This Terrible Prohibition Poster Likely Had The Opposite Intended Effect

Need ten reasons to drink? Take a look at the ten ladies in this Prohibition poster from 1919. They proudly position themselves in front of a sign that says “Lips that touch liquor, shall not touch ours!” Using sex as collateral, the goal of the photo is to convince husbands everywhere to stop drinking or risk celibacy in their bedrooms.

If you were alive during Prohibition and came upon the following poster, I mean seriously, do you think this would convince men to quit drinking? What would you rather do, kiss one of these women or drink a beer?

The Rise And Fall Of Prohibition

In the United States, the term “Prohibition” refers to the period 1920 to 1933, during which the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for consumption were banned nationally as mandated in the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Following significant pressure on lawmakers from the temperance movement, the United States Senate passed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18, 1917. The “Volstead Act,” the name for the National Prohibition Act, passed Congress over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto on October 28, 1918, and established the legal definition of intoxicating liquor as well as providing for enforcement of Prohibition.

As Prohibition became increasingly unpopular during the Great Depression, especially in large cities, “Repeal” was eagerly anticipated. On March 23, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law an amendment to the Volstead Act known as the Cullen-Harrison Act, allowing the manufacture and sale of certain kinds of alcoholic beverages. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, on December 5, 1933.