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| Here's to you, my friends! |
Doing research, as we have written numerous times in the past, is one of the major joys of this blog. To really dig down and learn the truths and untruths of certain topics is intriguing while also being enlightening.
One such topic that was discovered was that April 6th is National 'New Beer's Eve.'
What a great sounding holiday!
It seems that when the 18th Amendment was passed banning beer and alcohol in 1920, some people were rejoicing with special messages about the consumption of alcohol.
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| A threat? Anyone's opinion. |
But the majority of citizens of the United States were pretty upset and found ways around the ban.
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| Ingenuity at its best. |
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| May be alcohol - I'll drink it to make sure. |
This is why, in 1933, a much wiser congress decided to get rid of the 18th Amendment. The 23rd Amendment made having an alcoholic drink no longer a federal offense.
It may also be because the prior congress of 1920 hadn't realized that such a ban would make millionaires of such wonderful upstanding citizens as Al Capone. He knew what the American people wanted and was happy to supply the 'evil' liquid to those willing to purchase it from his henchmen.
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| The 18th made him an extremely rich and dangerous man. |
Fourteen years after the ban, booze was back on the store shelves.
Since the 23rd Amendment was passed at 12:01 a.m. on April 7th of 1933 it just seemed appropriate to celebrate 'New Beer's Eve.' Knowing it was going to pass congress, citizens from around the nation started lining up at stores and bars in anticipation of being able to legally purchase alcohol again after the 14 year hiatus.
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| An IPA please. |
Urban legend has it, or perhaps it is true, that someone somewhere screamed: 'Happy New Beer's Eve' at the stroke of midnight on April 6th, 1933. Then promptly entered a bar and had a few drinks. We enjoy urban legends - they're so cool.
And of course, April 7th had to be 'National Beer Day.'
On March 22, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act into law, effectively repealing prohibition. The law became effective on the 7th of April, 1933 and people went out happily to buy, drink and sell beer legally.
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| Thank you Mr. President! |
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| The real reason for him signing to end prohibition - God bless you Sir. |
An actual 'National Beer Day' didn't become official (if these are actually official days to begin with) until 1993. Official or not, Americans downed 1.5 million barrels of beer on the very first official 'National Beer Day" in that year.
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| It's gone international - how about that? |
So, sit back and enjoy a cold on the 7th of April in honor of those poor souls who couldn't from 1920 until 1933. And, as always, drink in moderation and stay safe.
