Prohibition Trivia

1. Prohibition of alcohol was closely related to which nineteenth century reform movement?

From Quiz Prohibition: America's War Against Booze

Answer: temperance movement

The temperance crusade which spanned the whole nineteenth century attempted to get Americans to cut back (be temperate) on alcohol consumption. By the 1890's the emphasis had shifted from moderation concerning alcohol to outright government bans on all alcohol being made, transported, sold, or consumed.

From Quiz Drinking Wine from a Teacup

Answer: Volstead Act

In 1919, the 18th Amendment was ratified. The Volstead Act, passed later that same year clarified the exact meaning of the Amendment and was the basis of the law concerning the manufacture and sale of intoxicating drink. It said that intoxicating drink meant any drink with an alcohol content of more than 0.5% by volume. It also made it illegal to own equipment that would enable you to make alcohol. The penalties for breaching the Act, such as fines and jail sentences were also contained in it. Prohibition came into effect in January 1920.

From Quiz Prohibition - A sobering time in US history

Answer: 18th Amendment

Up to the end of the twentieth century, there were 27 Amendments to the United States Constitution. Passed in 1917, the 18th Amendment abolished the sale or consumption of alcohol in the U.S.

From Quiz Prohibition Era Crime and Criminals

Answer: Pretty Boy

Charles Arthur Floyd was better known as Pretty Boy Floyd. He was a notorious criminal who was part of the Dillinger Gang.

From Quiz American Cops and Robbers - The Real Deal

Answer: Frank J. Wilson

In 1928, Wilson, a top agent of the Treasury Department Bureau of Internal Revenue was assigned by Bureau Chief Elmer L. Irey to investigate Al Capone for tax evasion. A 1927 Supreme Court ruling declared that any income from criminal activities must be subject to income taxed. Capone was known to be involved in bootlegging, illegal gambling, and various other illegal activities, but never filed an income tax return or provided any proof of income or expenditures. Wilson launched what was to become a three year investigation into the financial affairs of Al Capone. The investigation involved having federal agents infiltrate the financial organization of Capone, known as the "Chicago Outfit", and the tracking down of former bookkeepers and accountants of Capone's mob. The investigation revealed several millions of dollars in unreported income. Capone was tried for income tax evasion, convicted, and sentenced to 11 years in prison. Wilson continued his career in law enforcement, and in 1936, was named to the position of Chief of the United States Secret Service.

From Quiz The Real 'Untouchables'

Answer: Department of Justice

In the movie directed by Brian De Palma, the Untouchables were referred to as "Treasury Agents." The real-life Untouchables were in fact comissioned by Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, but the team would operate as a special unit of the Bureau of Prohibition, which became part of the Department of Justice in 1930.

From Quiz Prohibition: America's War Against Booze

Answer: Eighteenth

The Eighteenth Amendment, nationally launching the war on alcohol, was approved in January of 1919 and took effect in January of 1920. The Seventeenth dealt with the election of Senators. The Nineteenth gave women the right to vote, and the Twenty First repealed the Eighteenth!

From Quiz Prohibition - A sobering time in US history

Answer: Anti-Saloon League

The Anti-Saloon League successfully tied beer to its German roots around the time of WWI to sway public opinion in favor of prohibition. One of the major feats of this group was that it united many unlikely organizations such as the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) and and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) against the use of alcohol.

From Quiz Prohibition Era Crime and Criminals

Answer: Baby Face Nelson

Lester Gilles, who was better known as Baby Face Nelson was responsible for the deaths of three FBI agents. Part of the Dillinger Gang, he was named Public Enemy Number One after the death of John Dillinger.

From Quiz American Cops and Robbers - The Real Deal

Answer: Chicago

The incident, dubbed by the press and the media as the Saint Valentine's Day massacre, took place on Thursday, February 14, 1929, in Chicago, Illinois. The incident involved the cold blooded execution of seven men as part of a "turf" war between rival criminal gangs in Chicago, during a prohibition era conflict. Involved was the South Side Italian gang, led by gangster Al Capone, and the North Side Irish gang, led by Dion O'Banion. On that fateful morning, five members of the O'Banion gang were lured to the garage of the SMC Cartage Company, on Chicago's North side with the promise of purchasing a cut-rate shipment of bootlegged whiskey. At the location, two of Capone's men, dressed in the uniforms of Chicago police officers, had the five members of the O'Banion gang, a follower or "groupie" of the gang, and a mechanic, who was not affiliated with the gang, line up facing the wall of the garage. The men believed they were complying with lawful orders of the police The two phony police officers opened a side door and let in two other men, dressed in the style of undercover police officers, each carrying a Thompson sub-machine gun. Moments later, all seven of the men were gunned down in a hail of seventy bullets fired from the sub-machine guns. Two shotgun blast were fired by the phony uniformed police officers. It was believed by Capone that O'Banion himself would be in attendance, and that the encounter would end with the elimination on O'Banion. Capone went so far as to station lookouts outside of the building. When the members of the O'Banion gang arrived, one of the victims, Albert Weinshank, apparently was misidentified as O'Banion. Both men shared the same physical built, and Weinshank physically resembled the intended victim. This misidentification resulted in the lookout giving the signal that started the carnage.

