On January 16, 1920, America became a dry country. The 18th Amendment, a.k.a. the National Prohibition Act, a.k.a. the Volstead Act, made it illegal to produce or distribute alcohol within the United States. It was a dark and depressing time for many, and it marked the beginning of our great country's descent into the cultural weirdness of the 1920s.
Still, Americans are resourceful. If nothing else, we can be counted on to find a way around laws that we do not approve of. In the case of Prohibition, we simply brewed beer in the basement and drank anything — no matter how vile — that we could get our hands on.
When the Volstead Act was repealed in December of 1933, the country breathed a sigh of relief. Predictably, offbeat drinking did not end. Some of us still engage in it, and while we're sure — sure! — that Brian Madigan was imbibing responsibly on St. Patrick's Day, we still found his comment in the Ford GT speed-record post pretty funny.
Mmm... tastes like blue. Get well soon, Brian.