Speaking easy

We visited some venerable watering holes to ask local residents a few generations removed from the Bootlegging Era what they know about Prohibition and what they would do if it came back.

Last update: October 27, 2007 - 4:09 PM

We visited some venerable watering holes to ask local residents a few generations removed from the Bootlegging Era what they know about Prohibition and what they would do if it came back.

At W.A. Frost & Co., Kimberlie Rick, 25, of St. Paul, said she's a light drinker but "I definitely would fight" any effort to bring it back. "I definitely wouldn't just sit and accept it, [and] I would find a way to have a cocktail or glass of wine somehow. ... That battle has already been fought and lost. Isn't it almost like double jeopardy?"

Although Shonnie Brault, 37, works at Neumann's Bar in North St. Paul, home to a 1920s speakeasy/brothel, she had never heard of Prohibition ("I'm not a big history buff"). But she admitted that she "would freak if it happened again. ... I'd cry [chuckles]. ... Wouldn't there be some serious riots and stuff?"

J.D. Strate, 27, of Minneapolis, was at Gluek's with a dozen friends. "Actually, those speakeasies sound like a lot of fun. But Prohibition was definitely not the best idea the government ever had. People our age want to go out and get together and drink beer. That's how I spend my entire weekends, with beer ... oh, and church."

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