Fellow ridiculous historians, thank you so much for tuning in.

We are returning with a classic episode.

This is about a period in U.S. history that always amazed us.

Noel, you and I talk about this often.

Prohibition doesn't really work for anything.

Yeah, it's kind of like the trisand effect.

You really want people talking about your business?

You should tell them to buzz off.

Yeah, we looked back in 2019 at the National Prohibition Act of the United States. So from 1920 to

1933, the U.S. was technically a dry country because this act made it illegal to manufacture,

sell, or transport alcohol. But there were a lot of loopholes, and they got so ridiculous.

They did, and I'm certain that in this episode, I bring up the classic I Love Lucy episode

where she shills for a company called Vitamita Vegerman that is basically just a bunch of booze.

Well, let's find out together.

Thank you again, folks.

We'll roll the tape.

Ridiculous History is a production of IHeart Radio. The actor vaudeville performer, cowboy, and humorist Will Rogers once famously said that the American people will vote dry so long as they are able to stagger to the polls.

Voting dry, meaning voting against legalized alcohol. Welcome to the show. I'm Ben. My name is, no, that's really funny, Ben. That's a very good little loaded. What do you call it? It's like a pun. A turn of phrase? I mean, yeah. Sort of a double message. It's like a hidden meaning. Voting dry. To me would mean voting sober.

But as long as they can stumble the polls, implying voting drunk, there's a lot going on there. There's a lot of stuff. There's a lot of meaning. We've got to unpack them that that has to do with today's story. Because as we know, voting also has a history of drunkenness. Remember we did an episode about when people used to booze people up and at the polls and then keep them hostage?

That's right.

And these weird little, you know, speakeasy booze dungeons.

We're not talking about that today exactly.

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