• Old Photos: Prohibition In Kansas

    This post is dedicated to the recent change in Kansas liquor regulations.

    Brought to you by the Kansas City Beer Blog – “Where Beer Spills On The Keyboard”

    Until recently many Kansans could relate to this predicament photographed in 1946:

    Car with Kansas license plate going to Missouri to buy liquor.
    Car with Kansas license plate going to Missouri to buy liquor. © Time Inc.Mark Kauffman

    While some Kansans were busy parading against the alcohol…

    Young people marching in a band as part of the Temperance Tornado Caravan against liquor.© Time Inc.Mark Kauffman

    …the others were not convinced.

    Lady feeling the effects of too much liquor. © Time Inc.Mark Kauffman
    Man feeling the effects of too much liquor.© Time Inc.Mark Kauffman

    Getting drunk in Kansas wasn’t so easy. If you didn’t feel like going to a liquore store that looked like this…

    Liquor store displaying federal license © Time Inc.Mark Kauffman

    …you had to smuggle the contraband in a secret compartment of your car.

    Bootlegging car showing compartment in back for carrying liquor. © Time Inc.Mark Kauffman

    Then in a shady-looking roadhouse…

    Outside view of popular roadhouse during prohibition. © Time Inc.Mark Kauffman

    …you could finally imbibe with people you’ve never met….

    Men and women in Kansas roadhouse, during prohibition.
    Men and women in Kansas roadhouse, during prohibition.© Time Inc.Mark Kauffman

    …while the less fortunate citizens had to listen to boring speeches while sober.

    Dry audience listening to a speech by Frank W. Carlson.

    Frank W.Carlson who is mentioned in the last photo was the Governor of Kansas in the late 40’s.

    While governor, Carlson presided over the removal of prohibition in Kansas. “I’m a teetotaler,” claimed Carlson. “I don’t smoke or drink, but I have no quarrel with those who do. I’m a great believer in letting the people decide.”

    Some of the modern-day politicians could learn a lesson from Mr. Carlson.

    Read more about the alcohol laws in Kansas.

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  • Behind The Iron Curtain: Sputnik

    On October 4, 1957 the first artificial satellite Sputnik-1 acted as the starter pistol for the space race.

    Cover of LIFE magazine dated 10-21-1957 of Smithsonian Observatory scientists working at M.I.T. in Cambridge to try to calculate Sputnik's orbit; © Time Inc. Dmitri Kessel
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  • Who Are The Ad Wizards Who Came Up With This One?

    The ad wizards who thought it was a great idea to put small print on a highway billboard came up with another gem.
    P1020501
    Here are my suggestions for the future billboards:

    • My car kicked your car’s rear end;
    • My car’s big black tailpipe is longer than your car’s tailpipe;
    • My car took away your car’s gas money;
    • My car swallowed a luxury car and now it craps exhausts luxury;
    • My car voted for McCain;

    If you come up with your own winning caption I will throw in up to 700 miles for your choice of a magazine subscription.

    Continuing with the subject of advertising if your child is composing/performing a jingle about the hemorrhoid treatment  center, you are within your rights to demand back all the money you’ve spent on the music lessons. (the jingle starts on the 20th second of the clip).

    httpvh://youtu.be/e4fzO9whly8

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  • Merry Christmas, Babushka!

    Today is the Russian Orthodox Christmas. Due to some calendar shenanigans Jesus gets to celebrate his birthday again. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate today!

    A Russian believer crosses herself during an Orthodox Christmas service at Christ The Savior Cathedral in Moscow, early Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010. Christmas falls on Jan. 7 for Orthodox Christians in the Holy Land, Russia and other Orthodox churches that use the old Julian calendar instead of the 16th-century Gregorian calendar adopted by Catholics and Protestants and commonly used in secular life around the world.

    Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, center, attends an Orthodox Christmas service in Moscow's Christ The Savior Cathedral, in Moscow, Russia, late Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010.
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  • I Wish I Were…

    httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNddW2xmZp8

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