POUR DECISIONS

Back in the heyday of the Roaring 20s, life in Howardstown was a whirlwind of excitement, opportunity, and just a little nip of trouble. Now you see, Uncle Boojie and his friends were in the business of making “untaxed” corn whiskey and had quite a few interesting customers from all over the country. Old Jesse Spalding ran the card games at the Seelbach Hotel up there in Louisville and shook a lot of hands in the big city so he would have a knack for knowin’ just when the feds were planning their raids on their manufacturing facilities. Jesse would keep the Howardstown boys informed by a party line installed at the Howard’s General Store, the only phone in town and thus for decades the Howardstown operation was always one step of the law! 

Now one evening, Uncle Boojie joined one of Jesse Spalding’s card games and bumped into public enemy number one…Al Capone. The two struck up quite a friendship as they shared a love for gambling, cigars, and of course…good Kentucky bourbon. Through their conversations, Boojie was able to craft a deal, makin’ Howardstown the go-to supplier for Al Capone and his pals around the country. With 14 stills operatin’ around the clock, Boojie and the boys were churnin’ out thousands of gallons a week. The train tracks became their lifeline, smuggling Uncle Boojie’s Bourbon from Kentucky, straight to the thirsty streets of Chicago and beyond. The money Uncle Boojie had flowin, started the golden era of Howardstown…a time when the head of every household was a country millionaire and the walls of their humble homes were insulated with cash. 

But all good things must come to an end. In 1930, the revenuers finally caught wind of our operation and raided Howardstown. The “Great Pour Out,” they called it. Thousands of gallons of our finest whiskey poured out over two days, putting an end to our golden era of manufacturing. Uncle Boojie always said, “As the sun will rise, it will set,” and sure enough, the end of our moonshine empire was just as swift as its rise. But oh, what a ride it was while it lasted.