THE  ROARING  TWENTIES

                                           NORMAN  V.  KELLY

 

Prohibition is here! If you were walking downtown that January 16, 1920 with the cold north wind trying to freeze your nose I doubt you would have noticed anything different in the faces of the typical Peorian.  Folks living here had had their initial bout with Prohibition way back in 1917.  Hell…it was old hat here and all the doom and gloom folks were perking up their heads a bit as time went on. Prohibition and the shutting down of the booze and beer producers was one thing, but…Prohibition meant no booze in our saloon and taverns, right?  Wrong. Believe me Peoria had all the booze it could drink.  Getting it was just a little more expensive and a bit harder to come by…but we got it.  Also there would now be a risk to one’s freedom as well because of the Volstead Act.

 

Most people think that the Volstead Act meant Prohibition…but it did not. Prohibition was the 18^.th Amendment to the United States Constitution.  The Volstead Act was the enforcer…the teeth that the Federal Government needed to uphold the mandates of the 18^th. Amendment. Can you folks that think they know about our Constitution think of one other amendment to our Constitution that actually took away rights of Americans?

 

The man that lent his name to this act was a religious man named Andrew John Volstead, born 1869 and died in 1947. Polite folks called him the father of Prohibition…Peorians had a lot of other names for him. Volstead was a member of the House of Representatives from the great state of Minnesota for ten terms. Peoria rejoiced when they heard he lost his seat in the 1922 election. Truth was it had more to do with farmers and their problems than it did with Prohibition.  However Peorians liked to think the way they thought, and did not need folks from Minnesota telling them why Volstead was gone. To Peoria it was just punishment. After he lost his seat he went to work as a legal adviser for the National Prohibition Enforcement Bureau. 

 

Hoover had dubbed Prohibition the “Noble Experiment.” The ‘experiment’ was based on the honest to God belief and hope that Prohibition would rid America of many, many evil things. From the very beginning the temperance people believed that America would be a more peaceful, God fearing nation if Americans would only listen to them.  The were doing God’s work and believed that without alcohol, our jail cells would soon be empty and America once and for all would be free from alcoholics abusing their wives and children. Peace would prevail and the Devil demon rum, old John Barleycorn would be gone from America for good. No doubt a noble idea, but they never even considered the will and independency of the average American citizen. Of course they were out of touch with the average Peorian and working man in America.  They were religious zealots doing God’s work…how could they lose?  They knew what was best for the man in the street and they were politically powerful enough to get the job done.  Tell any independent Peorian who drank alcohol to stop drinking and you got rebellion.   Have the United States Government tell you that you could not drink and just watch what would happen. Hell…that started people drinking that never touched the stuff…that was true here In Peoria and apparently all over this great country

 

                                THE  VOLSTEAD  ACT

 

I am not about to set out on some kind of lecture tour here…but I want you to know a bit about the act itself. Now Prohibition was written to “ban the manufacture, sale, or distribution of intoxicating liquors.”  That Act was ratified and went into effect on July 20, 1920.   The Volstead Act went into effect in October of 1919, and on January 16, 1920 they both became the ‘Law Of The Land.’ Actually President Woodrow Wilson vetoed the Vostead Act, but it was over ridden so in a sense Congress voted for it twice.

I won’t even attempt to quote him…but he made it clear that the Act was flawed and he could not support it. Although the Volstead Act was not Prohibition it was called by many Peorians “The Prohibition Act”…so let’s  let it stand at that.

 

The Act allowed the government to hire as many as 1,500 law enforcers called Prohibition Agents…or Dry Agents. Like most government projects there is a great uproar over the initial enactment but when it comes to funding, our representatives have other projects on their minds. That was true with the Volstead Act and throughout its infamous run it was poorly funded. Actually there were less than 4,000 Dry Agents on duty and they were stretched beyond belief.  That just made it that much easier for people to violate the law…and they did…by the millions.  Of course Peorian’s learned to hate them immediately and they were looked upon with hatred, distain and suspicion.  Folks in these parts identified them virtually on the first day and I can tell you they got no support from Peorians. That is from the WETS…but what could the DRYS tell them?  Oh, I know…where the next temperance meeting was going to be held.   The United States government also set the States up into zones and hired a lot of Federal lawyers to make up the prosecuting teams. Remember this is a Federal law and I can tell you local authorities, and Peoria city and county police had no obligation to enforce one sentence of the new Volstead Act. The Feds could not use the army, the navy or and other group except the United States Coast Guard.

 

The Act had 25 sections to it and I will just give you a brief idea what some of all that gibberish meant to the law abiding citizen here in America…and of course, Peoria, Illinois, the former capital of alcohol in the World.

 

                         SOME  THINGS  YOU  COULD  DO

 

Peorians suddenly had a lot of flu and cold problems that took them racing off to our 177 physicians in town.  There they could get “examined” for $2.50 and get a prescription for a pint of whiskey.  Now they could do this every ten days.  Plus they could go to as many doctors as they could get in to see.  All you needed was the money and you could be legally drunk much of the day. After leaving the doctor the ‘patient’ would go to the local drug store…and we had a lot of them, to get the ‘medical prescription filled. The price varied but that usually cost another $2.50.

 

Another thing Peorians liked to do was buy Federal Prescription forms from local counterfeiters.  As I mentioned we had a lot of printing companies in town and how much brains would it take to simply keep…or over print…these prescriptions?  The government later caught on and had them printed by Federal Printers.  So what?  Copying them was a simple task by a printer of almost any caliber.  The signatures were often “Ink Printed” by a nurse and of course most of the time the ‘patient’ never even saw the doctor. Thousands upon thousands of doctors became rich on these prescription scams.  Here in Peoria, Illinois 23 physicians were indicted for violating the ACT. I followed up on their prosecutions here in Federal Court but never found one more word about it.  Think they made some kind of ‘deal’?

Truth is they just had their attorneys go to the judge without a hearing and paid the minor fines.

 

I can promise you it was a game.  Remember we had a lot of young people in town whose duty it was to outwit these agents and they had a wonderful time doing it. It was the beginning of the Roaring Twenties and I’ll get into that later here in my hometown of Peoria, Illinois.

 

                           HOLES  IN  THE  VOLSTEAD  ACT

 

Here in Peoria and everywhere else in America all the whiskey stored in the warehouses was controlled by the Federal Government.  That whiskey was for sale and the government had worked out some type of compensation with the former distillery owners. So who owned it?  Well the government owned it but as I said it was for sale.  Who could buy it?  Well the drug companies, other exempt organizations like churches, hospitals, and others as well. The secret was getting the proper “Government Permit.”  Well, I can tell you a few agencies in our town were authorized to issue those permits.  Remember…they were just people doing a job and therein lays the weakness to the government’s plan. I feel certain you know what I mean.

 

Listen to this:  There were wines available for sacramental and religious rites and all kinds of medicinal reasons. Peorians had a right to possess all the booze they could hold in their homes as long as they did not give it away as a gift or sell it. And…if you had more than one home you could have booze in all of them.  See…the hoarders were right investing in the future of whiskey, just like people who invested in oil or stocks and bonds.  Alcohol was defined by the ACT as any beverage that had an alcohol content of 0.5% alcohol per volume or more. That pretty much fouled up the average drinker so they began to think of ways to obtain booze, carry it, and consume it at parties and public places and of course…sell it.  That was also the beginning of thousands of ‘Service Clubs’ here in Peoria and across the nation.

 

Almost every young person out and about the town had a flask secreted on their person.  They carried a shot or two in fake cane ends, and ladies strapped a small flask inside their thighs.  If you think agents were going around patting ladies down or searching men, smelling breaths you are totally wrong.  First, agents were busy going after stills and trying to stop hi-jackers, warehouse thieves and train robberies to worry about some party folks in Peoria, Illinois.  However…the thrill of the imagined chase kept a lot of young people titillated here in town. On a rare occasion an arrest was made which just added to the excitement of the party animals and that was all the fuel they needed.  Usually the arrest was for some other crime and the violation of the Volstead Act was thrown in.  Local police used this ploy often just to detain an individual for what they called  “hold for investigation.” Peoria was a mad house as the young people…the ‘in crowd’ we would say today…or the ‘hotties’ we hear about today headed for downtown Peoria, Illinois for a night on the town. 

