Drink and Dance

The Roaring Twenties have always captured my attention,  Early on, beginning in high school, and then in college, and then when I had ample discretionary time to read (i.e. before kids) I found that I really enjoyed the literature of that generation.  Maybe the spark came because my mom had a lot of these writers on her bookshelf.  I spent a lot of time pouring over the titles on her that stretched from the floor to the ceiling.  One day, I'll have a room like that. 

Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Roundtable anyone?  Gertrude Stein and the ex-pats? Sinclair Lewis, Edna Ferber, Katherine Anne Porter, Fitzgerald.  Loved them.  (Ok, I've never cared for Hemingway, but no matter).


Drink and dance and laugh and lie, Love the reeling midnight through, for tomorrow we shall die, but alas, we never do.

So I perked up this morning when I read about the new Ken Burns documentary titled "Prohibition."  It starts next Sunday evening and runs for three nights.   Prohibition went into effect in 1920, and lasted for 13 years.  According to the article, the documentary is divided into three parts, covering the years leading up to prohibition, the years of prohibition when the laws were skirted (or willfully disregared) and finally, the move toward repeal.

As a great beer town, St. Louis' own Anheuser Busch plays a role in the film. AB managed to not only stay in business through the 13 years of prohibition, but came out to thrive.  The film shows clips of the famous Clydesdales delivering a case of beer to the White House.  Great stuff.

As an aside, I did find it funny that the St. Louis Post had as the lead article on the Sunday section known as the "Grand Parenting Pages" a story about "Prohibition" focusing on it as the "Great Experiment."  Ken Burns is quoted as describing St. Louis as the "capitol of beer in the United States."  Why the article was focused on the Grand Parents pages, who knows. I can't find the online link, or I'd post it here.

I'm looking forward to seeing this--though I'll probably need the help of the DVR!  It starts next Sunday night at 7 pm and runs for three nights.