Clever Ways of Hiding Booze During Prohibition, 1920-1933

[wnylib]

5. Just noticed this thread.

I got this family story from my grandfather.

He ran a still in the woods on his farm. Neighboring farmers and some town people bought from him. On weekends, people gathered at his house for drinking and dancing while my grandmother played popular tunes on the piano. Word got around, eventually, to the ATF feds.

A black car with men in suits stopped in front of the farmhouse and asked my father, who was 8 at the time, if he knew where Mr. WNYlib lived. My father invited them inside and sent his sister to get their father from the fields. While they waited, my father imitated his parents' hospitality and offered drinks to the feds, bragging that his daddy made the best whiskey.

My grandfather said he might have talked his way out of the situation if my father hadn't handed over the evidence.

When I asked my father about it, he said he had no idea that it wasn't legal since it seemed normal to him. Also, he was impressed by the shiny new black car and men in suits on a weekday, which never happened on farms. He figured they were important and rich. Since they knew his father's name, he thought they might be relatives he had not known before.

After arrest and a guilty plea, grandpa paid a fine and went home.