Since at least the 1920s, one of the most pervasive and lucrative rackets has always been unlicensed drinking establishments. During the 1920s Prohibition era where federal laws were enacted to outlaw liquor sales and consumption of any type, underground drinking clubs called speakeasies quickly proliferated throughout the United States to satiate and quench the public’s thirst.
After the repeal of the ‘Volstead Act’ in 1933 which lifted the thirteen-year ban on alcohol, licensed bars and grills, taverns, restaurants, and nightclubs, of every size and stripe, began springing up across America.