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Prohibition

New York

A Virtual Tour of New York's Real Speakeasies of the 1920s and '30s

By Lori Zimmer on

Old-timey, speakeasy-style bars have become just as popular and cliché in New York as sports bars in Middle America. But real speakeasies were nothing like today’s incarnations, with quaintly luxe interiors and bow-tied men using their powers of mixology to charge $15 for drinks. In fact, by the 1930s, they were sometimes just a hidden room with a bottle of barely drinkable booze made in a bathtub. Among the hundreds of speakeasies in New York alone, most were run by gangsters — and some made legendary marks that transformed the social strata of New York nightlife in the 1920s. … Read More

Film

Video Essay: “The 75 Coolest Looking Prohibition-Era Movie Characters”

By Jason Bailey on

There are all sorts of reasons to enjoy the deep South bootlegging action drama Lawless, out today: the sturdy direction by John Hillcoat (The Proposition), the witty script by Nick Cave, an archetypal fancy-pants villain turn by Guy Pearce, yet another astonishingly chameleonic performance by Tom Hardy. But let’s pause for a moment of appreciation on a very basic, aesthetic level: as it takes place in the Prohibition era (1920-1933, if you were sick that day in school), once young hotshot Shia LaBeouf starts making a little green running moonshine, he starts throwing it around on pinstripe suits and awesome hats. Say what you will about the era, pro or con, but they knew how to dress back then — and there’s always a part of us that’s suspected the primary reason for making movies set in the Prohibition era is to give actors an excuse to play dress-up, since it’s next to impossible to not look cool in ’20s and early-’30s garb. Don’t believe us? After the jump, take a look at our latest video essay, a supercut of everyone from Faye Dunaway to Gene Wilder in their Prohibition-era movies, and try to tell us we’re wrong. … Read More

Pop Culture

Saucy and Beautiful Vintage Buttons For Proclaiming Your Proclivities

By Emily Temple on

Christen Carter has been making buttons for bands, artists, and whoever else needs a good button since 1995. Her first customer, picked up while she was learning the trade abroad in England, was indie band Guided by Voices, and she’s just gotten bigger from there. Her company, Busy Beaver Button Company, now makes millions of buttons for clients like Missy Elliot, Bumble and Bumble, Threadless, Adidas, and Burger King. Not content with simply producing quality buttons, Carter has also become a serious collector of vintage buttons, and recently launched an online button museum to show off some of her amazing finds. Click through to see a few of our favorites — from the lovely to the saucy to the serious — and then check out Carter’s online museum for even more.

… Read More

Pop Culture

10 Historical Figures and Events Pop Culture Has Exhausted

By Judy Berman on

It doesn’t matter how many times a certain person or event turns up in pop culture, as long as each new movie, TV show, song, video game, fashion line, etc. has some kind of artistic (or at least entertainment) value. At least, that’s what we thought until we heard the news that there’s a 100th-anniversary Titanic miniseries in the works and something just snapped in us. No, damn it, we don’t care how good it turns out to be. There is no way we’re watching that ship sink again. And while we’re at it, there are a few other historical figures and events we’re pretty sure pop culture has exhausted. Check them out after the jump, and add your own suggestions and complaints in the comments. … Read More

Books

Required Reading: 5 Portraits of Prohibition Era Decadence

By Chelsea Bauch on

Boardwalk Empire, which HBO has renewed after only one episode, dips into the idealized fiction of the booze-banned Prohibition years with a glossy, engrossing, and, of course, violent series about Atlantic City’s underworld dealings. Though it remains one of the most over-romanticized periods in American history, the edgy appeal of those post-World War I carpe diem years is hard to dispute — whether on the screen or on the page. So keep yourself immersed in the bootlegger fantasy with these nonfiction titles that best capture the decadence and delusion of the Prohibition era. … Read More