 

The automobile was the “thing” and downtown Peoria opened up to them even though the taverns could not sell booze or beer people flocked to Peoria, Illinois.  Mr. Woodruff took care of the tavern and saloon problem and I will explain that in 1921.  It was the beginning of the jazz era and the kids were not going to let a little thing like Prohibition spoil the best time of their lives.

 

                          A LITTLE  MORE  ABOUT  THE  ACT

 

Peorians were allowed to keep liquor in their storage room or club locker. As soon as that part of the act was known, we had a rush to open up “Private Clubs.”  Remember those lunchrooms I told you about? Well, they were very well used. Another little rule we liked here was this one. All you needed to do was get a permit when you moved and you could take all the booze you had with you.  Needless to say this was another way to transport booze, which was the key to keeping the FEDS off your back.

 

You could manufacture, sell or transport liquor for sacramental purposes so long as you got a permit. Believe me…a lot of Peorians were suddenly very religious…trust me. Now if you did not want to make that sacramental booze then you could buy it from the government.  All you needed was that ‘permit.’ No, you could NOT legally carry booze on your hip in a flask or on your person out in public. We actually had a few arrests on that violation but again…it was in relation to another charge.  That was the only time that our police engaged in that kind of activity. Also no gifts of booze to your friends were allowed to your friends. Most folks that got their hands on some good booze were not about to give it away.  Share it they might…but give it away? You could not take the stuff to a hotel or a public place.  Folks laughed at this one. This one was even funnier.  You could not share recipes for homemade wine or whiskey.  It was against the law to ship booze…some people tried that by shipping it to themselves. Actually it worked most of the time. United States Postal employees were not Federal Dry Agents.

 

You could make homemade booze of any type, as long as it was not above one half of one percent alcohol.  So-called bathtub gin…ridiculous of course…I mean folks did bathe, you know. They did make a lot of ciders and wines, but this was usually done in cellars. Perhaps, this is the time to share this poem with you.  I have no idea who wrote it.

 

                                                Mother’s in the kitchen

                                                washing out the jugs.

                                                Sister’s in the pantry

                                                bottling the suds.

 

                                                Father’s in the cellar

                                                mixing up the hops.

                                                Johnny’s on the front porch

                                                watching for the cops.

 

That pretty much sums up the average Peorian when it came to Prohibition…it was a damn joke…an irritant. If it had not cost the lives of so many people it would have been downright funny. Throughout it all the temperance fools thought that what they had done was the most remarkable example of people doing God’s work in America’s history. I told you when Billy Sunday came here in 1934 he was welcomed like some damn hero. It was pathetic.

 

In the end the entire Act, including the Volstead Act was full of flaws. The instigators of this law actually thought that America would simply obey the law of the land. They basically did over the years…but taking the right to have a beer or a little bit of booze was just too much for the average Peorian to take.  The only mystery I have with it all is how in the hell did it last thirteen years? It was incredible…and downright stupid.

                           

 

                                      

                  WHERE  DID  PEORIA’S  BOOZE COME  FROM?

 

A lot of people, because of movies and TV shows like the “Untouchables” have a wonderful, almost childlike fascination and notion about prohibition, speakeasies and gangsters.  Those ideas are fun and harmless, I suppose.  The truth is that Prohibition was a dangerous, crime-ridden time that actually spawned organized crime and bootlegging gangs.  Bootlegging was nothing less that plain old burglary and robbery.  Gangs of men took on trains, trucks, houses, ships, boats and boxcars.  They used every bit of intelligence they could to find out who had the booze, where it was, and how to get it.  Canada was now DRY and hundreds of thousands of gallons of good old Scotch and Canadian whiskey were LEGALLY purchased there and then illegally brought to the United States. As the booze made its way to the hundreds of cities in America, the bootleggers had their chance, and bootlegging became an occupation.  The romantic notions somehow followed that violent act and death and injury resulted.

 

European countries got into the act as well, including Mexico and other countries that knew a good business when they saw it. Mother ships would ply our three-mile limit waiting for smaller boats to come out to rendezvous with it. Now you know why the government later extended our three-mile limit to the current twelve miles. Hundreds of boats round the clock brought in the most precious cargo they every hauled to the biggest customer in the world…America.

 

Remember this booze was legally purchased from all these countries.  By that I mean bootleggers and gangster did not steal it from these countries, it was purchased.  From Canada came this booze not only by boat but by any citizen that had the wherewithal to get to Canada.   They were required to sign an affidavit that they were not taking it to sell in a country where the sale of booze was illegal.  What a joke. Now this is where the gangster element, the bootlegger and the thief came in. Their job was to steal it from the people that had it.  It was that simple.  Enter Al Capone and every other gangster that you have ever read about. Here in Peoria our local ‘dealers in booze’ made arrangements with the people that had the booze, both thief and so-called legitimate booze dealers to supply the whiskey here in town.  Hell, they were all illegal but some distinctions had to be made if you wanted to stay in the game. So the booze poured into America like an open faucet and

people made millions and millions of dollars.

 

People on the border of America and Canada became wealthy…and some only had wagons.  They walked it back to America in every kind of pouch they could carry.  They drove there, they biked and some used horses and buggies.  It was a constant trek back and forth…it was incredible.  Now all the owners of the booze had to do was have a buyer…and that was the easy part.  Deals were then made with buyers in cities and towns all over America.  It was free enterprise at its best.  We are talking about damn good booze here and the price for it was rather high. Before Prohibition you could buy a gallon of good whiskey here in Peoria for $1.30, but those days were long gone.

 

                                   BOTTLE  BY  BOTTLE

 

Here in Peoria those bottles that were purchased for our market made there way here in every possible mode of transportation.  The buyers and the sellers and the consumers managed to get together and the transactions were made.  This stuff was consumed here in town. It was also hoarded, hidden and cut.  A ‘salesman’ here in town would get his hands on a good bottle of booze and then by ‘cutting’ it could quadruple his profit.  That’s where the danger came in and some of those guys would use any liquid they could get their hands on…many of them were toxic.  Of course this booze ended up in the stomach of the alcoholic and in many cases they died as a result of drinking it. A lot of these men and some women were the denizens of the river and under the bridges. I can tell you that there were areas down there that the police simply stayed away from unless on occasion they had to go there in force.  Of course these people died from the horrible stuff they were drinking, along with numerous other diseases associated with living the way they did. Often when the early sun popped up over the city a body or two

would be seen lying somewhere near a police call box on Water Street. The dead man’s friends had no other means of getting the body buried properly.

Usually the coroner decided if it was murder or death by natural causes and then he conducted whatever inquests he deemed appropriate. The body was then taken out in the county for burial in a pauper’s grave. Coroner Elliot throughout early Prohibition begged the authorities to do something about this problem. He told them that over half of his cases were related to this rot gut whiskey. Oh, and the temperance people pitched right in and tried to help these poor unfortunates.  Like hell they did. History shows that they never lifted a finger to stop prohibition or help the unfortunates.  Apparently that was not within God’s plan.

 

                                          HOOTCH  HOUSES

 

 I’ll get to the romantic soft drink parlor and the speakeasies later but now is the time to tell you about the hootch houses that flourished in the early days of Prohibition in Peoria, Illinois. You can spell hootch two ways, the other way is ‘hooch,’ but Peoria reporters never did. It simply means whiskey and the word came from a tribe of Alaskan Indians that made whiskey. They were not houses at all. Although some of them were set up in abandoned houses here in town so that’s where that came from.

