Rumrunners: Liquor Smugglers on America's Coasts, 1920-1933

by J. Anne Funderburg

Overview

In 1920, the 18th Amendment made the production, transportation and sale of alcohol not merely illegal--it was unconstitutional. Yet no legislation could end the demand for alcohol. Enterprising rumrunners worked to meet that demand with cunning, courage, machineguns and speedboats powered by aircraft engines. They out-maneuvered the U.S. Coast Guard and risked their lives to deliver illicit liquor.

Smugglers like Bill McCoy, the Bahama Queen, and the Gulf Stream Pirate, along with many others, ran operations along the U.S. coastline until Prohibition was repealed in 1933. Drawing on legal records, newspaper articles and Coast Guard files, this history describes how rumrunners battled the Dry Navy and corrupted U.S. law enforcement, in order to keep America wet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476626703
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	11/18/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

J. Anne Funderburg has long focused her research interests on the Roaring Twenties and the Volstead Era, relying on sources published during Prohibition to capture the flavor of the era. She lives in Nokomis, Florida.
J. Anne Funderburg has long focused her research interests on the Roaring Twenties and the Volstead Era, relying on sources published during Prohibition to capture the flavor of the era. She lives in Nokomis, Florida.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
 1. Rum Row: Mother Ships and Mosquito Boats
 2. Island Oases: St. Pierre and the Bahamas
 3. The Coast Guard: A New Mission
 4. Cut to the Chase: Speed Plus Agility
 5. Coast Guards: The Good, the Bad and the Drunk
 6. Volstead Enforcement: Tragedy and Controversy
 7. Bill McCoy: Rumrunning Pioneer
 8. Gertrude Lythgoe: The Bahama Queen
 9. Edith Stevens: Love and “Reckless Courage”
10. Long Island: The Rumrunners Next Door
11. “Big Bill” Dwyer: The Czar of Rum Row
12. The Radio Rum Ring
13. Pirates, Hijackers and ­Go-Thru Guys
14. Right Off the Boat: Rumrunning in Florida
15. The Gulf Stream Pirate: Two Different Men
16. The West Coast Connection: Canada to California
17. Malahat: The Phantom of the Pacific
18. Golden Gate Rumrunners: The Tailor and the Mayor
19. Repealing Prohibition: The End of the Great Drought
Glossary
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index