Hello everyone and welcome to the prohibition era tour.

Today I’m going

From 1920 to 1933, the United States went through a period called "prohibition", edictéé
par le 18th. For thirteen years, the manufacture, transportation, sale, import and export of
alcohol were prohibited.
From the beginning of Prohibition the police started to close down bars and clubs et comme
on peut le voir sur cette photo les policiers confisquer tout d’alcool.

t was in this context that tens of thousands of illegal establishments were born.
Thus the speakeasies began to emerge, these are underground bars where alcohol was
served. These speakeasies were managed by organized crime.

It is believed that the term "speakeasy" comes from the habit of the owners of the
establishment to ask their customers to speak softly when they ask for alcohol, so as not to
attract attention. Another hypothesis behind the name speakeasy is that drinking alcohol
makes it easier to express oneself, and therefore to speak more easily in front of others.

Speakeasies were often located in underground dens or in the back rooms of pharmacies
(licensed to sell alcohol for healing purposes) or in dark lounges that did not attract much
outside attention. To be admitted people had to show printed passes or give the correct
code words, most of the time it was a word of mouth recommendation, so these clubs were
very discreet
Surprisingly the police were welcome, it gave people a sense of security and order. In reality
most of the policemen were corrupt, the owners gave them rewards to look the other way.
As you can see in this picture the women were present and there were many couples, this
made the case less suspicious.
We arrive on the end of the visit, the last important feature on the speakeasy is that in the
big cities they organized shows, jazz concerts and dance floors. In fact, in this picture you can
see everyone partying and having fun. So the speakeasies became places where men in
tuxedos and women in evening dresses entertained.