Last Call (2010) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Wayne Wheeler: ASL
• Carrie Nation: The woman who famously took a hatchet to many saloons way back before the days of nationwide Prohibition
• Al Capone: Brooklyn born head of the mob in Chicago and the biggest bootlegger in town. His downfall ended up being arrested for income tax evasion and not anything violent.
• Frances Willard: Founder of the Women's Christian Temperance Union
• Mabel Willebrandt: US Assistant Attorney General who fought tirelessly to enforce the 18th Amendment with what few resources she was given
• Andrew John Volstead: US representative who sponsored the prohibition bill.
• Richmond Hobson: Add a description of this character.
• Warren G. Harding: He was the first U. S. President elected after Prohibition was enacted. He was elected in 1920 and began his term in 1921. He was committed to the "dry" cause yet he enjoyed drinking privately.
• Al Smith: He launched a failed Presidential bid in 1928 that ended with the election of Herbert Hoover. Smith was the governor of New York, a committed "wet" and a Roman Catholic. Even though the enthusiasm for Prohibition was waning in the late 1920s, he was easily defeated based on anti-Catholic propaganda from the "dry" Republicans.
• William Jennings Bryan: He was a "dry" Democrat who was probably true to the label (that is, he was likely not a "secret wet"). He launched many failed bids for the White House but was successful in helping get the 18th Amendment passed in Congress and ratified nationwide. He's most famous for rivaling Clarence Darrow in the Spokes trials of that era.
• Sam Bronfman: He was a Canadian distiller who took advantage of the U. S. Prohibition laws. To say that he made a "killing" off our 18th Amendment is an understatement.
• Joe Kennedy: Best known as the patriarch of the politically powerful Kennedy clan, this man made wise business moves before the 18th Amendment became effective: he stockpiled enough liquor to drink legally and throw many "wet" parties -- all legal since the liquor obtained and stored for private use before January 19th, 1920 was allowed -- until Prohibition ended. He also purchased many lucrative permits for "medicinal" liquor which was also legal under Prohibition. While he's often mischaracterized as a bootlegger, there is no evidence to support that allegation. Instead, it would be more accurate to describe him as a loophoole exploiter.
• Buckner
• Pauline Sabin: She was one of several prominent Republican women who intitially supported Prohibition only to become disillusioned by it as the 1920s wore on and actively campaigned for its repeal.
• Beck
• Wilson
• Roy Haynes
• De Latour
• Coolidge: He was the Vice-President who assumed the Presidency after Harding's death. He later served a full-term of his own until Herbert Hoover was elected and took over.
• Cannon
• Reed
• Pinchot
• Wayne B. Wheeler: He was the mastermind behind the 18th Amendment and head of the Ohio-based ASL (Anti-Saloon League). He was not a member of Congress or any branch of the Federal government; however, according to this book, he wielded so much power it was pretty scary. I would equate him with Grover Norquist of today.
• Cherrington
• Darrow: He was a famous lawyer, an unapologetic "wet", and Bryant's rival in the Spokes Trial.
• H. L. Mencken
• Herbert Hoover: He was a Republican elected President of the United States in 1928. Although he was noncommittal on his stance toward the 18th Amendment during the Presidential race, his 1929 inaugural address contained a vehemently "dry" message that touted the need for more enforcement. Later that year, in October, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. He was a one-term president.
• Hoff
• Clark
• Wadsworth
• Raskob
• Taft: He was a former U. S. President who became a Supreme Court Justice and served as Chief Justice during the Prohibition era.
• Tuttle
• Dalrymple
• Harry
• Pierre Du Pont: He was an extremely wealthy Delaware businessman and a committed "wet" who didn't like Prohibition not only because he was a "wet." He especially didn't like it because he reasoned that the loss of liquor taxes made income taxes necessary. He believed that repealing Prohibition would lead to the repeal of the personal income tax, so he worked tirelessly to repeal the 18th Amendment. As we all know, the personal income taxes never went away.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt: He was a "wet" Democrat even though his wife, Eleanor, was a committed "dry" because of the alcoholism she witnessed in her family when she was a little girl. Nevertheless, after he was elected in 1932, the following year brought the quick repeal of the 18th Amendment with the 21st Amendment. He was re-elected three more times afterward and died shortly after beginning his 4th term in 1945.
• Allan

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• New York City
• Asl
• United States
• Washington
• Chicago
• America
• California
• Canada
• Philadelphia
• Detroit
• Ohio
• Michigan
• Manhattan
• Pennsylvania
• San Francisco
• Alabama
• London
• St. Louis
• Massachusetts
• White House
• New Jersey
• Windsor
• Kentucky
• Nassau
• Boston
• Kansas
• Saskatchewan
• St. Pierre
• Virginia
• Indiana
• Texas
• Ontario
• Illinois
• Maine
• Montreal
• Maryland
• Baltimore
• Missouri
• Minnesota
• Georgia
• Nebraska
• Europe
• Hollywood
• Florida
• Napa Valley
• Atlantic
• Long Island
• Tennessee
• Oberlin

First Sentence edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Daniel Okrent (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Albert J. Beveridge Award (2011)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 363.41097309042

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › History › Americas › United States › 20th Century › Depression

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Daniel Okrent: The author's website.
• EconTalk: Okrent on Prohibition and His Book, Last Call: Daniel Okent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, talks about the book with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. They discuss how the 18th Amendment banning the manufacture, sale, and transport of intoxicating beverages came to pass in 1920, what life was like while it was in force, and how the Amendment came to be repealed in 1934. Okrent discusses how Prohibition became entangled with the suffrage movement, the establishment of the income tax, and anti-immigration sentiment. They also discuss the political economy of prohibition, enforcement, and repeal--the quintessential example of bootleggers and baptists.

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Prohibition (IMDb): "Last Call" is featured in Ken Burn's PBS documentary "Prohibition."

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history