 

Some of them were nothing more that a couple of baskets, loaded with rot gut booze in the back of a truck.  Some were nothing short of cardboard boxes that could be quickly assembled and disassembled.  Some hid their booze in bushes and went out looking for customers.  This is where the still operator sold his early product up and down the river area. Of course they did not sell to wealthy people…hell they had all the good stuff…only river dwellers and low or no income men that sought it out in these run-down areas.

Immediately you can ask yourself where did these ‘bums’ get money for booze? Well, as you can guess, Prohibition brought an enormous amount of crime into Peoria.  I don’t have any money…you do. I need the money for booze…and you’re the target. It was that simple. Also the big gangster types not only went after the booze, they robbed, beat and burgled money from the people that were out buying booze.  Does all that sound familiar...it surely is prevalent today.  We had a few men in town that came together to steal or dig into a warehouse but they sure as hell were not considered ‘gangsters.’  Hell that would have given them some respectability…believe me. Money ruled then as it does today.  Here is another question for you:  Is there any difference in Prohibition of booze and illegal drugs?  The government says drugs are illegal to sell and possess.  That’s what they said about whiskey and look what happened.  Hell, the same damn thing is going on right here in Peoria and America today. The difference is the products are drugs not booze.

 

                           STEAMBOATS  AND  PACKETS

 

In 1920 and before the turn of the century Peoria, Illinois was the center of boat traffic in this area.  Early on the authorities saw to it that we had one of the best landing areas anywhere between here and Saint Louis.Those excellent docking facilities made us accessible and was immeasurable in our growth. It was no different in 1920. Folks gathered at the bottom of Main Street to watch the activity and to the smugglers it was a perfect spot to do business.

Smuggling brought a lot of business to Peoria and our boat builders made a fortune selling boats of all kinds. The idea was to outrun the boats the authorities used to catch the ‘rumrunners.’ Remember this is 1920’s technology, but you would be amazed how fast and well built those boats were. Now some of boats were pretty obvious to the trained eye, but our cabinetmakers built all kinds of wonderfully concealed cabinets in beautiful pleasure boats. Many legit, ordinary boat enthusiasts got into the booze smuggling business and I can tell you that they made a hell of a lot of money. Those folks were wealthy enough to own boats and they violated the law of the land, the Volstead Act and their own conscious to make money illegally. The bigger boats were used to store hoarded booze as well and became targets for thieves. In fact people who drank alcohol and bought it illegally were ‘crooks,’ in the eyes of the Federal Government and the damn temperance do-gooders .One day most Peorians were decent law abiding citizens then the day Prohibition started they became criminals in the eyes of their government. As part of the war against booze, the coast guard and the dry agents would bring their powerboats to Peoria, Illinois and dock them at the bottom of Main Street. Folks would flock down to the river to see them and of course the agents answered countless questions. What they didn’t know was that many of the questioners were boat builders. Questions about speed, horsepower and fuel capacities were all carefully noted.  The boat builder’s idea was to build something faster and sell it to the rumrunners.

 

                             IT’S  NOT ALL  ABOUT  THE BOOZE

 

In a narrative like this there is a possibility that the reader might think that the whole damn town of Peoria was booze nuts.  Well that is the wrong impression.  Peoria was a vibrant, busy, hustle and bustle city. Our stockyards were getting to be huge business along with truck building and Tractors now called Caterpillars were  a major business.

 

Vaudeville was coming into its own along with something new called Jazz, and on Friday and Saturday’s the downtown area was jammed with people, eating in our restaurants, shopping and going to the theaters.  New technology was tried out here in Peoria and more and more people had water and electricity in their homes as well as telephones. Homes and businesses were being built, and kids were being guided and educated in our schools.

On Sunday folks that had never stepped inside a saloon or tasted a drop of booze flocked to our churches, parks and downtown activities along the river.  In summer every circus or carnival that traveled the country came to Peoria, Illinois. We had more than one library and people were as up to date with current news and event as anywhere else in the United States.

 

Our reputation was still a bit bawdy but the hint of our town being over run with gangsters never made print.  Prostitution was always with us here in Peoria but it was in a ‘controlled state.’   Gambling was slipping in the back door and once the taverns became Soft Drink Parlors it came in both doors. One thing that folks understood…gambling was illegal…but it got to be ‘legal’ if you get my meaning.

 

As prohibition lingered the Volstead Act became even more laughable. Don’t get me wrong, people did get arrested and the Federal prisons were beginning to hold vast hundreds of Americans, but here in Peoria it was hardly noticeable. The sentence for violating the Volstead Act was a year and a day in a Federal prison…and that was hard time.  Fines also were imposed but most people signed pauper affidavits and paid nothing. Getting put in our local jail was usually 90 days, and that of course was a hell of a lot more desirable than going to a Federal lockup. There were arrests, but as for Federal trials there was very little of that here. A lot of them were arrested and dealt with locally…much better for them. The mayor of Bartonville was arrested on a Federal charge and folks took notice of that, of course. The amount of money being lost in taxes to the Federal Government was astronomical.

 

1920   WINDS  DOWN

 

Mayor Nelson Edward Woodruff was an astute politician, a surveyor of men and a man of action.  He even ran for governor, but his real love was Peoria, Illinois and being its mayor.  He was our mayor in 1917 when WW 1 was declared and he led this great city into it with a patriotic fervor that was catching.  He watched as the Federal Government shut down the distilleries and the breweries and he watched as the tax base of his city dwindled.  Once Prohibition took affect he had to stand by while the city turned off the lights in the local saloons. The figures vary, but Woodruff often told the press that he estimated that the loss in all kinds of revenue based on the booze, beer and saloon business was just over a million a year to the City of Peoria, Illinois. How was a politician to be reelected if there was no money to be made and maintain the improvements needed to thrive?  Well, he had an idea and personally, I think he was the only man in these parts that could have carried it out.  His plan was to re-open the taverns! I’ll get into his plan in 1921.

 

Jack-rolling is what the press calls an age old crime, which was called mugging, but the press rules.  Jitney busses are being robbed as well as streetcars.  Bad guys entered these vehicles with guns and terrorized everyone.  They took money, watches and rings off the victim’s fingers. Those type crimes increased as more and more money was needed by these thieves to buy the easily available booze. They obtained whiskey in three different ways.  The thieves bought it with stolen money to resell at a substantial profit, they sold booze from the local stills, or they went out and attacked people and places that had the whiskey.

 

Bradley Polytech became a college today, and Peorians expect big things from the school on the hilltop.  Holt got an order for 50 Caterpillar Tractors from New York and workers are lining up for the new jobs. One of Peoria’s great and early mayors, John Warner died here in Peoria.  He was an honorable man, a colonel in the army, and highly respected. Some figures say that there are 91,899 folks in Peoria, but a lot of citizens scoff at that.  They know damn well that no census taker bothers to go into the scary river areas here and there are a lot of men living in there.  Hell we don’t blame them there are areas away from the river that are dangerous as well.

 

Crime is always the talk in Peoria, but most folks feel reasonably safe here. The trick is to stay out of the known danger areas, and don’t get drunk alone.  In 1920, Police ‘picked up’ 3,025 suspects here.  They rarely held many of them for any length of time, but they liked to impress the locals with their figures.  The charges range from drunk and disorderly to murder. Many are just held for investigation and released.  During 1920 there were six murders  in Peoria and I doubt even cynics would say we had a real ‘murder problem.’ this town is just as safe or perhaps safer than the rest of the cities our size in America. Even the KKK is active here and reports of their huge recruiting rallies out in Detweiller Park are exciting reading material. Like a lot of things that came and went in Peoria…they went. Peoria was one great town and seemed to have room for everyone.

