The Rise Of Speakeasies During The Prohibition In New York City

Alcohol in America
Speakeasies during the Prohibition in New York City On January 16th, 1919 the Eighteenth Amendment was passed. This prohibited the transportation, sale, and production of liquor within the borders of the United States. This act had many unintended consequences: one of them being the rise of speakeasies mainly in major cities. With the evaporation of the big saloon came the birth of speakeasies, mostly hole-in-the-wall establishments that served illegal liquor. Many of these were basement apartments or storefronts with painted windows. An interesting note about speakeasies was that for every legitimate saloon that was closed as a result of prohibition, half a dozen speakeasies were opened. Among other illegal ways,
speakeasies served as one of the many ways people obtained illegal alcohol during the 1920’s and early 1930’s. People felt it was their patriotic duty to drink, because they felt, by making alcohol illegal, the government was taking their liberty away. With this civil duty fueling the fire of intolerance during this period, speakeasies flourished. It was estimated that by the mid-1920’s that there were over 100,000 speakeasies in New York City alone. Patrons in New York City during this time said that there could be a glass of liquor bought in any building on 52nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, if you knew the password, of course. It was the job of many a Federal agent to find these speakeasies and shut them down during Prohibition (however, they did take bribes).
Although speakeasies were illegal and dangerous to operate, there were many benefits to the owners that took these risks. One of the benefits was that a speakeasy could net its owner a large sum of cash. However, speakeasies were extremely expensive to operate. Of the almost 1400 dollars spent to operate a speakeasy in a month, over a third of it was spent to keep Federal Prohibition Agents, police officers, and the New York District Attorney from shutting the speakeasy down. There was an alternative to these payments, however, but they involved far more cunning and secrecy. Some speakeasies had an elaborate and lavish system for concealing the evidence whenever there was a raid. At Manhattan’s “21” Club there were four alarm buttons at various points in the vestibules. If a raid prevented one of them from being pushed, the doorman could reach for another. There were also five separate liquor caches that could only be reached through a secret door, and the switches were instantly short circuited whenever an alarm button was pressed. These safety features were an extremely expensive alternative to paying off public officials, but were necessary to keep the big money flowing into the speakeasies. Americans largely viewed Prohibition as an idiotic law, and this view created an enormous shift in American society, especially in New York.
There was a cynicism that developed about the idealistic goals of the American government became a permanent presence in the American consciousness. With this in mind it is not hard to imagine why society found it completely acceptable to thumb its nose at the government and drink during Prohibition. This led to corruption being accepted. Because society believed that the government was authoritarian and wrong in its decision to make Prohibition a law, corruption became the buffer that society looked to as the polar opposite of the government. As the speakeasies rose to power, they brought the bootlegger to power with it. In New York City, there were vast possibilities for sudden wealth. These possibilities turned disorganized crime into organized crime. It created a union between Irish, Italian, and Jewish gangsters that was known as The Mob. Most had immigrated to New York from countries where the government and the police were considered a permanent enemy. Many of these immigrants had developed great survival skills while living on the margins of society and also had highly developed talents for conspiracy. Prohibition had turned the American government and police into the enemy, so these immigrants flourished in a society where the government was not trusted. Prohibition gave these people a chance to make a lot of money.
Their crime, supplying liquor to people who wanted it, was not considered a crime by most New Yorkers. In fact, the bootlegger became a sort of romantic hero to New Yorkers during Prohibition, equivalent to the Western outlaw hero of the Wild West. The bootlegger had courage, defiance, intelligence, and a swagger that was unmistakable. It is easy to see why many a man was lured into this life of time during the roaring twenties. The difference between the speakeasies in New York City in the 1920’s and the saloons that flourished before prohibition were numerous.
The boardwalks, swinging doors, spittoons, and mustache towels of the saloon era were gone. Speakeasies disguised themselves in multiple creative ways. Before a thirsty person could cross the illegal threshold, a password, specific handshake, or secret knock was required. Prohibition also changed the music that went along with drinking. At a typical saloon, there was the tinkle of a piano and dance hall girls. Speakeasies, however, ushered in the era of Jazz. Because there was stiff competition from numerous establishments, many of the speakeasies provided music for their patrons and hundreds of jazz musicians were able to find work. Another thing that was different about speakeasies was the inclusion of women. Prior to the amendment, women drank very little, and even if they did partake once in a while, it was only a bit of wine or sherry. Six months after Prohibition became a law in 1920, women received the right to vote. Women of the 1920’s began to come into their own and wanted to enjoy their newfound freedoms that they had fought so hard to earn. The “Jazz age” signified the loosening up of morals, which was the exact opposite of what Prohibition advocates had intended. With this loosening up came the “flapper”, an American woman who wore short skirts, had bobbed hair, and had powdered faces with bright red lips. These
women weren’t afraid to drink, smoke, or dance to jazz music. The influx of women really changed the dynamic of speakeasies compared to saloons. Young people were soon drawn to speakeasies, and they began to drink in large groups with vigor. Another difference between speakeasies in New York City and the prior saloons can be found in looking at the type of alcohol consumed in each establishment. In saloons, most men drank beer or simply shots of liquor. During the roaring twenties, the cocktail was born. In speakeasies alcohol began to be mixed with soft drinks, sugar-water, and fruit juices. Because cocktails made the taste of liquor more pleasant, millions of people who didn’t like the taste of beer, wine, or hard liquors turned to these fruity cocktails.
Speakeasies also broke social barriers that the saloons of the past never touched. Housewives, large business owners, blue-collar workers, corrupted police chiefs, and mayors began to befriend each other in their quest to drink and avoid the law. Another phenomenon that began in the speakeasies was drinking to the point of intoxication as an acceptable social pastime. Before prohibition, a social experience was dining at restaurants and socializing with members of similar social standings. During Prohibition, however, it became popular to go out to speakeasies to drink to intoxication with members of every class. New York City speakeasies and saloons did share something in common. Prostitution and gambling thrived in both. Speakeasies did, however, introduce a new component to their patrons: drugs. Many people who would never have come into contact with these substances found a new source of entertainment in the lenient atmosphere of such speakeasies. Narcotics and marijuana were soon used in abundance throughout these establishments. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932, he backed the repeal of Prohibition. On December 5, 1933 the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution officially repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, and Prohibition came to an end. When Prohibition ended, the word “saloon” had been erased from the American vocabulary and new terms like “cocktail lounge” now described alcoholic establishments. Prohibition may have failed, but it forever changed the alcohol industry in New York City and will be forever engrained in the history of the United States of America.

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