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FormatJournal Article
Author, AnalyticWeiskopp, Thomas
Title, AnalyticProhibition in the United States: The German-American Experience, 1919-1933
Journal TitleBulletin of the German Historical Institute
Date of PublicationFall 2013
Issue ID53
Location in Work31-53, ill.
ISSN1048-9134
AbstractThe Prohibition movement . . . ostracized the [German Americans] precisely on account of their 'Germanness' . . . . Prohibition wiped out the beer-garden culture and paved the way for cheap speakeasies that were worse than the most degenerate saloons. Although the role of brewers of German descent in the self-inflicted saloon crises was considerable and their attempts to defend themselves were clumsy and self-defeating, they sustained severe financial loses when the beer trade became illegal, driving some brewery owners to the brink of illegality. Quite unexpectedly, in the wake of Prohibition both prominent and ordinary German Americans discovered that their best option for preserving a sense of ethnic community was to maintain a low profile built around small, private circles rather than the web of civic institutions and large-scale public leisure that had flourished only thirty years earlier.
NotesThomas Weiskopp, University of Bielefeld
Call NumberMKI Periodicals
MKI TermsProhibition/ United States -- History/ German Americans -- Social life and customs/ Political activity/ Politics/ 20th century/ Ethnic identity/ Breweries