 

                        THE  SECOND  YEAR  OF  PROHIBITION

 

It’s 1921 here in Peoria and although Prohibition is in effect you would not know it from the local New Year’s Eve celebrations.  Most parties simply went inside private clubs and large homes.  The booze flowed and the folks danced and watched the Flappers cavort the night away. There were a handful of arrests by our police department because some fools went public with their drunkenness.  The sensible folks knew not to flaunt what they were doing, and that usually worked for the police and the drinkers. Here in Peoria it was the new age of Jazz. The Roaring Twenties and people were enjoying a new kind of freedom. (I’m talking about the WETS…that is)

 

Some of the songs our grandparents were singing and dancing to were,

“Second Hand Rose,” and “Nobody’s Baby.”  Everybody’s favorite was “Maw He’s Makin’ Eyes At Me,” and Jazz was king here in what was now being called a “Wide Open, Bawdy Town.”  Hell, we always were in one form or the other, that’s why people flocked here.

 

Peorians were listening to radio via something called wireless and people are going into radio stores to get the crystal set for home.  We now have a radio station on the air coming from Bradley called WJAN.  People were excited about radio and remained so for many years. Folks that thought Peoria’s future was doomed were astounded by how well Peoria was doing and that there were reports that almost 3,000 people moved into the city already…most thought folks would leave to seek employment elsewhere.

If a fella was caught downtown in Peoria in 1921 during Dollar Day he would have thought the entire population consisted of women.

 

 Health workers, staying at the Mayer Hotel told reporters that they were going to go into the prostitution area of Peoria and examine the ‘girls.’  Sure enough once the local policeman assigned to them was ready…he took them right where they wanted to go. Later they reported that they had ‘examined’ 191 of these ladies. Our Health examiner then filed a report that 12 of them had been arrested and they took 10 to the hospital for treatment.  What treatment?  Hell, those women ended up at the Hospital for the Mentally Insane in Bartonville.  They then gathered them all together and gave them some ‘health tips.’ The ACLU today would have a ball with that little maneuver, huh?  Stories like this and Peoria’s ‘underbelly’ were common in our local newspapers. Well, the successful ones, that is.

 

                                     POLICE AND  SUCH

 

Here in Peoria, as I mentioned, often very strong mayors ran our city. We had 9 Alderman during Prohibition and I can tell you some of them were as weak as the near beer that was available. The political battles for these jobs were always fierce and Peorians got a kick out of going to the Tuesday night alderman meetings.( Some things don’t change.)

 

Peoria always had a progressive police force and whenever something new was added to the force the newspapers dutifully reported it. The city had 65 patrol boxes situated around the city and those officers had to report on them in their sector.  They often took a prisoner to these boxes to wait for transportation to the police station.  Many citizens saw the officer virtually dragging the man along with his “come alongs” which were a form of handcuffs. The police superintendent’s annual salary was $2,000 and from there the income went sharply down to about $175 a year. The Peoria Police Department was quickly outfitted with automobiles, even motorcycles to augment their horse brigade.  As things progressed even sirens and red lights were added. Peoria was truly a modern, progressive city that was vibrant and alive and doing well in this second year of Prohibition.

 

                            THE  SOFT  DRINK  PARLOR

 

Mayor Woodruff made an astounding statement during one of the Alderman’s meeting in the city hall.  He told the gathering and the press that he was going to offer a Soft Drink Parlor License to all the saloon, tavern, restaurant and bar owners and managers in the city.  Most observers were perplexed.  Hell, they new Woodruff was a strong politician but how on earth was he going to defy the Federal Government and the 18^th. Amendment?  He soon showed them that there was a method to his madness, which also showed his genius.  He of course was trying to recoup his losses from liquor license and other city taxes. He always understood the importance of our taverns and he meant to right a wrong the Feds had perpetrated on his fair city.  They would reopen, turn on the lights and get back to business. They just would not be allowed to sell whiskey, wine, beer or any other intoxicating beverages based on the Volstead Act’s definition as to what alcohol was.  For the average Peorian it just seemed a bit silly…not sell booze?  Why reopen then?  It didn’t take long for the average person to know the answer to that question.

 

Some bartenders in town, and we had some wonderful characters at first bulked at the idea.  They were bartenders, not teen babysitters.  Initially and within 6 months Peoria, Illinois had 66 legally licensed soft drink parlors.  These businesses were just nice, innocent one-time saloons selling soft drinks.  Now I ask you, what’s wrong with that?  They sold Coca Cola, root beer, RC Cola, several different drinks like 7-up and simple cider. They had certain wines that were nothing short of sweetened water along with whatever near beer was on the market.  Can you believe that? Customers could get a small coke or drink for a nickel or a large one for a dime. Some of these taverns evolved into restaurants, and many, many of them sold every kind of confection a person could want.  Slowly the crowds came back and the live music returned to some of the larger places. Believe me folks, when I tell you that this was just the beginning. Peoria was coming back.

 

Again this was no surprise to the typical Peorian that spent a lot of time in the downtown area, night or day.  Now folks were carrying their own booze as they entered these Soft Drink Parlors and once they had the soft drink in front of them…the rest was easy. The tavern owners had their own hoarded stash and it took very little time before most of it was being poured into the soft drinks as well.  As I mentioned bartenders knew their customers and a lot of caution went into deciding who go the ‘hard stuff’ and who was stuck with the ‘soft stuff.’  Young men, called runners, were employed to run the booze from the private stashes to the Parlors.  The idea was to empty the bottle and carry it off.  Truth is the Dry Agents had little interest in this activity because they simply did not have the manpower to cover these places. Once the stashes were depleted tavern owners simply combined their money and contacted “other sources” for the Canadian booze that they could obtain easily…all you needed was the money.  Some arrests were made and that always made good reading in the local newspapers.

 

Now this was 1921, and Woodruff would lose the next election to an attorney named Vic Michel. Mayor Michel would rule the roost during the 1921-1923 phrase of Peoria’s history.  But I guarantee you, Woodruff and his cronies were always there influencing our history as well. Would Michel abolish the newly formed soft drink parlor?  Got any guesses?

 

                 THINGS  ARE  LOOKING  PRETTY  GOOD

 

Each week brought new license applications and of course they were approved.  The rules for getting a liquor license were pretty stringent but not to obtain a license to sell ‘pop, soda and confections.’    All this soda drinking spawned new businesses which included soft drink bottling companies like Durgess and the Whistle Bottling Company some in 1921 and others on down the line. I feel certain that that was no surprise to Mayor Woodruff. Along with the bottles was a massive interest in fruits of all kinds, including apricots.  Of course all this fruit juice was used to cut alcohol not only from the stills in the city and county, but the medicinal alcohol that was being distilled legally in Peoria, Illinois.

 

The Flappers were a sensation and when they wanted to dance…they danced. The magical Inglaterra Dance Hall opened up at 416 Main and it was an overnight hit here in town and was quickly referred to as the Ing. We had other places that opened up along with roof garden romantic places and almost every parlor with any size at all allowed dancing.

 

I can’t express too strongly what all these parlors meant to Peorians, but the main feeling was that they were getting their town back. Each week or so another one would open up and the “In” crowds would flock to check it out.  So far the patrons were carrying their own booze, but slowly that would all change. The count was up to 140 soft drink parlors operating within the city of Peoria and with any luck the numbers would grow. To all you folks that believed everything your grandfather told you the truth is Peoria did NOT have speakeasies.  Why should we? We had the parlors and if you wanted to kill yourself you could always find the ‘Hooch House.’ And buy some God only knows what, which was usually rot gut stuff that the ‘bums’ would die for…and they did.

 

                                            NO BEER?

