The letter of the law wasn't always followed in historical events. The making of moonshine, an illegally produced alcohol, started in the early 1800s in England, then in the United States and years later, in Canada.
I didn’t go looking for modern-day moonshiners, but I wanted to take a look at the fascinating history of this activity in Canada, particularly in Saskatchewan, between 1920 and 1960.
Prohibition
Making moonshine wasn’t always illegal; this came about in relation to a lack of regulations and because homebrewers dodged taxation.
Prohibition, the prohibiting of the production, transportation and sale of alcohol, was fueled by the temperance movement. This movement sought to ban the sale of alcohol and thus eradicate the societal problems associated with it.
Rules forced on people often cause some to try and circumvent the system and prohibition was no exception. When the government said people couldn’t buy or consume alcohol, many were determined to find a way around that. The solution - make your own. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
The production of this clear whiskey-like drink spiked in 1915 when prohibition came into effect in Saskatchewan.
It is estimated that 10,000 stills were operating on the prairies during prohibition. The fear of getting caught kept many out of the game, but the lack of available alcohol and the continued demand for it, attracted the fearless with an entrepreneurial spirit. The goal of prohibition was not achieved, in fact, it had the opposite effect as there was an increase in the production and sale of illegal alcohol and the seedy activities associated with that.
A moonshiner made the liquor, and if it was being sold to the public, a bootlegger or runner transported it. It was difficult to find out exactly how much people paid for the product. The price depended on a lot of things, including the financial situation of people at the time and what was going on in the world. In the early years of prohibition, three dollars got you a gallon; today, you would pay several times that amount. Bootleggers needed souped-up cars that could outrun the law and carry a heavy load. When bootlegging died out, these cars were used for racing.
In 1925 the government decided they were losing too much money in uncollected taxes, so prohibition was repealed. Permits, licensing regulations and an excise on alcohol sales were implemented.
Even after prohibition was repealed, the practice of brewing this high-proof liquor, which could be up to 150 proof, continued. Just for reference, vodka today is 40 proof.
A few of the stills confiscated during prohibition.Demand Ebbed And Flowed
Production slowed in the mid-thirties, but whiskey rationing when World War II broke out in 1939 brought about a resurgence in demand for moonshine. When the war ended, there was another decline.
The Stereotype Of A Moonshiner
The stereotypical image of a moonshiner - barefoot, bearded, shirtless, wearing denim overalls with one shoulder strap undone and a hillbilly-style hat, is recognized by most. He is savouring a long pull from a stoneware shoulder jug that he casually hangs onto with one finger. Those guys always looked happy, despite the hardships of their lives.
The Entertainment Industry
Home-brew has a long, storied history in the film, television, and music industry. It was central to the plot of many movies, songs, and sitcoms. On the television series, “The Waltons”, the Baldwin sisters made The Recipe/Papa’s Recipe innocently believing it was a legitimate medicine. On the series “M*A*S*H*”, the doctors brewed gin for their martinis. They had a mini still resembling a chemistry experiment in an army tent called The Swamp.
Shake The Family Tree
If you shook your family tree, one or two moonshiners might fall out. The fear of detection was so intense that decades later, people still didn’t want to disclose any information they had on the topic.
I had to snicker because when I talked to people about their knowledge of moonshiners, many quickly responded that they didn’t know anybody who made it. Often, after they thought about it, the truth trickled out, and they divulged that their grandpa, uncle, or a neighbour indeed made it.
A relative recounted to me that her husband made moonshine in the attic of their little farmhouse. When he got word from a source that the “bulls” (RCMP) were coming, he dumped the batch he was brewing out of the upstairs window. He hid his still in the bush. When the law arrived their tracking dogs went crazy sniffing under the window but couldn't prove anything.
After that, they moved the operation to a granary. Late one afternoon the husband was busy cooking but had to help his wife with the evening chores and milking is he left the hired nan in charge of the still. At supper time the husband went to see why the hired nan hadn't come in for supper and found him drunk as a skunk after doubt too much sampling.
A Skilled Trade
Moonshiners were proud of their skills; knowledge passed down through the generations, garnered by trial and error. A seasoned moonshiner could check the proof by the size of the bubbles when he shook the jar, looking at the colour and by smelling it. Pure, quality shine was crystal clear with no impurities.
Ingredients And The Process
There wasn’t a standard recipe used to make moonshine. A lot depended on the ingredients that were accessible in the region where you lived. Ingredients used in Saskatchewan included: sugar, yeast, potatoes, water, chopped barley and hops. In other places, corn and sometimes overripe fruit (for flavour) were used.
