Lulu: Hello again and welcome back to America under the Microscope. Hello, James.

James: Hello Lulu. Now, I wanna ask you a question. Today, I kind of wanna talk about a time in American history. But before we do, I have a question. Has there ever been a time in Chinese history that you know of that they've banned alcohol?

Lulu: Banned alcohol. As you know China has a big drinking culture now and we had a long history of making alcohol as far as I think there are periods. But the last time they've tried to ban or control alcohol intake consumption, if I remember correctly, it was in Qing dynasty, I don't think contemporary China, they had a lot of alcohol bans.

James: I do not know that. Well in honor of the show being called happy hour, I'd like to talk about an era in American history which we call prohibition.

Lulu: Prohibition. That was the period when you guys wanted to ban alcohol or banned alcohol.

James: And now I wanted to re-ban it. It was a constitutional amendment that banned alcohol. 1’’

Lulu: Prohibition, the word itself means to forbid.

James: Yes, means forbid, not allowed, control.

Lulu: And when was that?

James: Prohibition was between 1920 and 1933, so 13-year period.

Lulu: Between two world wars.

James: Yes, after World War I, but before World War II.

Lulu: When you said ban, how complete was the ban? Was it just banning people from selling it or like import, export?

James: So the actual law banned importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic drinks in the United States.

Lulu: That's everything. If you ban importation, transportation and sale, then how do people get alcohol?

James: Well, there were ways, but what it did not do technically is banned drinking alcohol.

Lulu: So if you drank alcohol during that period in your home, you are not breaking any laws.

James: That is technically correct. Also, if you bought alcohol, so, buying the alcohol wasn't illegal, it was selling the alcohol that was illegal.

Lulu: Yeah, but you have to have a seller to have a buyer. We're gonna get into that. But why? Alcohol Was it because alcohol was seen as a very bad thing?

James: Yes, it was. So, at the time, there were many social movements that felt alcohol was the cause of many social problems, such as crime, such as fathers leaving behind families and so on. And so these movements, they pushed the government to create this ban. As we know from history, they were successful.

Lulu: When you said social movements, who started these? Were the people who, I'm assuming people who were victims of the problems related to alcohol?

James: One of the biggest movements was a women's movement because they felt they were victims of alcohol. And they had slogans like, if your lips touch alcohol, they will never touch mine.

Lulu: I think that's a very powerful slogan. But these social movements, obviously, the government approved of their message, hence the ban. But what about the general reception from the society? Did they think it was a good idea or did they not like it?

James: A lot of Americans did feel that alcohol was a problem, and it was a change to our constitution, which means it had to have a majority to get passed.

Lulu: So majority of the population obviously agreed for alcohol to be banned.

James: And this period of time did lead to a decrease in alcohol related illness, such as liver problems and so on. So, it did have an effect.

Lulu: But then if it was so good, it was bringing crime down, it was bringing all these social problems to an end. And it was reducing alcohol related illness. Then how did it end and why did it end?

James: There are two big reasons. The first one is the great depression.

Lulu: So that was when the market crashed.

James: So the market crashed. And we also had other agricultural problems at the same time that made it really bad. And so in general, when people are having a bad time...

Lulu: They wanted to drink, they want to resort to alcohol.

James: And they were, these people became angry. So the idea of prohibition became much less popular. The other one and this one is a lot more straightforward. Before the government taxed alcohol. Ban alcohol lost tax.

Lulu: The government needed more money since due to the great depression. So now they need to increase that or regain that part of tax revenue.

James: It's actually a lot of also local taxes, so they banned it, so these local states cities lost this money when they banned it and they were hurting cause you need tax money to pay for roads.

Lulu: But even during the prohibition, people were still resourceful. If they wanted to drink, they found other ways, didn't they?

James: Right, there should be no surprise. Rich people, they just stockpiled beforehand.

Lulu: And what about the working class and normal, the general public?

James: When there is a demand, there's always somebody to fill this demand and people still wanted to drink. Some people created what we call speakeasys.

Lulu: Speakeasys. For those of you who are fans and followers of the show, you should not be surprised by this word. This is actually our brands and we call it LHH speakeasy and academy. But it's one word, it's not two. It's not like speak easy, but it's speakeasy, one word. It's like a hidden bar.

James: It is a hidden bar. And the term speakeasy has to do with the fact you needed a password or pass phrase to get in. Because these bars were hidden in regular businesses.

Lulu: Because technically they were not allowed to sell alcohol, even though people were allowed to drink alcohol.

James: Right. So they would be hidden in like barbershops, medicine shops. So you would go in, let's say it's in a barbershop, you'd go in and you'd say something like...

Lulu: I need a haircut.

James: It would be a password. So I'd need like a 210 haircut. Then they would lead you into the secret area where the bar was.

Lulu: It's the reason we adopted this as a brand name. It's because I thought it was fun. It's like one of those things that people found secret pleasure in. So I thought it was, since we are called happy hour as well. So I thought that was an apt name. And plus, it doubles on speak easy, so training your speaking skills. But nowadays even though prohibition was long gone, has been gone for so many years, it seems that the whole idea of speakeasy of hidden bars still very popular. It is actually more popular nowadays.

James: Yeah. Because they had style, the music, the atmosphere, and if it works, people like to recreate it.

Lulu: And then also that sense of mystery, sense of hidden away like a hidden gem somewhere.

James: I've been to speakeasys in Beijing. And it's a lot of fun going to this just normal looking place. And you push a button, the wall moves, and you see this beautifully decorated bar with the nice Jazz music. It's very nice atmosphere.

Lulu: Actually, you can find them everywhere in major cities. I've been to speakeasies in all around Europe actually, and also in Beijing. So if you're interested, maybe try a few of those speakeasies, even though it's not the prohibition era anymore, but you can still get the taste, get the whole atmosphere in. So I think we will wrap up talk about prohibition, the basic episode here. And in the advanced episode, let us look at perhaps the darker side of that era and also talk about the lasting effects of that particular period on the whole American psyche.

James: I like the deeper dive into history.

Lulu: We'll see you next time.

James: Bye, everyone.

Lulu: Bye.

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