Monday Open Line


The years of Prohibition, from 1920 to 1933, were considered a noble experiment that failed as the subsequent crime associated with bootlegging caused problems worse than the lone problem of drunkenness. The crumbling of the unpopular Volstead Act accelerated on this date in 1933 when Congress amended the act to permit beer of 3.2 percent alcohol to be brewed and sold. The beer permitted earlier under Prohibition contained only .05 percent. Called “near beer,” and much disdained, one humorist declared that whoever named it was a poor judge of distance. Today, there are over 31,000 beer, wine and liquor stores in the U.S., with sales of over $36 billion. You can find current data on the country’s economy by downloading the America’s Economy mobile application at <www.census.gov/mobile>.

Sunday, April 6th. On this date in 1859, Massachusetts established the first state milk inspection program. An inspector of milk was appointed in August that year, operating from Boston, and whose primary efforts were to suppress so-called “swill milk,” the poor, thin output of cows kept in unsanitary conditions and fed on distillery refuse. Every year, Americans consume an average of over 600 pounds of all manner of dairy products, including frozen treats. When “per capita” means upwards of 315 million consumers, it means the output of the nation’s nearly 1,200 dairy manufacturers ship over $22 billion worth of product annually. You can find more statistics on communities across the country by downloading the Census Bureau’s “dwellr” mobile application at <www.census.gov/mobile>.

Saturday, April 5th. One of the most desirable cars in automobile showrooms across the U.S. in 1954 was the Packard. The new models were the first to be equipped with a feature that soon swept the industry — the tubeless tire. The idea had been patented more than 50 years earlier by Goodyear, but had never been developed for sale. So for many decades, cars rode on tires containing an inner tube to hold the air. The air-filled or pneumatic tire was conceived by a Scottish veterinarian who was looking for a smoother ride on his bicycle. Today, a lot of tire wear is racked up in the American workers’ daily commute, which averages 25.5 minutes one way. Over 8 percent of workers have greater than an hourlong commute. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey at <www.census.gov>.