 

The temperance politicians were still at it and like always that did not mean good news for the average drinker. There was a Federal Bill that just became law called the Willis-Campbell Act that forbade beer from being considered a ‘medicinal beverage.’ Can you imagine that?  The Peorians that were asked told the press that it was pathetic that that was all Congress had to do.  They griped that beer was most assuredly  “a medicinal treatment” for some illnesses. Of course, as always, folks could gripe but the politicians were owned by the DRYS in the body of a man called Wayne B. Wheeler. So, on November 19, 1921 the prescription for beer as a medicine was stopped.  The doctors lost a good source of income, but alcohol in the form of a pint of whiskey was safe for the moment. What happened was that the drinking public quickly forgot about beer and was perfectly satisfied with the ‘hard stuff.”

 

                                              LIFE  IN  PEORIA

 

Peorians could buy the Sunday Journal-Trasncript for seven cents and read about the up-coming Federal Trial.  It would be the first Moonshine Trial here in Peoria in the last 50 years.  There is also a report that local physicians are making a fortune on the prescription sale of whiskey. Wow…I bet that surprised the folks here abouts, huh?  What about the drug companies? They made a hell of a lot more than the doctors because some of the prescriptions were fake, which meant no doctor could profit from the transaction. But…if Peorians had the money, the doctors and the local pharmacist were happy to be of service.  The still makers were also much obliged for the business that came their way as well. Add to that the thousands of gallons of good Canadian whiskey making its way to Peoria and you had quite a potential party for anyone that had the price.

 

                             MORE  ENTERTAIMENT

 

The brand new Palace Theatre opened up on Main Street and it was truly a beautiful place.  The old Palace was down on Adams and folks joked that that building would probably become a soft drink parlor. Some WETS thought this was entertaining news. Twenty-four armed hijackers raided the Corning Distillery and made off with 200 cases of booze.  The sentiment in town was this: “ I hope that good stuff stays here in Peoria…we could use it”. I guess it is fair to tell you about these prostitutes under the entertainment banner, I suppose.

 

Forty-four houses of ill repute…houses  of prostitution…red light districts…whorehouse district…whatever you wanted to call them were raided over the week-end.  Hell Peoria was used to this kind of activity, especially around election time and sometimes right after election.  But this was a Federal operation under the guise of something called the “White Slavery Law.” The houses were then quarantined.  Hell, all that sounded serious enough, but as usual things in Peoria had a way of “Just going away.”  Once the sensational aspect of the news wears off it all just fades away and life goes back to normal here in Peoria.

 

Very few people here in town paid much attention to a guy named Johnny Weismuller breaking a swimming record here in Peoria.  Seems he broke the 500 meter record.  Well, hell, they later would call him Tarzan so it seemed fitting.

 

Local taverns were under attack by a raiding party here in town, actually led by the sheriff. Notice the press called the parlors taverns or saloons when reporting the news.  Forty-two men were charged with illegal gambling and carted off to the local jail. The do-gooders complained that Peoria was nothing but a den of gamblers so of course the raid was inevitable.  It did prove to Peorians what they already knew and that was indeed gambling was getting a deeper hold on the city. Remember the Dry Agents had neither interest nor jurisdiction in Peoria when it came to gambling and other vice crimes.

                              

                                 THE  AGENTS  ARE  BUSY

 

Atlas distillery, well one of their large warehouses was hit by thieves

or bootleggers or whatever folks chose to call them. The Distillery officials said that they made off with 8 barrels worth an estimated $15,000.00. Now you can call these men gangsters or whatever you want, but to a typical Peorian they were simply thieves stealing the most valuable thing available.  Most of that booze quickly was sold and all of it made its way to local customers in Peoria, and surrounding counties.  The fact that there was not the rat-a-tat of the machine gun or the crack of a pistol showed that most of these thefts were “Of an under-cover nature.”

 

Things are going pretty well here in Peoria, Illinois.  There is a need for more jobs as our population continues to grow, but over-all living in Peoria seemed to epitomize the American way of life.

 

          1922  IN  THE  RIVER  CITY

 

Victor Michel is the mayor and Peoria sees very little change. Even if he had wanted to do away with the soft drink parlors, I doubt he would have tried.  The WETS are a lot more visible and politically active now. Of course had they taken that stance long before Prohibition they might have given the DRYS a run for their money.  As it worked out it was a rather easy victory for the temperance people, well, I mean Wayne Bidwell Wheeler and the Anti-Saloon League.  Now the WETS were sick of it.  As the crime stats grew and the gambling gathered momentum the prostitutes increased their numbers as well.  When there are huge sums of money to be made the tough guys muscle in and believe me…politically strong or not the temperance folks were no match for them. Anyway…to tell you the truth Prohibition was the law of the land…many temperance folks were pretty much content with that.  After all they were not police officers.  They had done God’s work now it was up to the authorities to enforce the laws, which was of course, The Volstead Act.

 

Film actor Rudolph Valentino is idolized by Peoria’s women especially the Flappers. One of the reporter’s wrote that the great lover said, “I don’t like women that know too much.’ Local observers made it clear that Valentino would surely love it here in Peoria. It seems like everyone had a ‘fag’ in his or her mouth, and along with Valentino, Chaplin is huge, and for the kids it’s Tom Mix. The moving pictures are a major draw for people, and as a result our restaurants and parlors are packed as well.

 

Some of the songs Peoria is humming and dancing to are: “Georgia” and of course some of the gals are singing, “I wish I could shimmy like my sister Kate.”  So do the young men who are having trouble keeping their tongues in their mouths watching these gals ‘do their stuff.’  No wonder the men that are not ‘hip’ are lamenting with “Somebody Stole My Gal,” as well as “Ain’t It A Shame.’  It is very big news in Peoria when King Tut’s grave is opened. Folks can now hear news like that on their radios as well as read it in our local papers.  Life is great here in Peoria and with the music, the smokes, the booze and the downtown fun all is well in Peoria, Illinois.

 

Sports and betting were always huge in Peoria, from horse racing to bike racing, we bet on all of them.  Now Peoria is interested in football and the likes of the great Jim Thorp.  Fitch’s Hall is raided and a lot of ‘Coloreds’ were arrested.  That is how the papers referred to the African American.  A massive haul of booze, called “White Mule” was confiscated.  Officials make a big deal for the cameras when they destroy booze in public.  Local drinkers know damn well that very little real booze is destroyed.  It’s all for show and a lot of that booze ends up on the seller’s market.  Colored taverns are known as Black and Tan Resorts.  This also refers to whorehouses that have black ladies and Mulattos as employees.  By reporting all this information the local male visitor is pretty much given a tour or our town…if you get my meaning.

 

                                   THE  TOWN  IS  GROWING

 

Over on Perry and Jackson the Mason’s are building a new Consistory, telling the press that it will be built by the members at a cost of $350,000.00.  That building is still sitting right there strong as ever. Along with the city police, Peoria had a lot of merchant police and bank guards.  We also elected five constables.  Constable Arthur Smith was shot and killed doing his duty and the killer was tried and found guilty here in Peoria.

 

Still more people are moving into the city and the county. A lot of building is going on and somehow businesses find more room in the downtown area.  There are grocery stores and drugs stores out in the local neighborhoods, but on Friday and Saturday it always looked like the entire population of the city and the county were downtown.  The soft drink parlor is a major hit and one by one the saloons, taverns and bars reopen.  Some have remodeled and stored their beautiful solid oak bars in storage.  Peoria still had fewer parlors than it had saloons but the numbers were growing. Now the parlors are remodeled and the old saloon has taken on a restaurant look with more tables. The great mirrors and metal ceilings are still in the taverns but the old spittoon has been hidden away.  Still…the important thing is that a WET can get a drink in many of these places and the beat goes on.

 

A lot of people today wonder if we had a drug problem in Peoria “way back then.”  The answer is no but we did have a den or two of “dope fiends and hop heads,” according to the local papers.  Later, usually at the beginning of the New Year, the police department made public its arrests. They always put these dope arrests into ‘vice crimes.’

 

                    IS  THERE  A  SPEAKEASY  IN  TOWN?

