Saturday, December 5th is the the 76th anniversary of Repeal Day.
On December 5th, 1933 the Federal prohibitionary laws were repealed when three quarters of the states ratified the 21st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
Last year a number of local bars and restaurants featured Repeal Day specials and events; as I find this year’s celebrations I will link to them here. Of course the Holiday Ale Festival is an excellent place to celebrate this great holiday in Portland! (I expect Bar Fly Magazine and Imbibe Unfiltered to deliver some events, as they have in years past . . . )
Local bartending and mixology blogger Jeffrey Mogenthaler, arguably one of the first to propose treating the anniversary as a holiday, created the Repeal Day website.
Join me on the anniversary of Repeal Day, this Saturday, December 5th, in a toast to our brewers, vintners, distillers, distributors, publicans, bartenders, waitrons, and friends.
Portland Repeal Day Celebrations:
Teardrop Cocktail Lounge Via Nation’s Restaurant News
The Teardrop Cocktail Lounge in Portland, Ore., also e-mailed people on their mailing list about plans for Teardrop’s 3rd annual Repeal Day celebration. Doors will open Saturday at 1:33 pm to correspond to the time of the original announcement of the signing of the 21st Amendment, which ended Prohibition. However, the party is by invitation only until 8 p.m., unless guests provide the password given in the e-mail.
Guests in costume can enjoy Teardrop’s Prohibition-era cocktails for just $6 each, but to partake of some pre-Prohibition whiskey, which is being specially poured until 3 p.m. for “a mere $20 an ounce,” guests will need to bring a liquor prescription sent with the e-mail announcement. During Prohibition, physicians were allowed to prescribe spirits for medicinal purposes.
I know I’ll be having a drink Saturday. Mostly because I will be at my parents’ house, and that always calls for drinking.
Amy – Saturdays and visits to see the family are always good enough reasons to drink!