Today, pull out the wine cork or unscrew the cap, sip an ardent spirit or open up an ice-cold brewski — responsibly and in  moderation, of course — but celebrate by all means. Yes, tipplers,  sippers, imbibers and connoisseurs of all stripes, this is  your day. For on this day, in 1933 (75 years ago if you’re  counting) a terrible federal law was repealed and Prohibition ended. So, stand up and cheer, run around the room laughing, sit down again we will tell you how Prohibition began, ran its course and, mercifully, ended.

It began, officially, on Jan. 17, 1920 as the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, better known as the Volstead Act. Its interesting and sometimes violent antecedents began, however, even before we were an official nation. From the beginning there was a seething conflict between the pro-whisky folks and the anti-whiskey folks.

 In 1629 the Virginia Colonial Assembly ordered that “Ministers shall not give themselves to excess drinkinge, or riot, or spending their time idylle day or night.”

In 1637 Massachusetts ordered that no person should remain in a tavern “longer than necessary” and at one point tried to ban drinking of “healths.”

Fines for drunken behavior abounded but the government wanted the various taxes involved, so if it were a truce it was an unsteady one. And, according to all the records, there was a lot of drinking and a lot of very bad drunks. Many people, especially women, were vociferous about the evils of whiskey and the adverse effects on family  life.  

 Finally, some official action: In 1735 the colony of Georgia enacted a statute against the importation of “ardent  spirits” and the consumption of beer was encouraged instead. From that point on, many prominent citizens began getting on the “ban wagon,” among them John Adams and Benjamin Rush.

In 1791 taxes were laid upon the cash-strapped distiller farmers in Pennsylvania and it caused a clangorous riot called the Whiskey Rebellion. It required 15,000 soldiers to quell it.

 By the 1800s various temperance movements began to gather steam as a reaction to valid concerns that something had to be done  about conspicuous drunkenness among the working class. Some of the movements  were clerically based; others not. By the mid-1800s several states tried to ban ardent spirits but some were struck down as  unconstitutional.

One of the major forces in the temperance movement was the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement founded in 1874 by Frances E. Willard, who included in her manifesto equality of the sexes and social reform for the working class. Other groups were formed like the National Prohibition party in 1869 and Carrie Nation’s famous Anti-Saloon  League in 1895.

With all this pressure building to a storm, and with many false starts, in 1917 Congress passed a resolution to prohibit the manufacture, sale, transportation or importations of alcoholic beverages and sent it to the states for ratification. It only took one year and a day to get 36 states to go along with the resolution and, on Oct. 28, 1919, the 18th Amendment came into law.             

The amendment worked at first; liquor consumption dropped by 30 percent, arrests for drunkenness fell.  Then came the deluge. There were not enough federal agents to enforce the ban. The courts became overwhelmed with liquor violation charges, especially in Chicago.  

The bootleg trade began in earnest. In 1921, 95,000 illicit distilleries were seized. In 1925 the number jumped to 172,000; by 1930 it was 282,000. In 1921, 34,000 people were arrested and in 1928, 75,000.  Alcoholic beverages were smuggled in from Holland and Belgium by “rum runners.” Liquor was readily smuggled in from Canada. Inventive folks began making potions like bathtub gin.   

The Volstead Act made “criminals” out of a great number of the population with their hollow canes, hip flasks, hollow “books” and assorted other paraphernalia. Racketeering flourished, speakeasies abounded. By 1925 there were at least 30,000 “speaks,” with some estimates at 100,000 in New York City alone. Men and women were eager participants in the wild Jazz Age made famous by flappers and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

On West 52nd St. in New York City, there were dozens of “speaks,” the most famous, of course, the “21” Club founded by Jack Kriendler and Charlie Berns. “21” developed the most inventive measures to fool the Feds. On a signal from the front door, everyone in the club put wine and bottles on the bar to be swept away. A system of levers tripped up glasses and buttes on the back bar, which then tilted — sending the lot crashing down a chute to the New York City’s sewers. 21’s famed wine supply was hidden behind a formidable brick  wall; the only way to open it was to use a long, stiff wire that was prodded into some small holes which then tripped the lock. It’s still there and still a wonder. 

(In the early 1960s, I worked for “21” and one of my on-going assignments was to write features on the club during its heady Prohibition years, but in the 60s, it was the power restaurant of all time with a monumentally great wine list with the who’s who drinking the what’s what.)    

Slowly and steadily, the “wet” forces began to outnumber the “dry” forces and public opinion turned around. The famous columnist of the day, Walter Lippmann, noted, in spite of official reports, “Federal Prohibition is a hopeless  failure.”

The new “wet” strength came forward at the Democratic National Convention in 1932. Franklin Roosevelt had once wooed the “dry” vote; that year he ran on a platform that included the outright repeal of the 18th Amendment with the words, “This convention wants repeal.Your candidate wants repeal. And I am confident that the Unites States of America wants repeal!”

Roosevelt was elected and Congress did a 180 degree turn. The repeal amendment was introduced by Senator Blaine of Wisconsin and approved by the Senate 63-23. The House followed, 289 to 121, to send the 21st Amendment to the States. The ratification process  was quick; the final state ratification was accomplished on Nov. 7, 1933, and Congress officially adapted the amendment on Dec. 5, 1933.

The Wickersham Commission concluded, “There was a  general prevalence of drinking in homes, clubs and hotels throughout the  country. People of wealth, businessmen and professional men and their families and higher paid workingmen and their families were drinking in large numbers in open flouting of the laws … it is aptly said that the drys had their prohibition law and the wets had their liquor.”

Think on that day 75 years ago and raise a glass to celebrate. For without the 21st Amendment, Napa Valley might still be one long fruit orchard and wine writers would not exist!

No snickering, please.