Nationwide prohibition was repealed on December 5, 1933.  After that, the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages to adults was, for the most part, once again, legal. In the years since, much has been forgotten about how and why the decade-long era of Prohibition came about.  Moreover, the painful lessons its failure imparted seem not to have been learned. The ugly truth is that the Prohibition Movement was not the result of puritanical women preaching against fun.  Without the advantage of hindsight, there seemed to be good reasons for banning the drinking of alcohol.  Alcohol abuse, combined with wife-beating and neglect of family by drunkard men, provided a powerful incentive to desperate victims (who were not allowed to vote) to seek whatever recourse they could find.  They lobbied for prohibition. The poignant lyrics to a well known song of the time reflect the public emotions that propelled the illegalization of...(Read Full Post)