Hops & History Bootleggers Bandits & Bathtub Gin at LB Brewery

Learn all about Lake Bluff’s Bootleggers, Bandits & Bathtub Gin at Lake Bluff Brewery! The date of this event is August 6, 2024 from 7-8:30 pm. Doors open at 6:15 pm.

You’ve heard about Prohibition in the U.S. but what about Prohibition in Lake Bluff? The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating liquors nationwide from 1920 to 1933. But that didn’t stop the liquor train throughout the country nor in Lake Bluff.

Prohibition caused such a significant influence on society that the effects of this tumultuous 13-year period still reverberate today. At “Bootleggers, Bandits & Bathtub Gin,” Lake Bluff History Museum co-founder Kathy O’Hara will explain the impact of the 18th Amendment on Lake Bluff and Lake County, utilizing newspaper headlines of the day and stories that have been passed down for generations.

What you’ll discover at this presentation:

• Why was the FBI was searching Lake Bluff for the No. 1 Killer on its Most Wanted List?
• How did authorities foil a baby kidnapping plot that was modeled after the Lindbergh baby heist?
• And where were Lake Bluff’s finest during this period? (Hint: the village policeman didn’t have a car; he rode around on a bicycle)

You’ll also hear of neighborhood boys who robbed society guests of their money and jewels while dining at fabulous Lake Forest mansions, and of residents who dodged a hail of bullets during a beer truck heist on Greenbay Road and Route 176.

Also known as the Lawless Years, Prohibition was a time of great social and economic upheaval, which along with changing morals impacted forever both the nation and our own small piece of it.