Although poverty, hunger, and the need for shelter affected New Yorkers all over the city, there was no place in the city of New York that struggled with these problems more than those who lived in Harlem, New York. Residents of Harlem found themselves not only having to deal with an unemployment rate of over …
Category: Tours
Stock Market Crash of 1929
The cause of this era all falls back to the events within a period of a single week during the month of October, a week where the fate of the nation would be affected for an entire decade. The fateful week started with the events of Wednesday October 23rd, when waves of panicked investors sold …
Temperance
Prohibition didn’t just happen over night, so much as it was the result of decades of lobbying and fighting on a local and national level for the ban of alcohol. Starting in rural America and working its way in, the Temperance movement saw alcohol as the cause of most social issues that Progressives were fighting …
Copacabana Nightclub
Dreamland Park
The last of the three major amusement parks of Coney Island during the 20th century, Dreamland Park was known as the refined and orderly park. With every structure being pristine white, this business-like amusement park was indeed beautiful, but only lasted from 1904 to 1911 because it did not evoke the same sense of fun entertainment as much as Steeplechase or Luna Park did.
Disparity
The 18th Amendment banned the sale, transportation, and production of alcohol. This effectively prohibited the existence of alcohol in daily life in America. But by the letter of the law, ownership of alcohol was perfectly legal, so long as it was made pre-Prohibition and it wasn’t sold or moved elsewhere. This meant that the average …
Speakeasy
Music, dancing, having a good time with friends and strangers alike. What’s not to love about a night out on the town, enjoying New York’s nightlife? It certainly didn’t hurt that Speakeasies were the best way to get a drink in a Dry America. Bars didn’t just undergo a name change with the 18th amendment …
Police
The United States government established the Bureau of Prohibition to fight this new war, a federal task force with the sole purpose of cracking down on illegal alcohol trade and manufacturing. It met moderate success, and brought down numerous large scale operations and speakeasies across the country. Unfortunately, in the early days of the Bureau, …
Smuggling
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles make for more than just a setting for a movie. If it moved, smugglers found a way to load it up with booze and bring it to market. Although plenty of trucks, trains, and people brought alcohol in to the city, it was hard to match the shipping industry when it …