 

For all you folks that have this warm, romantic notion about speakeasies, this will be a big disappointment. Truth is we just didn’t have any here in Peoria during Prohibition to speak of.  Remember in Peoria we had the soft drink parlor. In fact before the first decade of Prohibition was over we had at least 266 of them in town.  Now, ask yourself what on earth would we have done with a speakeasy?  Drink…right; hell there were plenty of places in town to drink.  When I say this in public an awful lot of the older listeners do not believe me.  The reason they don’t believe me is because they don’t want to know the truth, because we want to believe the stories our grandfathers told us. A lot of our older folks were told by their dads or grandfathers all about these ‘wild speakeasy’ places in town. Sorry…they are victims of stories by old men whose job is was to entertain their grand kids.

 

Now I will give you the truth about a certain kind of gambling ploy that was used in Peoria and you can call them speakeasies…how’s that.  By now the gambling in town is controlled by men in Peoria that built some pretty impressive saloons in town that of course had gambling. Later, especially during WW 11, they were magical places.  In fact we were soon the proud owner of places that were nothing less than the early casino.  Bill Urban and several other men controlled these places and they made a vast fortune.

 

If a man came into town “Looking for action,” he could find it but he sure as hell could not control it or make a profit. That’s where these ‘speakeasies’ came into being. Peoria’s version was just a ploy to lure some big time gamblers to their place to lose their money.  How did they manage to do that during Prohibition?  Why with these essential ingredients; Women…lots of them, booze…lot’s of it…and of course gambling of all kinds. Keep in mind in downtown Peoria these gambling places were more controlled…a gentlemen’s game…so to speak. Now out in the county in some abandon farmhouse…anything goes…if you get my drift.

 

Money was passed, of course, not only to the Federal Agent, but county authorities as well.  Six Federal officers were indicted here during Prohibition for allegedly accepting bribes.  Believe me when I tell you it was all connected with those county gambling operations we will call ‘speakeasies’ just for the romantic reader.  Hell…they must have been a lot of fun but if you think a patron had to knock on the door and tell them that “Joe Sent me,” then you are the romantic that I am aiming this story at.

 

To get invited to these things you had to be in the ‘inner circle’ and that meant that you were pretty well known and accepted. The patron had to pay his way in and I can tell you by the time you got out of your car and were heading for the door you had already been sufficiently checked out to be deemed safe. Once inside there was the gambling paraphernalia, the women, the booze and live music. It was all orchestrated ‘entertainment’ and very expensive. Most Peoria men soon found out it was a lot safer and cheaper to do their carousing and gambling in Downtown Peoria, Illinois.

 

These ‘unauthorized’ gambling ventures were difficult to set up and very expensive.  I never even ran across any proof that they even existed inside the city limits.  That is easy to believe if you understood how structured and protected the downtown gambling scene really was. Sorry but you apparently had to go to Chicago and New York for the real speakeasy…you sure as hell could not find them here. Anyway we had enough places for you to dance, carouse, drink, gamble and raise hell.  That’s why Peoria was the only place to be if you lived within fifty miles of us. Where else were you going to go? PSST…I know this hot place in Brimfield.

 

                                              SLOT  MACHINES

 

Peorians check their calendars to see if there is an election just around the corner.  That is because there is a big crack down on slot machines in downtown Peoria, Illinois.  Now during the 20’s and according to who was mayor, slots were seen rather frequently in the saloons. Now that the slot owners have a place to put them in the new soft drink parlors they have been pretty prevalent around town.

 

Early on the slots made their way into all the private clubs and were really just a thing for the ‘in crowd’ to play.  You know…a status thing.  Well a man called Mr. Whistle from Chicago owned all of these and of course he had local men handle the placement and collection with these machines.  The split was made with the saloon or club using them.  Once the slots were ordered out, trucks were seen going around town picking them up.

 

The red light district was hit hard too, and the truck stopped at some places that surprised neighbors as to what was ‘going on over there.’  The newspapers were now referring to our whorehouse area as a “Sporting District.”  Hell, Peorians liked the name.  One reporter said that a man he would not name said it had a ‘sound of class to it.’ Ladies complain to the mayor that “vice and gambling conditions are deplorable.”  What? You mean right here in river city? Even before this story cooled down, a dozen teens were rounded up while they were playing craps.  Don’t you worry the cops got the evidence…sixty-seven cents. Wow!

 

WOOPS.  Peoria Constables seized another 100 slots and held a press conference.  I thought the slots were gone…didn’t you? Local papers tell Peorians that so far just over 20,000 people were convicted of violation of the Volstead Act in the United States. So what? Now this news excites folks around here because they like to read stories like that. A janitor discovered a 70 foot tunnel into Woolner’s whiskey warehouse, and the inventory reveals that burglars left with 15,000 gallons of whiskey.  Looks like the local price of whiskey might go down a bit. Keep that John Barleycorn flowing boys.  Just pretend you heard Lawrence Welk say that…just for fun.

 

                                     1922:  THE  FINAL  STATS

 

A lot of somewhat sheltered folk here in town were a bit shocked when the police statistics came out, usually in January, telling folks how busy they had been.  Today in our papers and on the radio there is talk about how safe we were. I have been a guest when that topic was my assignment. I always told people this fact.  The FBI over the years had stats that showed Peoria was safe or as safe as any other city our size.  I love to hear older Peorians proclaim:  “Why we never had to lock our doors.  The streets were safe, but look at the mess we are in now.”

 

Truth is…and they don’t want to hear it is NO the streets were not safe and yes doors were locked. You going to tell me that wealthy people in our town…and there were many of them, did not lock their doors.  What a joke. I grew up in El Vista…eleven kids in the family and it was poverty.  Why would we lock our doors?  Think we had anything worth stealing except an excess kid or two?   As always it was where you lived…what you owned and where you wanted to walk.  There were areas downtown that a lone, armed policeman would not walk.  Now if you lived in safer areas…hell, you could walk around all night and make it home safely.  Now…I ask you this has anything changed in Peoria, Illinois. Is what I said above true today?  Of course it is...grow up.

 

                                      A  TASTE  OF  REALITY

 

According to the police records here in Peoria, they arrested 5,504 people. Police broke it down as follows:  Five-hundred of those arrests were Negro.

One hundred were Mexican, and a few were Orientals. Also…500 of them were women.  Most folks assumed that they were all arrested for prostitution but of course that was not true.

 

Now these arrests were often for minor offenses and it varied from assault to murder. Yes we had molesters and ‘dope fiends.’  Also among those arrested was a nine-year-old boy for sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl.  Rape and incest and sexual cases were pretty much kept quiet here in Peoria, which of course played into the hands of the perpetrators. Among these crimes were 5 murders and several manslaughter charges. This was during Prohibition and if you think the sound of the rat-a-tat of a machine gun is prevalent you are just living the myth your grandfather told you about.

                                               

 

                          1923:  IS  PROHIBITION GONE  YET?

 

A lot of people in town thought that Prohibition would be history by now…but they were wrong.  Surely by now the WETS had their act together and were working hard politically to elect some WETS that could help get rid of Prohibition. Wrong again.  In my opinion, after reading all this history is that the WETS liked the situation the way it was. Many of these drinking men had gotten into the business of supplying booze, and they liked the money.  The politicians were raking in the money in many instances, and locally there was plenty of booze to be had. Hell…let the temperance people enjoy their victory…the time would come and Prohibition would be a thing of the past. In the meantime, let the good times roll.  Believe me…that was the attitude of many folks in Peoria.  To launch a real campaign against Prohibition would take money and political clout…it was just too soon. And…of course, Wayne B. Wheeler was still alive and he had one hell of a lot of politicians on both side well within the palm of his hand.

