Prohibition in the Napa Valley: Castles Under Siege

by Lin Weber

Overview

To a region flush with the success of alcohol, Prohibition was a sobering thought. Against the backdrop of national events, author Lin Weber introduces a cast of Napa Valley's leading citizens, embroiled in a fight for their livelihood with temperance champions and federal agents. Theodore Bell filed a Hail Mary suit to stop California's ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment. Vintner Georges de Latour made money hand over fist on altar wine. The Nichelini winery hid a cache of contraband under the floorboards, and the Blaufuss Brewery avoided prosecution when the law turned a blind eye. Join Weber as she relates a wry tale of cherished vines, widespread corruption and alcohol-inspired mayhem during a time when "morality" tightened the noose around Napa's prized alcohol industry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625845429
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	09/17/2013
Series:	American Palate
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Lin Weber is the author of seven Napa Valley histories. She is a lifetime member of the Napa Valley Wine Library Association and the Jewish Historical Society of the Napa Valley. Weber is also a former trustee of the Napa Valley Museum and a recipient of Napa Landmarks' Award of Merit. She has lived in the Napa Valley since 1971.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

1 Poetry or Poison?

The Early Temperance Movement 11

The Great Escape 13

Napa Valley Cities Form 16

Ohio 19

2 Boom and Bust in the Napa Valley

Castles 24

The Bursting Bubble 33

Recovery 37

More Europeans 39

3 Powerful Forces

ASL, WCTU, SDA 52

Theodore Bell 55

Wine v. Beer v. Booze 57

Blind Pigs in Yountville 61

4 The Noose Tightens

Amending the Constitution 65

Public Relations 67

Optimists and Pessimists 70

The Great War 72

1917 Festivals 75

Ratification 77

Hysteria 78

5 The Hatchet Falls

Last-Ditch Efforts 80

The Volstead Act 82

Form's Chicago Connections 85

It Begins 86

The Medical Exception 89

Beer in Napa 91

Stills 93

6 Chaos

Death on the Road 95

Citizens Arrested 97

Dago Mary's 106

The KKK 108

7 Foxes in Henhouses

Sheriff Steckter 110

Escalation 114

Hoover v. Smith 116

Grape Bricks 120

8 Repeal

Eclipse of an Industry 124

Hoover v. Roosevelt 125

Collapse of a Movement 127

Bibliography 133

Index 137

About the Author 143