Prohibition Ends And Utica Club Started Flowing

Here's an event that has a big connection to the Utica-Rome area. On this day in 1933, Prohibition was repealed, and within an hour, Utica Club Beer was back on the street. Here's how it happened.

According to Wikipedia:

"In 1919, the requisite number of state legislatures ratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, enabling national prohibition one year later. Many women, notably members of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, were pivotal in bringing about national Prohibition in the United States, believing it would protect families, women, and children from the effects of alcohol abuse.

In 1933 state conventions ratified the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed Prohibition. The Amendment was fully ratified on December 5, 1933. Federal laws enforcing Prohibition were then repealed."

As the story goes, the West End Brewing Company anticipated the repeal of prohibition and had a license ready. With that forward thinking, Utica Club became the first beer available for sale - about 60 minutes after the repeal of Prohibition. And now you know why people were singing, "Happy Days Are Here Again".