Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

Prohibition began with temperance movements throughout the United States before the Civil War. Alcohol consumption had become closely related with poverty and crime by the early 20th century, causing states to pass local prohibition laws.

National prohibition did not become a foreseeable goal until World War I, when food shortages caused the government to restrict alcohol production so grain could be used for food. The 18th Amendment created national prohibition and began an era of bootlegging, speakeasies, and organized crime.
The 1920s, while a prosperous time for the United States, saw a rise in crime and moral vice—the very problems prohibition was suppose to solve. Once the nation fell into depression, FDR saw the liquor industry as a valuable source of revenue and stopped what Herbert Hoover called, “a noble experiment.”

On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified and went into effect, permanently ending this period of prohibition in the United States.

Bartenders at Sloppy Joe's pour a round of drinks to celebrate the end of prohibition in Chicago

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

Crowds fill Times Square in New York after hearing that prohibition had come to an end

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

A July 4 protest against the 14-year-ban on alcohol takes place in New York in 1925

Workers wave from the top of a tower of confiscated alcohol in 1929

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

A New Jersey prohibition director, right, gives a Newark garage owner an approved sign for selling alcohol that can be used in car radiators in 1927

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

Counterfeit beer streams down a street after barrels were broken open

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

Officials watch as confiscated beer is poured down a drain

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

Crates of beer are stacked at a brewery in New York shortly after the end of prohibition

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

Police pose with cases of illegal alcohol and distilling equipment seized during a raid

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

An axe is taken to a barrel as a crowd gathers to watch in about 1920

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

An anti-probition demonstration in Washington DC in 1920. The law wasn't repealed until 1933

Historical Pictures of Celebrations as Prohibition Finally Ended 80 Years Ago

Alcohol is poured into a New York sewer in about 1920