"The Prohibition Blues" and Baltimore's Growing Dope Problem

I've been interested in finding out something about the Baltimore-raised singer and bandleader, Cab Calloway, during Prohibition. Unfortunately, I haven't discovered anything along the lines of what I had in mind. Of course, the Jazz Age took place simultaneously with the Prohibition era so one would think it wouldn't be so hard. Well, I did find a song that he recorded called "The Prohibition Blues" and it is featured at the beginning of this Betty Boop cartoon, which is one of my favorites. I found a website that talks about the cartoon:

The cartoon begins with actual film footage of Cab Calloway dancing a slow and sensuous dance in front of his orchestra, the former Missourians, while they perform the Prohibition Blues. This is the oldest known film footage of Cab. His attire is uncharacteristically casual, and we never get a good look at his face. We suspect that Cab wasn't aware that the Fleischers were going to use the actual footage. Cab was well-known for his love of good clothes and his high standards for professional dress...

The haunting and beautiful instrumental, Prohibition Blues, is an old Missourians piece that was recorded by them in early 1930, right before Cab took over as leader of their band. This cartoon has the only recording of the piece with Cab Calloway. By early 1932, when this cartoon was produced, the group had been renamed "Cab Calloway and His Orchestra," but in this film, they are still wearing their old Missourians uniforms. We can see the drummer, Leroy Maxey, playing with his drumsticks in the background.

I highly recommend watching this cartoon! I think the animation is pretty fantastic (and kind of disturbing) in the cave scene towards the end. One part to note is the three skeletons standing at a bar at about 4:40. As they sing their Ho-De-Ho-De-Ho's, they drink bottles (presumably alcohol) from a bar and then collapse to the floor and then their ghosts rise up.

Unfortunately "The Prohibition Blues" has no lyrics, but it got me thinking... Cab Calloway did a song called "The Reefer Man" and I wondered if maybe I was searching in the wrong direction when it came to Cab and Prohibition.

Regrettably, I lost the main article that I would use for my next argument, which is that the use of "dope" increased during Prohibition. But I did find some other articles that cover that topic. Now, it has to be clear what "dope" is exactly, especially in the 1920's, which is why I consulted The Internet Guide to Jazz Age Slang. According to the website, dope is drugs, especially cocaine or opium. Well, now that that's settled, on with my research.

In the article, "GROWTH OF THE DOPE HABIT ALARMS OFFICIALS," the Afro-American reported of some dope peddlers, two men and two women, getting arrested. The article stated, "According to officers, the illegal trade in narcotics is becoming more and more in evidence among colored people and the majority of the arrests being made are among this group."

Also from Afro-American, a piece called "The Evil of Narcotics" said

It used to be said that prohibition would drive all the old soaks to the use of opium, but statistics show that while there has been an increase in the number of habitues a large percentage of them are young boys and girls under twenty who could not have been long addicted to whiskey habit if at all.

Here we see that rather than using opiates as a last resort for not having booze, it started to become the first thing young people looked for. I think it is worth investigating- the rise of drug use in Baltimore city starting with Prohibition.

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Megaera and Brenna Lorenz, "Betty Boop in Minnie the Moocher", http://www.heptune.com/minnbett.html

"GROWTH OF THE DOPE HABIT ALARMS OFFICIALS" Afro-American (1893-1988), September 21, 1923, ProQuest Historical Newspapers Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988) pg. 7.

"The Evil of Narcotics"Afro-American (1893-1988), January 10, 1925, ProQuest Historical Newspapers Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988) pg. 16.

Finding Drinking Joints

Although near-beer saloons were legal during Prohibition, real beer and liquor were something you had to either get from a bootlegger or at a speakeasy. The Baltimore Sun reported a federal agent's claim that "for every saloon closed...two speakeasies open." Speakeasies were harder to raid, as Eric Mills, writer of Chesapeake Rumrunners of the Roaring Twenties, explains because "you had to either be known or know someone to get in."

The so-called Noble Experiment that was Prohibition had many opponents and Maryland Senator, the Hon. W.M. Cabell Bruce, was one of them. Bruce explained in a speech delivered in Washington D.C. in 1924 that "the bootlegger has acquired almost the legitimate standing of the butcher at the green grocer." In a separate speech on the same topic, he explained that the legal consequences of a bootlegger getting caught was simply

"regarded by the bootlegger and other violators of the Volstead Act as more occupational hazards... They calculate their chances of incurring them as a marine insurer calculates the chances of a shipwreck in fixing the premium under a marine policy."

Bruce went on to say that if there was any well-to-do man who used to drink whiskey or wine before the Volstead Act and is not using it today, "he is not known to me."

