Eighty-two years ago, on November 1, 1942, America's distilleries were faced with a second prohibition, this time coming from the War Production Board. No more liquor would be produced by the nation’ s distilleries, as the entire efforts of their industry was needed to produce war alcohol. It is one of the many ways that America's booze was affected by the World War.
The “Great Sedition Trial” uncovered shocking connections at the time with the German reich that we were fighting, and challenged the idea that the nation was of a single mind during the war. It also challenged exactly how far the national commitment to freedom of speech and opinion reached, especially in extraordinary times.