April 15th – a day fraught with frantic, last minute trips to the post office, long hours spent digging through personal files and sometimes, big hits to the checking account. But this year, don’t give into the hassle and stress. Celebrate tax day, because of the role it played in abolishing one of the darkest periods in American history: Prohibition.
When the Great Depression hit, income tax no longer provided the government with enough revenue, leaving Uncle Sam searching for money elsewhere. That other source became the taxation on the sale of liquor, which spurred the end of Prohibition, filling the federal reserves and delighting American imbibers.
This year’s looming Tax Day falls on a Tuesday — giving double meaning to mixologist Brian van Flandern’s cocktail The Black Tuesday, named for the infamous Stock Market Crash on Tuesday, October 29, 1929. This Prohibition-style cocktail tops the smooth finish of The Real McCoy 12-Year-Aged Rum with a splash of champagne – to toast the end of another tax year.
