Pubdate: Sun, 18 Nov 2012
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Associated Press
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/0n4cG7L1
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Author: Kathy Matheson, Associated Press

MUSEUM EXHIBIT TAKES SOBER LOOK AT PROHIBITION

PHILADELPHIA  A hatchet used to bust up saloons, the verdict sheet 
from Al Capone's trial and lawman Eliot Ness' sworn oath of office 
are among the more sobering artifacts in a new exhibit documenting 
the driest period in U.S. history.

But the items help tell a lively tale as part of "American Spirits: 
The Rise and Fall of Prohibition." The installation now on view at 
the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia also includes a 
re-created speakeasy, where visitors can learn the lingo and fashions 
of the Roaring '20s and even how to dance the Charleston.

"We've never had as much fun building an exhibition," said Stephanie 
Reyer, one of its developers. "Of the 27 amendments we have to work 
with, this is by far the sexiest."

Exhibit organizers describe the 18th Amendment, which essentially 
banned alcohol from 1920 to 1933, as the country's "most colorful and 
complex constitutional hiccup." Yet they say the lessons of 
Prohibition remain relevant in current debates over issues such as 
legalizing marijuana and the role of government in private lives.

To that end, the exhibit aims to answer a simple question: "How did 
this happen?" And the first step, of course, was admitting the nation 
had a drinking problem.

In 1830, the average American downed 90 bottles of 80-proof liquor 
per year  three times current consumption. Women were among the 
imbibers, as evidenced by the exhibit's bottle of Lydia Pinkham's 
Vegetable Compound: The remedy for "female complaints" was nearly 21 
percent alcohol.

A combination of social pressures led to the temperance movement 
headed by hatchet-wielding Carry Nation (sometimes spelled Carrie). 
Her weapon of choice and one of its victims  a mirror from a Kansas 
barroom  are both on display.

The exhibit uses dozens of artifacts and creative displays to propel 
the story forward, from lobbying and ratification to the emergence of 
rumrunners and organized crime. There's also a section on products 
that filled the alcoholic void, from Hires root beer to perfectly 
legal "malt syrup." Ahem.

An interactive quiz set amid "church pews" lets visitors see if 
they'd be considered a "dry" or a "wet." One custom-made video game 
illustrates the difficulties of intercepting illegal booze, while 
another tests knowledge of loopholes that permitted alcohol consumption.

Also on view: a letter from Susan B. Anthony seeking a partnership 
between suffragists and temperance crusaders; Pennsylvania's original 
ratification copy of the 18th Amendment; and bootlegger Roy 
Olmstead's phone, the subject of a landmark wiretapping case.

The final sections of the exhibit deal with the repeal of Prohibition 
and its legacy, which includes the radical variations in liquor laws 
found among states today.

America's dry era left an "indelible mark" on the country, according 
to exhibit curator Daniel Okrent, author of "Last Call: The Rise and 
Fall of Prohibition."

"And though it may have been a wild card in our constitutional 
history, it came into being through the invention and deployment of 
political tactics and strategies still in play today," Okrent said in 
a statement.

The exhibit, which Reyer described as the center's biggest and most 
ambitious, runs through April. It will then travel to museums in 
Seattle; St. Paul, Minn.; St. Louis; Austin, Texas; and Grand Rapids, Mich.

Reyer hopes for at least one more stop.

"I'm trying to get it into bourbon country," she said. "I'd love to 
get it into Kentucky."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom