National Prohibition Act Prescription Form For Medicinal Liquor

National Prohibition Act Prescription Form For Medicinal Liquor

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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
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