Bootleggers and Beer Barons of the Prohibition Era

by J. Anne Funderburg

This work is an accurate, wide-ranging, and entertaining account of the illegal liquor traffic during the Prohibition Era (1920 to 1933). Based on FBI files, legal documents, old newspapers and other sources, it offers a coast-to-coast survey of Volstead crime--outrageous stories of America's most notorious liquor lords, including Al Capone and Dutch Schultz. Readers will find the lesser known Volstead outlaws to be as fascinating as their more famous counterparts. The riveting tales of Max Hassel, Waxy Gordon, Roy Olmstead, the Purple Gang, the Havre Bunch, and the Capitol Hill Bootlegger will be new to most readers. Likewise, the exploits of women bootleggers and flying bootleggers are unknown to most Americans. Books about Prohibition usually note that Canadian liquor exporters abetted the U.S. bootleggers, but they fail to go into detail. Bootleggers and Beer Barons examines the major cross-border routes for smuggling liquor from Canada into the Quebec to Vermont and New York, Ontario to Michigan, Saskatchewan to Montana, and British Columbia to Washington.

Genres: History

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the resources I've gathered about the Prohibition era, this particular book stands head and shoulders above the rest. It included sections not addressed elsewhere, e.g. bootleg planes, and the narrative style, which included slang from the era, quite conversational without being hokey. The only drawback is the price. For an ebook, I paid $14.99, which is high even for a comprehensive history book.

[Henry Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers of this history of Prohibition will like especially Funderburg's moving beyond the names and imagery that have become a part of popular culture and entertainment. A history of bootlegging cannot ignore the Al Capones and Eliot Neeses, but this author goes into bootlegging and associated crime and figures in all regions of the United States and all types of communities down to small towns and rural areas. The detailed, wide-ranging history illustrates the reactions to and effects of Prohibition throughout society. Funderburg does not let her extensive research mostly on primary documents of the era intrude much into the writing—so that a colorful, popular history is presented. Interested readers can turn to the Notes and Bibliography going more than 35 pages.

With the wide range of locations, individuals, and bootlegging activities covered by Funderburg, most readers will find some scandalous or amusing content on the Prohibition era in the area where they live. This reviewer from southwestern Connecticut, for example, finds that after being barred from New York City by Mayor LaGuardia, Dutch Scgultz "took up residence in a hotel n Bridgeport, Connecticut" and was often seen riding his horse named Suntan in the countryside around the neighboring town of Fairfield. Local historians do not play up such questionable bits of history even though they are tame and occurred in all parts of the country.
Prohibition was pervasive, and was flouted in many parts of the country contrary to the dramatic portrayals of Federal agents such as Eliot Ness and others combatting organized crime.

In addition to being informative and entertaining in taking a broad perspective on Prohibition, Funderburg puts this notorious era into perspective. Prohibition was an admittedly failed social experiment lasting a little over a decade which nonetheless brought heterogenous unintended and lasting changes to American society. Among these were new methods in crime fighting, the development of organized crime, the image of the gangster, and revised relationships among individuals. All of this and more is entailed in this rich social history.