Moonshine and the Law
Daniel Duesst (pronounced "due east") with his gun, his dog, and his jug of moonshine Sequatchie County, Tennessee, ca. 1900
Looking Back at Tennessee Collection
"Moonshine" is a generic term for high-proof distilled spirits that are usually made illegally (often in an attempt to avoid taxation). Making moonshine was very popular in Tennessee well before prohibition. As state and national prohibition laws forced distilleries to close their doors, however, demand for moonshine dramatically increased, and the Prohibition era is often considered the golden age of moonshining.
Moonshiners, also known as bootleggers, were quick to take advantage of the demand Prohibition created for their product. They shifted their priorities from the quality to the quantity of their liquor, thereby making much more money. Paint thinner, antifreeze, manure, and embalming fluid were just a few of the hazardous ingredients used to make this moonshine. The first run of each batch of moonshine was often poisonous. Many drinkers were blinded, paralyzed, or even killed. In 1927 New York officials confiscated over 480,000 gallons of liquor, and they found that most of it contained poisons. For the 13 years of Prohibition, however, thirsty and determined drinkers had little choice but to buy the cheaply-made liquor.
Charlie Reecer and Dewey Smith sampling a batch of moonshine, Clay County, Tennessee, ca. 1920-1925
Looking Back at Tennessee Collection
The Moonshining tradition has carried on in Tennessee. Federal laws today allow individuals to make beer and wine for their own use, but not distilled liquor. There are state and local laws forbidding the manufacture of liquor and a range of taxes on liquor production. Under state laws, moonshining is often only punished as a misdemeanor, but federal laws typically impose much stricter penalties.
The state's first licensed moonshine distillery, the Ole Smoky Distillery in Gatlinburg, opened in 2010. There are other states that sell legal moonshine as well. Some popular brands include Catdaddy Caroline Moonshine and Tory and Sons 80 Proof, both from North Carolina.
Bob Holland, Sheriff J. L. "Fate" Smith, and deputies after a raid on a still, Humphreys County, Tennessee, ca. 1920s
Looking Back at Tennessee Collection
Moonshine has also made an impact culturally in popular films and television shows such as 1973's "White Lightning," starring Burt Reynolds, and the "Dukes of Hazard." One cannot talk about the cultural impact of moonshine without mentioning one of the south's most famous moonshiners, Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton. Popcorn was an Appalachian moonshiner who gained notoriety after self-publishing an autobiographical guide to making moonshine and self-producing a home video documenting his moonshining. He was also involved in several documentaries. In 2009, he was raided by the ATF and sentenced to eighteen months in federal prison for illegally distilling spirits and possession of a firearm as a felon. Rather than serve his jail time, he committed suicide. He was laid to rest in Parrottsville, Tennessee.
The Dixie Highway
"View of Mountain 0.7 miles from Pikeville," Pikeville, Tennessee, ca. 1918
Dixie Highway Photograph Album, Archives Photograph Collection
The Dixie Highway (running from Michigan to Florida) was a major route for the distribution of moonshine. In an effort to deliver their product safely, moonshiners would often modify their cars in order to outrun law enforcement and "revenuers" (agents from the U. S. Department of Treasury's Bureau of Internal Revenue). These modified cars led to the birth of stock car racing and NASCAR.
Moonshine still, Clay County, Tennessee, 1918
Looking Back at Tennessee Collection
Two men posing in front of a moonshine still, Claiborne County, Tennessee, 1903
Looking Back at Tennessee Collection
Sheriff Mike Boatright and others with confiscated stills, Elizabethton, Tennessee, ca. 1940s
Looking Back at Tennessee Collection
Sheriff and deputies surrounding broken stills beside the Presbyterian Church, Jonesborough, Tennessee, 1920
Looking Back at Tennessee Collection
Sheriff Mike Bootright and deputies with a confiscated moonshine still, Elizabethton, Tennessee, ca. 1940s
Looking Back at Tennessee Collection
A moonshine still being "busted," Grundy County, Tennessee, ca. 1900
Looking Back at Tennessee Collection
"In the mud near Daus," Daus, Tennessee, ca. 1918
Dixie Highway Photograph Album, Archives Photograph Collection
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