging, nonobservance of law, alcohol deaths, and increases in drunkenness.
A third man describes prohibition as an aspiration to protect and conserve human life. He says that this aspiration shall keep prohibition in the constitution.
Video cuts to beer barrels rolling down a ramp, then a bartender using beer taps to fill beer mugs. The bartender lines the foamy beer mugs on a bar counter, then slides them down the counter to men who grab them.
The clip ends with a table lined with wine bottles. One of the people standing behind the table says “wine will be the next thing,” then mentions repealing the 18th amendment, the amendment that banned alcohol.
