Eighty years ago today, the failed experiment of Prohibition ended, ending scenes like this one - a Boston police officer with a raided still in South Boston.
Throughout Prohibition, news photographer Leslie Jones chronicled the ultimately futile efforts of lawmen to stem the tide of illegal booze. The BPL has a collection of his photos, including this one of federal agents dismantling "the most elaborate joint ever built in Boston," at 153 Causeway St. in 1932:
Rum runner loaded with $175,000 worth of booze seized in Dorchester Bay by the Coast Guard in 1932:
Boston Police Supt. Michael Crowley after a raid on a Tremont Street speakeasy in 1930:
Police from Division 9 unload seized casks:
Police dump beer out of a Dorchester window in 1934:
Photos used under this Creative Commons license.