Obituary of a Three-Century Man, Chapter 9
Jackson Gets His Model T, and The Birth of Bootleggers
Scratching an old itch, Jackson purchased a Ford Model T shortly after entering the workforce as a logger. He had saved most of the $30 per month he had been paid as a soldier; he also was given some compensation for losing his two fingers. After earning the balance needed in the woods, he paid “cash on the barrelhead,” as they called it then, for the automobile.
By that time, in 1919, automobiles were not rare, but neither were they common—only about one family in ten owned one. There were fewer roads than today, and not many of them were paved. Thus, motorists were more limited in the scope of their travels than those who stuck with their tried-and-true horses for transportation—these could go practically anywhere they had a mind to, albeit often at a slower pace.
Jackson was happy with the car, but the pride of ownership didn’t quite live up to the exuberance he had anticipated when he was a boy and dreamed of corralling one of those black beauties. He had opted for the two-seat runabout version of the car. For this reason, he avoided requests to motor “the boys” out to bars after work, as he only had room for one passenger. That was just as well because, although Jackson enjoyed a beer after work as much as the next guy, he didn’t want to spend his whole evening and half his paycheck on such recreations. He was just as happy to go home and spend the evenings with his family—which at the time consisted of his parents and his younger siblings.
The 18th amendment to the Constitution, making the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol illegal, was ratified in early 1919, but at first had no teeth. It wasn’t until a year later, in early 1920, that the new law was vigorously enforced. Jackson opposed the law on philosophical grounds. He felt people should have as much personal freedom as possible, provided they didn’t infringe or impinge on the rights of others through the exercise of such freedoms.
On a superficial level, Jackson admitted that prohibition made some sense. After all, the abuse of alcohol did lead to problems, such as vehicle accidents, falls that caused injuries, and loss of inhibitions and self-control which led to various other societal problems and ills, not the least of which was alcohol addiction. The barley and the grape were definitely a key or contributing factor in a lot of bad behavior. But couldn’t the same be said of other things, such as sex? How many societal problems were caused by sex? A plethora of them: unwanted pregnancies; disease; assaults, mayhem, and even murders by irate fathers and jealous husbands—and wives, on occasion. So why not criminalize sex, if you were to make every potentially harmful thing illegal? No sane person would seriously propose outlawing sex, though. If they did, presumably any pregnant woman who could not show her marriage certificate on demand would be subject to arrest. That, of course, would be ludicrous and a gross breach of privacy. And few would obey such a law, anyway. Governments undermine their own power and prestige when they enact unenforceable laws.
Getting back to liquor: Instead of the draconian Carry Nationalists, why not clamp down on those causing problems rather than painting all imbibers with the same brush and preventing everyone from (legally) enjoying a drink now and again? A further problem with legally enforced prohibition was that it didn’t solve the problem it intended to; in fact, it made matters worse. Most of those who drank before prohibition continued to do so afterward, but on the sly. Thus, they got involved with rogue operations involving speakeasies and bootleggers and the like. The result was more danger, higher cost, and lower quality of product—an utter failure and fiasco.
Among the loggers, the general attitude was one of leniency towards those who flaunted the prohibition law—as long as the drinking was limited to after work hours and on weekends. The only time loggers got involved in each other’s business in this area was when an imbiber’s drinking interfered with his providing for his family (drinking his paycheck) or in abusing his family. In such cases, a contingent of his coworkers would confront him, give him friendly counsel and advice and then, if necessary, use physical threats and force to protect the man’s family from his self-destructive and others-destructive behavior.
Something which provoked an even swifter response was if someone was caught drinking, or being drunk, on the job. There was zero tolerance for such behavior. One drunken mistake could lead to causing the death of, not just the inebriated one, but others, too. Although the self-medicated may have been pitied to a certain extent—and even provided with practical help and moral support after the fact—those caught with liquor on the job, or under its influence, were immediately sent packing, with no second chances given. Too often turning a blind eye ended in a terrible accident, and the logging crew simply could not afford to be tolerant in these matters.
Shortly after prohibition began, Jackson met Crystalina Antoinette Fabret, 18, a resident of Willits.
Chapter 1 can be read here.
Chapter 10 can be read here.