KC during Prohibition

The National Prohibition Act - known as the Volstead Act, or the Valentine Act - was passed to execute the 18th Amendment: prohibition of the manufacture of, the transportation of and the sale of alcohol.

The outlawing of intoxicating beverages. While the Act did indeed outlaw alcohol (for awhile) the Act simultaneously facilitated a birth in subcultures. Nightlife in Kansas City during the Prohibition era served as one such example.

During the nation's Prohibition era, Kansas City became a wide-open town - “Paris of the Plains.” A launching pad for bootleg booze, speakeasies, loose morals and gambling.

This early-20th Century KC subculture - fueled by illegal alcohol - was perfectly coupled to an already-thriving Kansas City jazz scene. Converging to push the “nightlife needle” in KC up…just as prohibition, on paper at least, was supposed to push that alcohol-enhanced “nightlife needle” down.

Kansas City during the Prohibition era. An example for what often does occur when there is a convergence of ideals taken from perspectives which are, to put it mildly, not aligned at all.

One ideal? That of a Puritanical influence. Coming out of Washington D.C.

The other ideal? Domestic to Kansas City. A “match” which had been lit by all-night jazz sessions, speakeasies and…outlawed liquor.

Restrictive legislation. Legislative intent. And a consequence of inverse effect.