I Missed It! How Did That Happen?

From the Times-Picayune:
Louisiana Resisted Prohibition. [Comment: no surprise]

At least the southern parishes did. In 1918, the state senate considered ratifying of the 18th Amendment, which would outlaw the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors."
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Senators deadlocked 20-20, but during a special session in the heat of August, the "dries" found an extra vote, and Louisiana approved the ban on booze 21-20, the slimmest margin in any state.

Two years later, on Jan. 16, 1920, America outlawed alcohol. For 13 years, 10 months and 17 days, any bartender who sold a shot of whiskey violated the U.S. Constitution.

Friday, December 5, was the anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. How could I miss posting on that momentous occasion? Seventy-five years ago, on December 5, 1933, the state conventions ratified the 21st Amendment, which repealed 18th Amendment. Yay!

Prohibition was no more than an exercise in stupidity. As though people stopped drinking. They simply went underground to drink. Unfortunately, there were casualties.

But after 1920, the great bars of New Orleans vanished as liquor consumption went underground. The Sazerac House closed. The New York Times reported that Henry Ramos, who "won a suitcase full of World Fair prizes" for his frothy gin fizz, was then mixing paint and varnishes, giving them "names that once belonged to drinks that only gentlemen knew." The Old Absinthe House somehow stayed open but was later padlocked -- for a year.

Delmonico's restaurant was busted in 1921, and 20 gallons of wine, 75 bottles of "good liquor," one case of whiskey and two dozen bottles of beer were found. That same year Commander's Palace was raided.

"Count" Arnaud Cazenave tussled with Prohibition agents for years. The Quarter Club, which he leased, was raided in 1924. Maxime's, a bar he reportedly ran, was caught with bootleg booze in 1927 and the count's home on Esplanade Avenue was also searched. Finally, in 1930, Arnaud's restaurant itself got a visit from agents. A jury of good New Orleanians, however, refused to convict Cazenave.

The authorities in New Orleans cooperated as little as possible with the feds, and the city remained one of the wettest in the country. One hour after FDR signed the repeal of prohibition into law, the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans received its first legal order of whiskey. Days before the official legalization of alcoholic drinks, speakeasies began openly serving cocktails, with little fear of reprisals.

Seventy-five years ago today, according to The Times-Picayune, "for the first time in the past 13 years, the lights were turned out in one of the city's leading French restaurants as cafe brulot was prepared before an admiring group of patrons."

And tonight, waiters at Arnaud's, Antoine's, Galatoire's and Commander's Palace -- all restaurants founded before 1920 -- probably will once again dazzle diners with pots of flaming, brandy-spiked cafe brulot, keeping alive a connection to the years before Prohibition.

What kind of a country would prohibit serving café brûlot?