Sinners and SaintsOperating Outside the Law
Despite the passage of a prohibition amendment, alcohol
continued to be available in Kansas. Many saloons and breweries operated
illegally. A major loophole in the law allowed druggists and physicians
to dispense alcohol for medicinal purposes (the word "medicinal"
was interpreted very loosely). Lastly, Kansans continued to make, sell,
and consume alcohol in their homes. "The physicians help the droughty ones to get around the prohibitionary law by prescribing liquor for all the ills that flesh is heir to. For a boil on the arm, one patient was ordered to take, in eleven days, ten pints of 'spiritus fermenti' and thirty bottles of beer. . . . [B]oils are very fashionable in Kansas." 
Some Kansas brewers fought prohibition by taking their cases to court. John Walruff of Lawrence argued he should be compensated for lost income if forced to close. He claimed he had invested $50,000 in his brewing business. Walruff's case went to the Supreme Court but the Kansas law was upheld. Despite financial losses in Kansas, Walruff opened a brewery in Missouri. Some saloons were forced underground. Pictured above is Fritz Durein, owner of the Hall of Fame Saloon in Topeka. Durein is hiding his wares under a walkway during prohibition. 
Home brewing and distilling thrived under Kansas prohibition. The mining regions of southeast Kansas became famous for the liquor they sent to other parts of the country. During the Great Depression (1929-1939), bootlegging supported some hungry families. Law enforcement officials could not catch all the bootleggers. Others simply chose to look the other way or accepted bribes. The 1923 photo above depicts officials with confiscated bootlegging materials on the steps of the Greenwood County Courthouse, Eureka. The brew kettle pictured at right was confiscated from a location in southeastern Kansas.  |
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