 

Peorians are watching the big Armory being built, and the excitement about all the events that will be in there is growing. President Harding died today and there is a memorial for him in town.  Cars are absolutely the in thing here in town and everyone old enough to drive is hoping to get one.  From the looks of the traffic in downtown Peoria they already have. Out at the County Fair the cars are really what people go to see.  Well, the cars and the beautiful models that were hired to show off the cars. There is no alcohol allowed on the fairgrounds, but most men and plenty of the ladies brought their own. Airmail is a big thing, and Charles Lindberg is flying in and out of Peoria, Illinois.  Of course he is not famous…but he will be. 

 

                                    WEEKENDS  IN  PEORIA

 

The ING is still the place to dance and marathon dances are being held in the place every month or so. There is money in it for the couple that can stay on their feet the longest.  They had some great songs to dance to like “Three O’Clock In The Morning,”  The girls are bobbing their hair and the shirts are getting higher up the leg.  They smoke and strut and basically have the men following them like ducks follow their mothers.  They wear helmet shaped hats that sweep down over one eye, and wear stripes and prints. As I mentioned most of them smoke, and refer to their cigarettes as fags, sticks, pills and coffin nails. In our newspapers there are full-page ads telling Peorians how wonderful it is to smoke Chesterfields, Lucky Strikes and Phillip Morris cigarettes. Anything that is fun is called ‘the nuts,’ and speaking of nuts people are going up flagpoles and ‘living’ there. “On The Road To Mandalay” and a silly song swept Peoria and the rest of the nation.  It was called by locals the ‘question of the year.’  “Does The Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Over Night?”

 

In Peoria along with stealing whiskey, automobiles seem to be the next best target. In Peoria, according to police forty or fifty cars a month are stolen. A lot of them are later found and police tell folks here that those cars were used for ‘joy rides.’

 

In what could be interpreted as a ‘bootlegging crime,’ Jacob Szolds, a night watchman was killed.  Later police arrest Mike Hunt for the murder. No gang involved and police are really baffled for lack of motive. A huge party in Peoria down at Grant Park for Mayor Woodruff who is once again Mayor of Peoria, Illinois.  Three thousand pack the place and a great time was had by all. Grant Park is quickly named Woodruff Park by his adoring fans. Now this is Prohibition but reports were clear in indicating that ‘some whiskey was available.’

 

Some people in Peoria think that way back ‘in the old days,’ life was easier and not so complicated.  I can tell you that Peoria of the 20’s and 30’s was pretty much the way it was in the 60’s and 70’s.  Hell, a local judge in 1923 granted twenty-six divorces in two days in his courtroom. We had a lot of scary saloons in town. As I mentioned the local reporters rarely referred to them as ‘parlors,’ The one that ranked right up there with the worst was “The Bucket of Blood.”   Nightly the police were inside that place and in 1923 there was a triple murder there. Now this has nothing to do with bootlegging, or Prohibition or any gangster activity.  Most of the murders in Peoria were either domestically related, or fights in and around the bars. Revenge was also a motivator way back then, and people sure as hell knew how to kill and injure each other, believe me. Once in awhile someone was killed in a robbery but a hell of a lot less than you might think.

 

Douglas Fairbanks is over at the Majestic in “The Three Musketeers” and Peorians flocked to watch the action.  Our theaters attract people from fifty plus miles away, and many of those visitors stayed here in our hotels, spent money and loved Peoria.  They told ‘roving reporters’ that they “Just didn’t want to live here.” Once local folks learned that their real estate tax and personal tax will soon pinch their pocketbooks, folks began to look for houses out in the county. Along with counterfeiting of the prescriptions for booze, twenty-dollar bills were showing up in town as phonies.  Most Peorians didn’t see a twenty often and the Federal Agents that came into town told the press that that money is being passed among gamblers and booze buyers.

 

Peorians are talking about the rape trial of Fatty Arbuckle a big time comedian in the moving picture business. Speaking of pictures this was the time of Buster Keaton, Harold Roach and Max Senett.  Peoria is a picture of modern conveniences with water, electricity, ice and milk all coming to homes in Peoria. Until the county can compete with that, most folks will stay in town.  Gripe…oh hell yes, but the populations steadily increased to 105,000 people.

 

1923 came to an end and found Peoria, Illinois a sound, entertaining place to be.  Folks lived a pretty good life here and in spite of Prohibition seemed to thrive.  So it’s time to leave 1923…Twenty-Three Skidoo!

 

                                          THE  WINTER  OF 1924

 

January 1924 brought a horribly dangerous winter here in Peoria, Illinois as record temperatures as low as 28 degrees below zero were recorded.  People died and many, many folks did not have the money to keep their stoves and furnaces going. Getting coal to some of the remote houses out in the county was extremely hampered by the deep snows. Of course there were no real modern snow-removals in any place but the downtown area and life was pretty miserable for a lot of Peorians. Of course, folks with money seem to manage quite well.  There are a lot of petty thefts in connection with coal, wood and in some instances trees in our parks had a way of disappearing.  Every shelter of any kind that was open to the public was jammed and of course our jail was filled to capacity.  Empty cells were offered to the men that would surely freeze to death had they been left outside.  Life is tolerable for these street dwellers as long as the weather is moderate, but cold like Peoria had in 1924 took many lives.  We had our share of local missions and the Salvation Army helped, but there were far too many demands on what they had to offer.

 

I learned from my public speaking engagements that a lot of people think that “Crime is terrible today” and that way back then things were better.  Of course they were not. Today we just hear of things that folks back in the ‘old days’ did not hear.  Of course today with the electronic world and TV stations and radio and newspapers that have to do an awful lot of fill, news is virtually churned out like popcorn at a theater on Saturday night. An example is abortions.  It was a major problem here in town and local authorities often investigated them.  Those investigations were all undercover and rarely was anyone prosecuted. Once the perpetrators were contacted or learned of the probe, they usually packed up and left Peoria.  That was precisely what the authorities wanted them to do. There were ‘quack’ doctors, mainly those that had lost their license to practice ‘real medicine’ and so-called ‘midwives’ and some who had no medical training at all engaged in this business that crude Peorians called ‘coat hanger abortions.’  There were all kinds of ‘cures’ for getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy, all of them dangerous and in some cases just plain silly.  It was that way in 1924, and stayed that way for a very long time.

 

Another example of current history being duplicated in the past was the plague of fires in downtown Peoria, Illinois. Remember that very few buildings were required to be built under any real strict fire codes and death and loss of property was huge in our town. In 1924 a study was made and the result was that in the past, Peoria had lost over 10 million dollars in property losses. 1924 was the year that a fire in the Corn Products plant in Pekin, Illinois killed 44 people. Here in Peoria our fire hydrants were often coated with rust and in the winter were generally frozen. In one day during January 1924 we had 16 fires. Frank Fosco, a  Peoria fire fighter died in one of those fires. Of course we had no internal fire alarms and fires were usually called in by running up to a firebox mounted alongside the street.  The telephone was a wonderful invention but it was not always reliable in those early days for a number of reasons.  Imagine the hardships here in 1924, hell, snow laden streets, frozen plugs, and no way of reaching high up into any of our taller buildings.  We hear people talk about the good old days, I often wondered just exactly when that was in our history here in Peoria, Illinois?

 

                         WHAT  ABOUT  PROHIBITION?

 

Prohibition is still the law of the land, but it certainly does not seem to be a major problem for the WETS here in town.  By now we had just over 200 soft drink parlors and if you want a drink of whiskey you can easily find one. By now the system of supplying Peoria with alcohol is strongly in place and it is a well-oiled machine if you will pardon the pun.  The local dry agents are still in town and they are pretty busy chasing stills and occasionally making an arrest.  Most Peorians ignore them and go about their business.

 

Gambling is pretty much a solid business in town, along with the prostitutes and other vices. The churches are strong and the rest of Peoria is going along at a steady pace.  We had new businesses in town and our downtown shopping district was well and prosperous.  Booze is just not that important anymore, and for those that crave it, or just use it occasionally, there appeared to be no shortage.  Theft, burglaries and assault as well as our usual crimes have not gone up or down. Peoria is on an even keel and life is good. There did not seem to be any public outcry to abolish Prohibition and no political movement in Peoria ever made itself known.