Crime statistics agreed with what Bruce said. Whereas Prohibition was expected to decrease alcoholism in the country, it actually steadily increased according to police statistics compiled by the Baltimore Sun.

Amount of Arrests for Drunkenness in Baltimore
1920. . . . . . . . . . . 1,785
1921. . . . . . . . . . . 3,258
1922. . . . . . . . . . . 4,955
1923. . . . . . . . . . . 5,631

Crackdowns aside, drinking joints abounded in Baltimore. Eric Mills lists some places where people would go to get drinks:
John C.Murder's saloon at 4536 Harford Rd
Jerry Bee's saloon at 2000 West Lanvale St
the Iola Athletic and Pleasure Club at 109 Parkin St
the Hotel Leland bar at 1610 Pennsylvania Ave.
the Biddle Street saloon
the Laurens Street saloon
Seymour's Mulberry Street watering hole
Nixon's Cafe,
the black saloon at the corner of Gough and Dallas Streets
The Diamond Cafe at 311 West Franklin
Ivory Booker's beer hall at 15 North Frederick
Maurice Finn and Charlie Mitchell's place at 3 North Frederick
Eddie Vaeth's saloon at 300 Light St
the Lithuanian Hall at Hollins and Parkin

Baltimore was a traditionally a big beer town, robustly so, with its strong German and Irish influences and a renowned zest for steamed crab consumption. So it would make sense that in Baltimore, a red crab in the window of a restaurant meant "saloon in the backroom. A sign advertising "seafood" meant likewise.

Another option besides the bootlegger and the saloon was making your own or home brew. This started to become very popular and Baltimore writer, H.L. Mencken, claimed that he was the first to successfully make a drinkable home brew. He didn't keep his recipe to himself either- He was known to send it to whoever asked. There is more to be said about the concoctions that people made out of desperation during Prohibition, but I will leave that to another blog post.

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The Hon. W.M. Cabell Bruce, THREE ADDRESSES ON PROHIBITION, Reference book The Enoch Pratt Free Library of Baltimore Maryland Md.XHV5089.B69
Eric Mills, Chesapeake Rumrunners of the Roaring Twenties, (Centreville: Tidewater Publishers, 2000)

Methodists versus Soldiers during Prohibition

(click on pictures to make them bigger)


As I was reading articles from the New York times about Baltimore during Prohibition, I came across many with the subject of Methodists who were pro-Prohibition. The above image is an ad from The New York Times on November 7, 1926. Judging from the ad, one could expect some anti-Methodist attitudes. Although the Methodists seemed to be staunchly against liquor, I came across articles with statements from priests and other figures from different churches who were actually against Prohibition, which seems contradictory to what is expected. They claimed that they were against alcohol to excess, but the complete elimination of it could be just as dangerous.

Another article I found interesting was of a raid at a Methodist church where some soldiers were having dinner prepared for them by the women's auxillaries. Upon making dinner for the veterans, they found illegal alcoholic substances and they called the prohibition agents. The agents came and seized the place and had the veterans arrested. One of the men arrested made a statement saying "One of these Christian women... told me when the raid was made that I ought to be ashamed of myself, an ex-soldier, for allowing such conditions at the Home. I told her that she certainly had a nice way of showing her appreciation of the boys who fought for her in France by calling the prohibition agents."

It is fascinating to think of the timing of Prohibition- in between wars, before the Depression. If there was ever a time to drink, it was probably the twenties. The soldiers especially had reason to drink and were even moved to march for "Wets." On June 3, 1919, there was a parade of 25,000 people including "Soldiers and women in automobiles." Their banners displayed "Our legislators drink wet, talk wet, and vote dry." 100,000 people lined their route and watched in the 94 degree heat. All bars were closed during the afternoon in response to a request from the Anti-Saloon League. Labor union men from New York came down to see the demonstration and said they would plan a similar demonstration in New York. i came across no pictures from the event, but I think it is worth doing a little more digging to find some.

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"Display Ad 85 - No Title" New York Times, 7 November 1926, pg.BR36. Database on-line. Available from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1831-2006)

"RAID FOLLOWS WOMEN'S TIP" New York Times, 11 November 1923, pg. S6. Database on-line. Available from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1831-2006)

"25,000 PARADE FOR "WETS." New York Times, 3 June 1919, pg.28. Database on-line. Available from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1831-2006)

November 5, 2009

Yesterday I got a lot of articles on the databases in the library. I will scan them and post them tomorrow. So in one day you'll get to hear about Methodist Snitches! Beer Riots! and more!

I would scan them tonight, but I am doing some "research" at a bar in a 1920's building. Maybe they'll know something...