From Quiz Prohibition

Answer: Anti-Saloon League

These groups were fundamental in raising support for Prohibition from their creations. The 'Women's Christian Temperance Union' in 1873 and the 'Anti-Saloon League' in 1893. They published numerous cartoons, posters and leaflets across the country.

From Quiz The Real 'Untouchables'

Answer: Eliot Ness

26 year-old Ness was personally selected by United States District Attorney George E. Q. Johnson to lead a small group of Prohibition agents that would target illegal breweries and the speakeasies of Chicago. Ness was given full control over what men would be a part of this team.

From Quiz Prohibition: America's War Against Booze

Answer: Forbade consumption of it

A person could not make it, sell it, or carry it from one place to another, but if he or she had it, it was alright to drink it! In the year after the Prohibition Amendment was ratified until it took effect, many Americans rushed out and bought hundreds of gallons of alcohol from liquor stores and other alcohol-related businesses that were being forced to close.

From Quiz Drinking Wine from a Teacup

Answer: Canada

The rise in demand for illegal alcohol led to a rise in people willing to supply it. Rumrunners tried to smuggle in boat loads of rum from the Caribbean area, whilst Canadian whiskey was frequently stolen by the lorry load and smuggled over the border into America. There was also a market for homemade liquor and wines made in illegal stills and breweries. Much of this was very low quality. Some stills even used lead coils and soldering, and creosote, iodine and ethanol were all included in the recipes. Too much consumption of this type of liquor could lead to serious illness or even death.

From Quiz Prohibition - A sobering time in US history

Answer: Carry Nation

Carry Nation thought that it was her divine calling to smash up saloons in the Kansas area. In her words, she said that God told her to "Take something in your hands, and throw at these places and smash them". Her trademark weapon of choice was a hatchet that she used to bust up the many saloons that she destroyed.

From Quiz Prohibition Era Crime and Criminals

Answer: kidnapping

George Kelly Barnes who was better known as 'Machinegun Kelly', was arrested and tried for the kidnapping of Oklahoma oilman Charles Urscal. He received a life sentence for this crime.

From Quiz American Cops and Robbers - The Real Deal

Answer: Federal Law Enforcement Officers

These four men, along with Martin J. Lehart, Thomas Friel, Joseph Leeson, William Gardner, Micharl King, Jim Seeley, and Albert H. Wolff, comprised the elite unit of Bureau of Prohibition agents, lead by Eliot Ness, who became known as "The Untouchables". Their moniker came as a result of the reputation of the agents as being fearless and totally incorruptible. Their primary mission was to stop the illegal activities of crime syndicate boss, Al Capone. The unit gather information about Capone's activities through wire taps, and conducted raids on Capone's beer and liquor empire including speakeasies, stills, and breweries. Ness reported the seizing of over one million dollars in breweries At the conclusion of the Al Capone case, the Untouchables were disbanded

From Quiz Prohibition

Answer: Maryland

Maryland felt that Prohibition was infringement of its "state's right" to control alcohol within its borders. Not everyone wanted Prohibition, and from the outset even the other states kept up the flow of alcohol with the help of gangsters and the 'speakeasy'. In addition, home-made alcohol grew in popularity despite the fact that the alcohol produced was invariably poisonous.

From Quiz The Real 'Untouchables'

Answer: Al Capone

Crime lord Alphonse 'Scarface' Capone was the most powerful man in Chicago during most of the Prohibition years. He generated over 1.5 million dollars a week from sales of illegal alcohol alone.

From Quiz Drinking Wine from a Teacup

Answer: Grapes were sold in dried, compressed blocks

In the first five years of Prohibition, the California grape growers actually increased their area under cultivation by a considerable amount. They compressed the grapes into solid, dried blocks and sold them as "bricks of Rhine Wine", "bricks of port", or bricks of whatever variety of wine the particular grape would have made. These blocks were light and portable and very easy to send through the mail to anywhere in the country without anyone in authority realising what they were. They were so popular that the Mayor of New York City even sent out wine-making instructions to his constituents.

From Quiz Prohibition - A sobering time in US history

Answer: The Temperance Movement

In the early 1800s it was said that the average American male drank 7 gallons of alcohol a year. This caused a fervor for reform, which became known as the the Temperance Movement. This movement, rooted in America's Protestant churches, campaigned first for moderation, than slowly pushed towards refraining from drinking entirely.

