The book club’s initial theme was the decade of the 1920’s. The second book on our list was Last Call by Daniel Okrent. 

During the life of the book club, we commemorated the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which outlawed alcohol (sort of). The Homestead Museum even decorated its Gallery with a story board about Prohibition that is still there today.

The passage of Prohibition was influenced by other societal and political pressures and movements, including Progressivism, women’s rights, and immigration. All this contributed to the opposition to “Demon Rum” and its attendant consequences. In the years before the Roaring 20’s, Amendments related to the income tax, direct election of Senators, women’s right to vote, and Prohibition were ratified.

The issue of the right to ingest anything into our bodies remains with us today. Strict libertarians want no restriction on what an individual chooses to consume, whether it’s alcohol, pot, or hard drugs. Somewhere there is a happy medium, but no family is immune from the perils of alcohol or drug abuse.

Daniel Okrent has an interesting history, His book was featured in Ken Burn’s documentary Prohibition. Okrent was also credited with inventing Rotisserie League Baseball, a form of fantasy baseball, popular even today among statistics-driven baseball fans. Ken Burns used Okrent’s baseball knowledge in his documentary Baseball. In addition Okrent produced a series available on You Tube titled Old Jews Telling Jokes.