Happy New Beer's Day

As the clock struck midnight on April 7^th, 1933, Americans had good reason cheer - for the first time in 14 years, they no longer had to sneak around in back rooms or behind closed doors to raise a pint of their favorite lager. Just over a month after taking office, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the anti-Prohibition Congressional majority passed the Cullen-Harrison Act, raising the legally-allowable alcohol content in commercial beverages from 0.5% to 3.2%. After 14 years, it appears Americans developed college-kid palates that made the jump from O'Doul's to Natty Light cause for celebration.

To mark the occasion, major breweries like Anhueser-Busch threw huge parties outside their brewery gates where thousands gathered to start imbibing as soon as humanly possible (although if they were smart, they would have partied somewhere on the east coast where midnight comes a whole hour earlier than in St. Louis!). Despite the celebrations, some maintain the importance of this date is overblown since the sale of full-strength beer (up to 5% alcohol by volume) and hard alcohol would still be outlawed for another 8 months. However, it is important to note that even though Prohibition wouldn't be officially repealed until the passing of the 21^st Amendment on December 5^th, 1933, one must consider the historical context to fully appreciate the impact of April 7^th. 

FDR took office nearly 4 years after the Wall Street Collapse of 1929. Following Black Tuesday, the market had lost an additional 77% and the country was in the depths of the Great Depression. Millions of Americans were out of work, and the U.S. needed both an economic and psychological shot in the arm. As its first act in office, the 73^rd Congress provided both when it proposed (and FDR signed) the Cullen-Harrison Act. It gave Americans reason to hope, if only in 16 ounce increments, that things were going to get better. The $25 million reaped by the brewing industry on the first day trickled down to all levels of the supply chain, aiding farmers, glassmakers, and truckers. Americans responded by pumping $7.5 million into the U.S. Treasury in first-day tax receipts, according to CNN.com. It turns out, beer was literally good for everyone... and incredibly even in the depths of despair the country found itself it, its elected officials were actually about to do something right! 

So on this 75^th Anniversary of the return of beer (albeit watery, foul-tasting swill that would hardly pass for a decent beverage at the crappiest of frat parties), I invite you to raise a glass in celebration - toast freedom, salute economic stability, and most of all commemorate just another reason to drink on a Monday.