I could never be Carrie Nation because I should not be allowed sharp objects. Also, I did note when I saw this picture that I had a striking resemblance to her when I was dressed for the cemetery tour in La Crosse as Nanny Colwell.
I was going to write that never was the last time that I had an alcoholic beverage three days in a row as I had the last three nights. Yes, my husband and I toasted Prohibition while we watched the Ken Burns series on that strange experiment in legislating morality from the 1920s.
That was not exactly true. I used an alcoholic beverage to deal with a side effect of chemotherapy that I wrote about in a blog post entitled President Taft & Me. I won’t go into details here, but you can read about it at http://shessel.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/president-taft-me.
And there was one other youthful indiscretion that I will write about in the future. But let me say two things about that indiscretion – first it arguably is the very best story of my life, although I was a jerk. Second, “Kids, do not try this at home.” I certainly didn’t. I’m not recommending what I did. But that was 40+ years ago.
When I noted on Facebook that I was watching the Burns series with drinks in hand there were a wide range of comments. Some were amused and wondered why I was drinking cranberry juice with vodka, dubbing it a health drink. Son Michael noted “no slide, just er.” Well put, Michael. He understands what the previously-mentioned blog post was all about.
But there were also a couple of comments from folks who were more positive about Prohibition. One suggested that she always admired Carrie Nation, the axe-carrying woman whose smashing of saloons in Kansas made her a national figure. So fearsome to bar owners, some saloons put up a sign that said everyone was welcome – except Carrie.
Another woman wrote, “I have great sympathy for the women who had to deal with drunken husbands, no money, children, hardship and heart ache. I think I would have joined the temperance movement. How many lives have been ruined by drunks – who kill themselves, kill others by drunken driving, commit drunken crimes, spend money on drink instead of food and clothing for their children … Prohibition would be all right with me.”
Alcohol is a problem. There is no question about that. La Crosse has been a brewery town since its beginning. At one point, it was said to have more bars per capita than any other city in the country.
Abusive behavior is never justified. But you can be abusive and neglectful without alcohol. It is a mitigating factor but not the direct cause.
I have always been fascinated by Prohibition. I think it was a noble experiment that simply did not work. It helped to create crime syndicates, i.e. Al Capone. And people – including women – actually drank more after Prohibition came into existence.
I find it fascinating because of the hypocrisy of some folks insisting on sobriety for others while imbibing themselves. Doctors gave out prescriptions for alcohol to cure whatever ailed you and religious leaders of all faiths found a greater need to use alcohol in their rituals.
I certainly spent a lot of hours as a kid watching The Untouchables, which incidentally was not mentioned in the Ken Burns series. Neither was Elliot Ness, who was glorified in his anti-alcohol efforts for the federal government in The Untouchables.
I recently read Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, whose author, Daniel Okrent, spoke often in the Ken Burns series. What was fascinating in the book is the relationship between Prohibition, women getting the right to vote, the federal income tax and the Great Depression.
Prohibition would not have happened without women getting the vote, Okrent wrote, so Prohibitionists gave them suffrage. A federal income tax was necessary to replace the revenue lost from the end of beer and liquor sales, so it was enacted. And the need for jobs in the Great Depression brought the end of Prohibition.
Incidentally, gangsters loved Prohibition. They were making way too much money to want it appealed.
And let me add one other little story. When our mother turned 80, we took a joint trip to Colorado with our families and Mom.
Michael was then a little guy who developed fascination with all sorts of things that he then would recite back to whoever was in ear shout. He and I watched a two-hour special on the History Channel about Prohibition just before the trip. One day in Colorado we took two cars up a mountain – Michael rode with Uncle Andy and his family.
When we got out of our cars, Andy turned to me grabbed my arm and said something like he never wanted to hear another word about Prohibition as long as he lived.
Michael had this comment on my Facebook post about the Ken Burns series: “Andrew Robert Hessel, expect a full report.”
So Andy, are you taking calls from Michael or should he just come out and visit you?
The Prohibition series is now over, but I have another documentary in hand – a two hour program about the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on their children.
I might need a drink to watch that one, too.
Lessons From Life 