These ingredients were mixed and left in a barrel in a warm place to ferment for several days. When the mixture (mash) stopped bubbling, it was ready to be cooked in a boiler or large pot over a heat source. The rest of the process involved straining the mash and distilling the alcohol out of the liquid. Moonshine needed to be distilled multiple times to achieve the desired clear result.
Pure moonshine with no added flavouring ingredients had an indefinite shelf life. It didn’t require an aging period; it went straight from the still to a jar or jug. The joke was that it was aged ten minutes and then it was ready.
To get rid of the evidence, once the alcohol had been distilled the mash was disposed of by feeding it to the pigs. Once they had consumed this potent mixture they slept soundly, snoring loudly.
Poisoned By Lead Or Blown Up | Shoddy Equipment
Stills back in the day were makeshift homemade apparatuses. Brewers even resorted to using old vehicle parts, unaware of the toxic properties that were released when exposed to high temperatures. Occasionally, a still that wasn't properly sealed and vented exploded. Most rural people made the drink for their consumption and for family and friends. They weren’t interested in running a big operation.
Packaging | Jug Or Jar
Ideally, shine was stored in jugs, which prevented exposure to light which changed the properties and thus the taste of the product. One or two-quart canning jars were used by many, as they were more readily available, cheaper and less conspicuous than a jug.
I assume the only way to acquire mason jars undetected was to raid their relatives cellars or by telling the storekeeper that they were for the lady of the house. The ladies probably weren’t too thrilled about giving up their canning jars, as they were something they coveted.
Stoneware jugs were marked with the iconic three X symbol (XXX) to indicate that the product was high-quality triple distilled. XXX = the good stuff.
The Many Names Of Moonshine
Moonshine had many names, including white spirit, choop, hooch, homebrew, rotgut, mule kick, shine, white lightning, pass around and fire water. Some of these names bring the image of a guy with flames shooting out of his mouth to mind. The Hubs calls it homebrew, but I prefer the word moonshine as it sounds more badass.
Passing The Jar | Pure And Tough
When it was illegal to sell or serve liquor at functions, public drunkenness declined as it was hard to explain why you were drunk if booze wasn't allowed. It wasn’t uncommon, though, for someone to bring a jar of shine to pass around with the fellas outside the venue. No mix was used, they drank it pure and tough. I’m certain the contents of the jar killed any germs left from the last guy who drank from it.
Blame It On The Egg Salad Sandwiches
As you can imagine, it wasn’t that popular with the women to have their men hanging around outside at a function drinking moonshine. They knew that wasn’t going to end well. The guys tried to deny participation in such activities, but many went home splayed out in the back of a wagon or truck after underestimating the power of the shine. They couldn’t always blame it on the egg salad sandwiches that were a staple at every event! I cannot imagine the whopping hangover that followed!
Evading Detection
In the early years, there weren’t a lot of cameras, and when they became more accessible, it wasn’t like moonshiners were taking pictures of their operations and getting them developed. A lot of the photographs taken of stills and moonshine were done so by law-enforcement officers.
The alcohol got its name because it was often made by the light of the moon to avoid detection. There was a saying, “the sun doesn’t shine on a moonshine still”. Darkness was essential to cover the smoke from the fire.
Shiners would make a pattern of a cow’s foot and carve it out of wood. They attached this to the bottom of their shoes so that when they walked to their still, it looked like cows were walking there and not people. These were called cow shoes.
They were certain unwritten rules of the trade, including to never set up a still close to your homeyard as the mash had a robust distinct smell that was a dead giveaway. If they were brewing in the house they said the smell was from making sourkraut. A secluded hollow in the dense bush was best.
They usually stored their product away from the house in the event of a search, chicken coops, wells and granaries were used as these were areas people normally went to. Every farm had a manure pile, a mixture of manure and straw from animal pens. Hooch would be hidden in these piles as authorities weren’t inclined to dig in there.
At one household, when the law came looking for moonshine, the goods were hidden in plain sight in a water pail sitting in the kitchen with a dipper in it, and no one noticed.
Moonshiners expected others to mind their own business, but not all neighbours got along so you had to be careful, or a disgruntled one could snitch. Many people disagreed with the practice on moral grounds and reported the illegal activity. In some situations, a feud started that took decades for individuals to let go of the fact that someone they knew had ratted them out.
If the law found out where your still was, they dumped everything out and destroyed the equipment or confiscated it for evidence. Then officers would go to your house to search for stashed product. On occasion, a larger-scale operation was executed, and officers would go down the line from farm to farm, leaving an officer at the last place to ensure that they didn’t alert other brewers.
In small towns, gossip travelled fast, initially by word of mouth and then on telephone party lines. People used prearranged code words when referring to moonshine on the party line.
