Tonight (Oct. 2) on PBS: Ken Burns "Prohibition" documentary Part 1

[castlecraver]

Just a heads' up for imbibing badgers in the US: PBS is premiering the first part of Ken Burns' new documentary, "Prohibition" tonight (times may vary slightly, check your local listings).

You may be familiar with Mr. Burns' work from "The Civil War" and "Baseball" and his other very compelling, award-winning documentaries.

The fact that the Prohibition Era is often so paradoxically considered the "glory days" of drinking in the US always fascinates me. If anyone else is as interested in speakeasies, bootlegging and the like, make sure you catch it tonight (or set your DVR).

 

[ouch]

NB: If you look carefully, you can see Pat sitting at the end of the bar at the eleven minute mark.

Burns makes some amazing documentaries. He has a Viet Nam War film underway that's due in 2016, I believe. Then again, he can do an eighteen hour documentary on dry cleaning.

 

[Kevan]

Why does he take so long to do his stuff though? the Vietnam war doc in 5 years' time? Is it because of funding?

 

[redrako]

I was excited to hear about Ken Burns documentary about Prohibition. Being both a history buff and a fan of well done documentaries, I look forward to seeing this film.

I recall hearing stories from both my wife's family and my own about relatives who lived Bridgehampton, Long Island and Rhode Island and supposedly were involved in helping to smuggle liquor into the US.

As a side not, as a recent convert to appreciating Rye Whiskey, Rye was the whiskey of choice in the U.S. until prohibition. All of those saloons depicted in movies, where the bartender pours out a whiskey from a blank bottle - that was Rye.

 

[devorenm]

Being a PBS Junkie I have been eagerly awaiting this - even if it did preempt Masterpiece Mystery!

I have to say I really enjoyed it - one of the things I really appreciate about Burns is that he is able to weave the cultural context and multivocality inherent in historical events into a more or less cohesive narration.

As for time - I would imagine it is partially because of cost. An advisor of mine when I was an undergrad frequently did work that ended up on CPB and the money is just hard to come by these days. It is further complicated because many of these things are partially funded by CPB, some by NEA, some by private donors, and then some by small organization so you can have four or five grantors involved.

Finally, I think a big chunk of time is probably spent in archives all over the place. Where do you get a picture of Hillsboro, Ohio cirica 1860 - probably in Hillsboro, Ohio on microfiche in the library or the county historical society.

 

[devorenm]

I was excited to hear about Ken Burns documentary about Prohibition. Being both a history buff and a fan of well done documentaries, I look forward to seeing this film.

I recall hearing stories from both my wife's family and my own about relatives who lived Bridgehampton, Long Island and Rhode Island and supposedly were involved in helping to smuggle liquor into the US.

As a side not, as a recent convert to appreciating Rye Whiskey, Rye was the whiskey of choice in the U.S. until prohibition. All of those saloons depicted in movies, where the bartender pours out a whiskey from a blank bottle - that was Rye.

This is true - but I have to imagine it wasn't anything like the Rye we drink today in our cocktails - at least not in small town saloons in Ohio. It was probably closer to moonshine than the Ryes we drink which have only made a comeback because boozehounds like us wanted them.

 

[Niles]

I didn't see all of it last night. But I'm hoping to catch up and will definitely watch the rest of the documentary.

 

[StillShaving]

Watched first hour of part 2. Very entertaining and informative.
In one scene the camera travels through or near Times Square, and think I saw Every Ready Razors and Gillette spelled out in big incandescent light bulbs.

 

[jazzman]

Excellent documentary, as usual from Ken Burns. I've also read the book by Daniel Okrent, who is one of the speakers and was the advisor for the program. It's a terrific read.

 

[AABCDS]

I watched most of it last night. It was pretty interesting and I'm not a fan of history at all.

 

[mdevine]

I watched and it was very good. I've enjoyed all of his work, but his "Jazz" is, by far, my favorite. I was a jazz fan before seeing it, but it greatly expanded my appreciation of it. I usually listen to late 50s, early 60s jazz. Since the documentary, I picked up quite a bit of music from the 1920s to 1950s ( about forty CDs from this time period). I still listen to very little made after about 1970. If you haven't watched "Jazz", find it.

 

[Alraz]

I watched and liked it a lot. It gave me a completely new perspective of the struggle between dries and wets.

Al raz.