So close but yet so far away

I grew up in and near Detroit, even living in downtown Detroit during college.  As a rambunctious child my dad would drive me around Detroit giving me history and architecture lessons while allowing me to shift his manual pick up truck. So it  shocked me to go to Canadian Club and not know any of the history behind it especially with the affinity to Detroit that my dad and I have. How could I have lived so close for so long and never know, we use to go get piercings in Canada cause it was legal at 16 and drinking at 19. Just a short tunnel ride over from Detroit we started our Journey into Hiram Walker’s empire and the history behind prohibition.

Hiram Walker Established the brand in 1858 and built an empire.  He built homes, churches and schools for his employees in Walkerville and he paid them in walker dollars.  He gave them everything they needed. During Prohibition the bulk of alcohol consumed in the US was produced in Walkerville. Many people would smuggle crates of Canadian Club over the Detroit River, many times having to throw their whiskey into the river fetching out after the police we no longer on their trail. Some of the front runners in organized crime were the Purple Gang – a mob of predominatly Jewish members or bootleggers and hijackers in the 1920’s based out of Detroit and Al Capone. It was fascinating to see how many counterfeit bottles were being made as well.

Prohibtion is a vital part of understanding our history in the U.S. and although many of our view points on alcohol have changed its still interesting to think there was a point in time where people believed that they could spontaneously combust into blue flames from drinking too much alcohol…. define too much!

Our Lovely parting gifts. Gold Bottles with out names on them!