Prohibition in Images
Title
Prohibition in Images
Description
These primary source images give insight into the world of 1920's prohibition and the agents tasked with enforcement.
Collection Items
IRS Agents carrying packages of confiscated liquour
Two agents carry packages of confiscated liquor past two black men
W.A. Green Chief Prohibition Inspector
Photograph of Chief Prohibition Investigator W.A Green. Investigators went beyond traditional policing practices and began to conduct undercover work in order to stop bootlegging rings.
State Directors and Division Chiefs of Prohibition
State directors and division chiefs group photo. Prohibition agents were stationed nation wide in an organized attempt to stop alcohol manufacturing on the local level
Two men standing outdoors with small still, one of them holding up bottle of liquor
Prohibition agents investigating the remains of an illegal alcohol still and the product being manufactured by bootleggers
Remains of a borrowed Stutz touring car after running into a tree at seventy miles an hour, in which the bootlegger driver was killed and fifty gallons of corn liquor was destroyed and confiscated
Prohibition agents were commonly looking to stop illegal interstate alcohol rings. Attempts to stop this trafficking could become dangerous such as in this case. With the driver killed by the impact, agents were left to confiscated the illegal…
Cases of whiskey confiscated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Bureau
Cases of whiskey confiscated by Internal Revenue and Prohibition agents during Prohibition.
Bottles and barrel of confiscated whiskey
Bottles and barrel of confiscated bootlegged whiskey taken by Prohibition Bureau agents
Two men posing with a whiskey still
The Volstead Act primarily concerned the manufacturing and sale of alcohol. Prohibition agent were tasked to focus on illegal distilleries and transportation.
Small group of men dumping wine from barrels into hole in ground
After confiscation Prohibition agents would often destroy the material if not needed for any prosecution.
A Pair of "bootlegs" found in the office of Lincoln C. Andrews
![A Pair of "bootlegs" found in the office of Lincoln C. Andrews](https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/11087/archive/square_thumbnails/6d7de2701fa92432147f9696b25a8ec2.jpg?Expires=1715212800&Signature=j6Sb4srcpCAfMqo%7E9tIPBQzExuc0ke-vxx6xZjCRJKFx%7EJpe%7En%7EarHk-cCNYxJTEFrf6B3qBLqu5o0nJFm6t00zY661ymp9Dmp1EEs9LsokaQcl4nhe%7EtNpmdyUgttHSACiUqDoU6x1w%7E4ated09wUQw%7EY%7EjHvV49uYw3VvpvKWIiAxCeBP3SvCxojVuZOCBv9gjaJ9AxPHvL-HkVBUBqpT5O9vjrHQQLJUUluwR3Ss0F%7E8OJdDAUmuq2NyyZ6P1zLiR-xBH8u7YYy1UFminiIKR7YlcGndT24sGJUyQWXXzvIjidV5UtYI6-4hqrWN9xopqO0qR8AyP3EHfYioBzg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM "A Pair of "bootlegs" found in the office of Lincoln C. Andrews")
The term "Bootleg" came out of the common practice of hiding illegal liquor in leg of the boot to transport the contraband liquid. In this photo Miss Hattie Klawans, clerk in the office of the prohibition czar, wears her new Russian boots which were…