I'd like to know what those of you who saw the first episode of Prohibiton by Ken Burns on PBS thought of the program.
My grandfather was a bootlegger who delivered 55 gallon drums of homemade brew to speakeasies. I watched it to find out if he was a lone wolf or part of a big organization.
I was fascinated to learn so many new things about the long campaign of Protestants to go dry. All those methods are the same ones the Christian right is using to bend the US to their will today on matters of abortion and birth control. I'm convinced it will turn out just as badly if we let them have their way. The Mafia will supply the back alley abortions and the birth control will have to be bootlegged in from other countries or prepared by home made methods. Image having to go to Mexico to get an IUD because your own doctor is forbidden to insert one.
UGH! I missed it! I am going to have to see if I can download it or something, because we really wanted to watch it. There are now about 4 things airing at the same time on Sunday we want to see, and I forgot to DVR this. Glad you posted something about it so I'm reminded!
I watched a portion of it and recorded the rest of it. Going to watch the rest of it hopefully tonight. I knew about the prohibition during the early 1900's but didn't realize that it had started way before the civil war. That was interesting. The show seems very well done and very informative. I love anything that has to do with history.
My husband and I watched it. I found it very interesting. I knew general information about Prohibition, but like the other poster mentioned, I didn't know all the history leading up to the big event. I also got a big kick out of the Carrie Nation story...I had never heard of her before.
Fascinating. For the poster who was going to watch the rest tonight -- The second episode is on tonight so don't miss it while you're watching the first one! They are running it on three consecutive nights (at least, our PBS here is).
This is a period about which I know little but the very basic highlights we all recall from school (speakeasys, gangsters, Capone, depression, repeal). It was good to get the 19th-century background to the entire prohibition movement. It was especially interesting for my husband, who is English, and who knew even less about the period. He is now a fan of Carrie Nation!
Like most Ken Burns programs, it was well researched and well edited. He's extremely thorough. I had heard one of the experts, Okrent (forget his first name), on the radio before, and I bought his new book for my mother. Most of us know something about Prohibition, but not the 80 years of factors leading up to it. I can't wait for the next episode!
I love PBS documentaries.
I didn't catch last night's episode, but here is the site where you can read about it and watch excerpts.
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/?gclid=CMu5y8rXzK...
I didn 't watch more than a few minutes. It's on the dvr for later once the offspring goes to school. Looking forward to watching it in PEACE!
