The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

An article was published last week detailing how the U.S. government openly poisoned alcohol during Prohibition, resulting in thousands of deaths.

http://www.slate.com/id/2245188

This was the ugly face of reality that is not apparent when listening to the upbeat hot dance music of the '20s.



Rocky

Hi Rocky:

I think it's important to note that while few people may have known about this today, this was generally common knowledge in the 1920s--based on a few google news searches I've done. In other words, it does not seem to be something the government tried to keep secret from the general population. (In fact, I remember my Dad telling me about this some 40 years ago!)

I'd imagine that the ones who drank the industrial alcohol were most likely victims of unscrupulous bootleggers.

OF

lol, nice!

Ahhh . . . the 'Good Old Days'.

The Edison factory just tinted the alcohol used for Diamond Discs green (I think it was green).... workers with green lips were dismissed. haha !

Thrifty Edison probably used the remaining green japanning used to color Model H reproducers! LOL!

This was a mistake (as was Prohibition in general) but it isn't as if the Government instituted a secret killing project. This was in the open and the denatured product was labeled as toxic (It still is). The real criminals were those who sold it as drinkable.