Created by June Morrall
Award-winning filmmakers & musicians Frank and Eddie Thomas (above) invite you to a “private screening” of their latest work:
Pennyland: Echoes of the Great Depression
(To view “Pennyland,” the movie, click on the link above, then, please, before or after, visit the Thomas’ website, click here
Frank Thomas says: “This is not meant as a political statement, but rather as an attempt to put a face on something that so often appears academic.”
Great Depression & Prohibition
Burt and I were talking about the repeal of Prohibition, the 18th Amendment, in 1933, a year when the Great Depression was roaring.
On the Coastside, the end of Prohibition instantly put a lot of rumrunners and bootleggers out of business. No more “mother ships” carrying whiskey from Canada visible from the South Coast, Miramar, Princeton-by-the-Sea and Moss Beach.
When liquor was illegal, the key players made fortunes. Moving down the “food chain,” the rewards were worthwhile for anyone.
In San Mateo County, 1933-34 was the year Bay Meadows Racetrack opened, with pari-mutuel betting [meaning the state government controlled the proceeds.] The humble Thoroughbred Seabiscuit, the “people’s horse” treated like a Hollywood movie star.
Now, putting it all together, 1933-34, a year when the costs of the Great Depression were steep, gambling and alcohol were legal.
Do you think that a solution to our government’s financial woes is to make everything that is illegal, (prostittuion and illegal drugs) legal, and tax it?
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