Female Accomplices
In those years, it was illegal for police to execute a physical search on a woman. Female RCMP officers weren’t employed in Saskatchewan until the 1970s. A woman could hide bottles under her house dress and apron, a coat or in her boots. A nicely dressed lady in the car made it less likely that a male bootlegger would be stopped. Some women also helped with the distillation and packaging of the product.
Punishment
A first offence would get you a fine and repeat offenders were jailed. There weren’t a lot of officers, and they had to cover a large area, but nonetheless they made a significant number of apprehensions. Females tended to receive lighter punishment as people found it difficult to believe that a woman could do such a thing!
I knew a gentleman who was fined for making homebrew. The news was printed in the local paper, and he cut out the clipping and kept it in his wallet for the rest of his life. It added credence to the tale when he recounted it.
The fine was $130 which was a significant amount in the 1950s. When the gentleman went to see the constable to pay his fine, he noticed a purple bag from a whiskey bottle in his office. When he commented on it the constable said, “I paid for mine”; the gentleman said “not as much as I paid for mine.”
Big Al
Although it is debatable whether Al Capone ever set foot in Canada, one can’t discuss the making of illegal liquor in Saskatchewan without mentioning him. Tunnels were dug under the city of Moose Jaw in 1908 by Chinese immigrants. Legend has it that bootleggers took over these tunnels during prohibition. Capone was reportedly involved with bootleggers in Canada who helped his criminal organization get liquor into the United States. Prohibition went on until 1933 in the states. Moose Jaw was a distribution point between the two countries. Capone was sent to jail in 1931 in the US for tax evasion.
Speakeasies
Illegal taverns with live music popped up in cities nationwide during prohibition. A secret code was required to gain entry. Many of these establishments operated for years; some officials turned a blind eye to them and collected under-the-table payoffs for their support.
The Toxic Side Of Moonshine | A Bad Batch
Consuming moonshine produced under questionable conditions was a definite health risk. There are stories of people consuming hooch from a bad batch and suffering blindness, paralysis or death from methanol poisoning due to improper distillation. The desire to make money was at times more important than the safety of their customers.
Methanol was a common contaminant in moonshine, a by-product of the distilling process. It needs to be separated from the moonshine and discarded. Brewers who knew what they were doing threw out the first part of the batch (foreshots) as the methanol stayed on top.
It is now produced industrially and used as a solvent, it is the principal ingredient in things like pesticides and paint thinners. If you drink moonshine tainted with methanol, you probably won’t get a second chance. When you consume moonshine with methanol in it, the taste isn't much different to an inexperienced person than untainted brew. Initially, it’s hard to tell someone who has methanol poisoning from someone who is intoxicated, but when the body starts to metabolize the methanol, things go badly quickly.
There was a rudimentary way to test the purity of moonshine, they poured a sample into a metal spoon and lit it on fire. If the flame burned blue, it was considered safe, a yellow or red flame meant it was poisonous; the saying was "lead burns red and makes you dead”.
Here is a sobering fact, in the US during prohibition, 750 people died and 100,000 cases of blindness or paralysis occurred in New York City alone from methanol poisoning!
Just A Taste
For some strange reason, it is not a clear memory, but I have sampled moonshine in my day. It was a tad too potent for my liking, though. Someone gave me a jar of it once, and I kept it hidden for a long time, but eventually, I dumped it out as I had teenagers by then, and I didn’t trust them not to find my stash; that would not have been a good thing.
I asked my mom, who is 94 if she ever tried it. She said yes but she didn't like it as it was too strong. When you do a little research, you find out interesting things about your family. I would never have pictured Mom getting into the hooch. It was claimed that pickle juice made an excellent chaser to help relieve the burning sensation in your mouth and throat. If mom and I had known about the pickle juice remedy, we might have enjoyed our white lightening experiences more.
Yes, It’s Still Illegal
Now don’t be getting all excited after reading this and run out and get the equipment and ingredients to make moonshine. Although it is still illegal to make hard liquor, by 1985, you were no longer required to possess a permit to make wine and beer for your consumption. It is still illegal though to sell homemade wine and beer without a license.
Illicit distillation continues around the world today. More sophisticated and safer practices are used, but the old bush setups still exist.
The Ravages of Time
Subsequent landowners frequently found remnants of abandoned stills deep in the underbrush. Broken jars and jugs, copper pipe and rusted out metal boilers were usually all that remained.
Easy Come | Easy Go
I admit there have been a few rough patches through the years when I questioned my decision to dump out that jar of shine. I should’ve kept it for medicinal purposes, calling it my rheumatism medicine or spring tonic like Granny Clampett did on the "Beverly Hillbillies” television series. She had her still set up out by the swimming pool. It might have made the pandemic go by quicker. Oh well, easy come, easy go!
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