National Prohibition Act Prescription Form For Medicinal Liquor
National Prohibition Act Prescription Form For Medicinal Liquor
- Description
- While the production, transport, and sale of liquor was illegal during Prohibition, the National Prohibition Act allowed alcohol for medicinal and religious use. This loophole was often exploited as a way to acquire alcohol, but it required a prescription that cost $3 from the doctor and another $3 or $4 to get it filled from a pharmacist. A doctor could prescribe up to a pint of a certain kind of liquor, or Spiritus frumenti [spirits of grain], the official medical name for whisky. This prescription for a pint of whisky was prescribed on October 21, 1929 and filled the same day.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- prescription form, medicinal whiskey
- date made
- 1929-10-21
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 11.5 cm x 14.2 cm; 4 17/32 in x 5 19/32 in
- ID Number
- 1979.0798.508
- catalog number
- 1979.0798.508
- accession number
- 1979.0798
- Credit Line
- Gift of Gary P. and Sandra Baden
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- Health & Medicine
- American Enterprise
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.
Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.