Nah, Brah: How to Ignore Prohibition
We've all heard about American prohibition. But what would it look like if a city never enforced it? What would it look like if bars never closed and police never arrested anybody for anything? Well it turns out we have an answer! Journey with us today to look at the history of "TJ" Pendergast and how Kansas City kept up business as usual. A rise and fall of political positioning this week's Tipsy Timeline!
"TJ" Pendergast managed to use political connections to completely ignore prohibition in Kansas City. But how? Was that even possible? The answer is yes, but the "why" involves some pretty fascinating tit-for-tat politicking. Find out the whole story on this week's episode. Sources for today's story can be found in the following locations.
- https://info.umkc.edu/unews/prohibition-kansas-city-style/#:~:text=In%201933%2C%20Prohibition%20ended%2C%20making,made%20only%20with%20strong%20liquor.
- https://artsandculture.google.com/story/boss-tom-pendergast-the-rise-and-fall-of-kansas-city%E2%80%99s-corrupt-machine-kansas-city-public-library/MQVhjaw7YruhIQ?hl=en
- https://pendergastkc.org/topics/vice
- https://www.audacy.com/kmbz/articles/prohibition-pendergast-turned-kc-city-scofflaws
- https://vinepair.com/articles/prohibition-ratification-state-map/
- https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/student-resources/places/kansas-city/jackson-democratic-club
- https://kchistory.org/faq/what-companies-did-political-boss-tom-pendergast-own
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Pendergast