Scott here with another episode of the History on Plug podcast.

The 18th Amendment, which prohibited alcohol and lasted from 1920 and 1933,

created an overnight economy of moonshiners, who distilled and distributed homemade liquor

to meet the nation's demand for alcohol, working in concert with bootleggers who transported it.

This was a massive cash boom to rural farmers who could earn far more money distilling spirits

and selling crops, particularly in the Depression.

Moonshining was done around the United States, but to particularly thrive in regions like Appalachian, Georgia,

because of the vast expanse of forest, backwoods to hide

stills, in a large black market and cultural traditions that frowned on alcohol consumption and

purchase, where it made more sense to produce it and sell it under the table. But what's

surprising about the moonshine economy is that it didn't collapse after alcohol was legalized again.

It persisted throughout the

1930s and 40s because of high liquor taxes, the whole slew of post-prohibition alcohol laws

that made selling it expensive and producing and selling it illegally still the cheaper option,

and the South's new taste preference for moonshine. How did law enforcement fight moonshiners in the 1940s?

How are they able to do this when sometimes there was widespread community support when

crime bosses would move into town and sometimes threaten and bully locals to keep operations

going, but at the same time bribed them into compliance and even enrich the community?

To explore this unexamined world of post-prohibition

moonshining, we're joined by today's guest, Chris Gates, author of the book, Moonshine Over Georgia,

who wrote historical fiction novel based on Chris's grandfather who worked as a revenue agent

in Prohibition era Georgia. Hope you enjoyed this discussion. And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for word from our

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