 

Our breweries and distilleries were all busy making all kinds of fluids, liquids and other things that kept those places making money and hiring people.  There are reports in the papers about arrests, and deaths from alcohol, but nothing that the folks had not read about before.   Stills are being knocked over by the dry agents, but the train attacks seemed to have lessened as well as the attacks on the warehouses. Hell, why take chances on that when most of the bad guys just steal it from each other?  As long as Peoria has an adequate supply the folks that drink booze could care less.

 

In Peoria folks have over 11,000 radios and now direct dial telephones were replacing the old ones.  Like I said, Peoria had always been on the ‘cutting edge’ as we would say today. Early on it was that way because whatever our whisky and beer barons wanted they got. Those rich men would then invest in whatever the new services or products were and as a result…Peorians benefited.

 

                                            DAY  TO  DAY  LIFE

 

In Peoria in 1924 crime was always a subject folks talked about.  We had no gangsters, or any really organized criminal, but we did have a lot of lone gunmen and men that simply made a living by taking from others.  We rarely averaged more than six murders a year and our reputation really did not suffer just because of crime.  We had that bawdy reputation and we were never considered a dangerous town until the three so-called gangland murders in 1946.  We had two murders in 1947 and the killing of Bernie Shelton in 1948.  After that our quaint little reputation of a bawdy, wide-open town changed to a ‘gangster haven’ reputation.  Even then that reputation was not deserved but people believed what they read in the newspapers and most of that negative reporting came from out of town newspaper reporters.

 

Here in town we had a run of crimes that the press always liked to label, much to the delight of the readers, names like these.  We had the ‘lover’s lane killer’ and the ‘red light bandit’ as well as the ‘park killer.’  In 1924 over at Grand View Drive we had the ‘Sunday night Bandit.” This guy took advantage of the fact that the automobile of the 20’s could hardly make it up the hills over there.  He would run up and jump on the running boards and stick a gun in the face of the driver robbing him while they barely moved along. One sad story that got everyone talking was a rapist who did the same thing. He then got in the back seat with the man’s female companion.  He raped the lady while he forced the man to ‘keep driving…real slow.” With a lot of pictures and stories the local newspapers reported that the police had caught this ‘lone-wolf’ bandit.  His name was Jesse Knowles and he lived in Peoria Heights.  Folks in these parts praised the police and breathed a collective sigh of relief. The rapist was never apprehended.

 

                                      STILLS AND SUCH

 

I think it would be safe to say that what most of us know about making booze we got from movies.  We know about white lightning, bootlegging, rum running, bathtub gin and home made brew…or do we?  We saw movies about the FEDS chasing all those guys in fast cars down south and busting up stills.  Of course we got a Hollywood version but still it was reasonably educational.  What really went on here in Peoria, Illinois when it came to stills and bathtub Gin? Well, the real truth is not much.

 

Remember we have a handful of Dry Agents in the city and they had to cover their assigned ‘Zone.’  Now that meant that these guys, making about $3,000.00 a year had to cover vast areas. Remember, I told you that Peoria County is 629 square miles.  Ever drive way out in our county? Can you imagine how easy it would be to hide a still or even a dozen here and a dozen there?  It was too easy. After all those men had no technology, no help, just a man or two out there following his nose and hoping basically to stumble on an active still.  They had no real money to buy information and the locals knew better than to even talk to an agent let alone give him any information.

 

However, they did make arrests and law abiding citizens had to give them credit for that. Every now and then the local papers would show our sheriff breaking up a still, making a big deal out of blowing them up.  It was all for show.  The tiny amount of booze they destroyed was not even a drop in the proverbial bucket.  But still they tried.  Agents, especially on our coast died and were injured for their efforts.  Nothing like that ever happened here in Peoria…that I can assure you.

 

Here in the city of Peoria we had plenty of stills going around the clock. That’s right, within the city limits. Of course things were not neat and cozy like our town is today, there was junk in a lot of yards, coal piles and trash piles within a lot of people’s property here in town.  Hell, in some of those places you could have hidden a pig farm, according to complaints made to the city’s health department.  Jack Klutas, who would later figure in a shootout that would take his life and that of an officer, was arrested.  Agents say he had one of the largest stills in town, distilling just over one thousand gallons of good old gut wrenching whiskey.

 

People made wine and cider in their cellars but as long as they did not attempt to sell it the Federal Agents could care less.   Right after the big still bust the papers told folks that two dry agents had been arrested for taking two $600.00 bribes.  Folks rolled there eyes and had that “I told you so” look.  Peorians now have “The Blue Stocking Bandit” to talk about since he has hit the local newspapers.  He was caught by ‘two colored boys’ and they are heroes in town.

 

Locally the newspapers print warnings from the health board about whiskey killing people here in town.  In town people call it     “Moonshine…the light that blights.” Booze had a lot of names and the people with money are pretty safe because they know better than to drink anything that does not have a seal and a legit label.  It’s the poor alcoholic that is being killed.  If you think Peoria as a whole had any sympathy for these men then you don’t know Peoria, Illinois back in those days. Peorians read that another dry agent, Sam Harper was arrested.  He pleaded guilty to robbing a Peoria man and is out on a $20,000.00 bond.  Peorians never had any use for these guys and lately their reputation has slipped even lower.  Quickly dry agents hit the news again, this time for arresting and convicting the man that ran the Ye Old Tavern.  His name was Scott and he got 18 months in a Federal prison.  It wakes up Peoria to the fact that Prohibition is still alive and well in Peoria and the risks to their freedom are still there. Before 1924 ended another warehouse loses a few thousand gallons of booze, and an Ice House in town is raided and agents seize $26,000.00 in beer.  Peorians believe about half of what the feds tell them about their raids.

 

 

 

                               SOME  CITY  STATISTICS

 

1924 is on the run and as it ends the arrest statistics are eagerly awaited. Just like now people complain that Peoria has gone to hell in a hand basket whiles others say it is the best city in the Midwest.

 

During 1924 police arrested 6,305 people and don’t forget we have but 58 patrolmen in a city of 83,733 people. Many of the censuses you get included our county and were often misleading. Of those arrested 855 were women and 52 of those arrested men were considered ‘dope fiends.’  Sounds like a dangerous place but many of these ‘crimes’ were later dismissed and many people were ‘run in’ and quickly released.  We had four murders and the range of crime went from petty thefts to manslaughter.

 

Almost every auto accident resulted in one or the other drivers being arrested.  The stats showed that 95% of these arrests were minor offenses. So, as I said, Peoria was a great city, as safe as any other, and a great place to work, play and raise kids.  If you wanted to go into the seedy side of our town it welcomed visitors with open arms.  If you wanted to stay up half the night and get drunk…Peoria would accommodate you.  We had prostitutes, illegal whiskey, gambling, slot machines, dope dens and all night poker games. We had places in our town that were extremely dangerous and criminals that would rob you or knock you on the head and take everything you had on your person.  The trick was to know where you were, and what chance you were willing to take to satisfy your lust, your desires or ‘whatever.’  If you chose to live on the straight and narrow then you were perfectly safe in our town.  You get out of line, you cross the police and you ended up in jail.  It could be a tough, rough town if you did not learn this basic lesson.

 

So we walk away from 1924, the town is in damn good shape and the fear of Prohibition is over. Peorians learned to survive without the manufacturing of beer and booze and the folks in this town learned how to obtain all they needed to drink. The secret was simple enough…Economics 101…supply and demand.

So at the end of 1924 this particular story ends. Prohibition went on until December of 1933.  I have written thousands of words about Prohibition, most of them are on line. The blog is blogspot.com/historian Norman Kelly.  Peoria Public library/Historian.

Write me norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net.  I also have a fiction blog.