Just seven years before this picture was taken, the 13-year American experiment of Prohibition ended. The National Prohibition Act banned the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages. It was repealed in 1933. It seems that the pendulum had swung in the opposite direction when it came to public attitudes toward alcohol and drinking in the years immediately after Prohibition. Here, Mike Brennan of the Durango Rotary Club sells drinks to parade watchers from the club’s rolling parade float, a saloon bar. This “float” was entered in the 1940 Spanish Trails Fiesta Parade in August of that year. It was likely a good money maker for the civic organization. <br><br>Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org
Just seven years before this picture was taken, the 13-year American experiment of Prohibition ended. The National Prohibition Act banned the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages. It was repealed in 1933. It seems that the pendulum had swung in the opposite direction when it came to public attitudes toward alcohol and drinking in the years immediately after Prohibition. Here, Mike Brennan of the Durango Rotary Club sells drinks to parade watchers from the club’s rolling parade float, a saloon bar. This “float” was entered in the 1940 Spanish Trails Fiesta Parade in August of that year. It was likely a good money maker for the civic organization. <br><br>Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, [email protected]Courtesy of Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College