Public computers and printing at the Waldo Branch will be unavailable for patron use through Dec. 12th due to technology upgrades.
Like many cities during Prohibition, Kansas City had illegal booze, bootleggers, and speakeasies, as well as corrupt police and politicians and moralizing reformers. A place that wanted to be the wholesome “Heart of America” was cast instead as the wicked “Paris of the Plains.”
In a discussion of his new book Prohibition in Kansas City, Missouri: Highballs, Spooners & Crooked Dice, local historian and blogger John Simonson resurrects forgotten stories of the era in spotlighting the places where a person could order a drink, place a bet, and engage in salacious activities. Drawing from newspaper coverage of the day, he also dispels the long-held belief that Kansas City was a place where Prohibition was not enforced, and shows that much of the nostalgia about its “wide-open” reputation came after the 18th Amendment’s repeal in 1933.
In a discussion of his new book Prohibition in Kansas City, Missouri: Highballs, Spooners & Crooked Dice, local historian and blogger John Simonson resurrects forgotten stories of the era in spotlighting the places where a person could order a drink, place a bet, and engage in salacious activities. Drawing from newspaper coverage of the day, he also dispels the long-held belief that Kansas City was a place where Prohibition was not enforced, and shows that much of the nostalgia about its “wide-open” reputation came after the 18th Amendment’s repeal in 1933.