From Quiz Prohibition Era Crime and Criminals

Answer: grocery stores and gas stations

Bonnie and Clyde actually prefered low risk targets such as grocery stores and gas stations. The yield was low, but then again so was the risk.

From Quiz American Cops and Robbers - The Real Deal

Answer: George "Machine Gun" Kelly

In late September of 1933, Federal Agents were tipped off that George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and his wife, Katherine, who were wanted for crimes including kidnapping, were hiding out in a residence in Memphis, Tennessee. In the early morning hours of September 26, 1933, Federal Agents, along with Memphis Police executed a raid on the residence. FBI Agents, along with Memphis police sergeant William Raney and Officer Thomas Waterson, surprised Kelly and his wife. Caught without his trademark weapon, Kelly supposedly cried out, "Don't shoot G-Men!, don't shoot G-Men, as he surrendered to FBI agents. The term G-Men became synonymous with FBI agents, and soon became a part of American lexicon. G-Men was an abbreviation for "government man".

From Quiz Prohibition

Answer: 200,000 square miles

This difficult job and their poor pay unfortunately meant that the agents were prone to bribery and corruption by the gangsters who would do anything to keep their hugely profitable alcohol rackets alive. Despite this there were successful agents, such as Isadore Einstein and Moe Smith, between them they made 4,392 arrests!

From Quiz The Real 'Untouchables'

Answer: They could not be bribed or corrupted

The Mob offered Ness $2,000 a week if he agreed to 'take it easy.' The next morning, Capone's agents tossed an envelope full of money into the car of two of Ness' men, who then tossed the envelope right back at the gangsters. Ness arranged a press conference later that afternoon, where he announced to the world that his team had refused Capone's attempted bribes. One newspaper reported that "Eliot Ness and his young agents have proved to Al Capone that they are untouchable." Soon other newspapers began referring to Ness and his men as 'The Untouchables.' Extra trivia: According to Eliot Ness, one member of the team was a germaphobe. Sam Seager, a 6'2" tall ex-prison guard from Sing Sing, never used a hotel bathroom before washing it down with carbolic acid. Apparently germs scared him more than bullets.

From Quiz Prohibition: America's War Against Booze

Answer: Bathtub gin

Homemade alcohol was not likely to be discovered by Prohibition enforcers, so the bathtub and other household implements were put to use. Demon rum, the Devil's elixir, and John Barleycorn were some of the epithets used by Prohibitionists to describe alcohol.

From Quiz Drinking Wine from a Teacup

Answer: Pauline Sabin

Almost before the ink on the Prohibition amendment was dry there were calls for it to be repealed. Originally Sabin had been in favour of the ban, but as time went on she, and many other women, felt that Prohibition was failing. Even the Temperance Movement, who were the prime lobbyists for the original ban, realised that their hope of a sober, alcohol-free society was not happening. Women were given the vote by the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, and most politicians felt that they would vote for Prohibition. In fact, over 1.5 million joined the repeal movement. They felt that the binge drinking, rise in organised, violent crime and the mass flouting of the law by a large percentage of the population was not a good example for their children. The Women's Organisation grew out of these feelings. By 1932, they had representation in forty-one states.

From Quiz Prohibition - A sobering time in US history

Answer: Wayne Wheeler

Wayne Wheeler was the leader of a very powerful organization during prohibition called the Anti-Saloon League. This organization had many powerful backers such as Ford, Carnegie, and Rockefeller.

From Quiz Prohibition Era Crime and Criminals

Answer: state line rules

Criminals would use state jurisdiction laws, better known as state line rules. Once a state line was crossed, pursuit by lawmen in the state where the crime occurred would cease. This explains why the high risk robberies of banks took place close to another state border.

From Quiz American Cops and Robbers - The Real Deal

Answer: 7 1/2 years

Al Capone, possible the most notorious crime figures of the 20th Century entered the United States Penitentiary (USP) Atlanta in May of 1932. He was later transferred to Alcatraz Prison, also known as "The Rock" in San Francisco Bay, and ended his confinement on November 16, 1939, after serving his final 10 months of confinement at the Federal Correction Institution at Terminal Island, near Los Angeles, California. Capone, the leader of the Chicago Crime Syndicate in the 1920's and the 1930's was believed to have been involved in all aspects of organized crime, but was finally convicted by the Federal government only on charges of tax evasion. To his credit, while ruling over his crime syndicate, Capone was able to gain the support of many of the local Chicago residents. During depressed times in 1929, Capone was the first to open free soup kitchens at the beginning of "The Great Depression", and arranged to purchase clothing for many of Chicago's needy.

This is category 18647

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, Top 10% Rated Quiz, Top 20% Rated Quiz, A Well Rated Quiz
= added recently, = Editor's Pick = FunTrivia Editor = Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.