Friday, December 31, 2021

Prohibition in Hudson

New Year's Eve is celebrated by most with some kind of alcoholic beverage, traditionally something bubbly, but a hundred years ago. the Eighteenth Amendment had made the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol illegal. The amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919, and went into effect on January 17, 1920. At this time a century ago, prohibition had been the law for almost two years.


In March 1922, the New York State Police raided Hudson and took over the Hudson Police Department. The Columbia Republican called it "one of the biggest prohibition raids ever staged in Hudson." Hudson's chief of police, John Cruise was suspended and later charged and convicted of dereliction of duty for his failure to enforce prohibition in Hudson. Before that happened, however, reports like the following appeared regularly in the local newspapers. The incident recounted here occurred on January 2, 1922, and was reported in the Columbia Republican the next day.


May you all celebrate New Year's Eve safely tonight, whether or not you intend to get "well corned."

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