When ingenuity knows no bounds: How American women hid alcohol during Prohibition

In the years 1920-1933, the Prohibition Act was in effect in the United States, prohibiting the production, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages. This led to the emergence of many illegal ways to circumvent the ban. Among those who actively participated in this underground business were women who invented elaborate and sometimes even dangerous hiding places for alcohol.

Used clothes and accessories, kitchen utensils. Even baby carriages and toys.

Special corsets, which had secret pockets, allowed to hide bottles with drinks under the dress. Some women even wore belts with flasks, which could easily be hidden under voluminous dresses or skirts. Often these corsets had special pockets on the back that could hold up to several bottles.

Many women used accessories. Handbags, umbrellas, even double-bottomed hats have become popular places to transport alcohol. Some ladies even had specially made heels on their shoes or sandals where small bottles could be hidden.

Kitchen utensils were also used to hide alcohol. For example, wine could be poured into empty milk bottles or pans. This method was quite effective because law enforcement agencies rarely checked such items.

Particularly inventive women hid flasks in books or other household items. And it looked so skillful that even the special services could envy them.

The use of their children to transport alcohol was particularly shocking. Baby carriages, toys, and children's clothes had secret compartments for alcoholic beverages. Mothers with children were rarely suspected, so this allowed them to transport alcohol safely.

Women also helped organize and operate underground establishments where alcohol could be purchased. Home parties were often held with alcoholic beverages: parties were often disguised as innocent gatherings of friends and family, and houses were made hiding places to store bottles, for example, in furniture or behind false walls. 

Prohibition was abolished in December 1933.

Source: mixnews.lv

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