When Prohibition (the Eighteenth Amendment) was repealed by State ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment in December 1933, I was a teenager, but already familiar with beverage alcohol. My initial contact was through religion; for centuries alcohol in beverage form had been part of the customs of many organized religions, customs that were and are part of the traditions of my Jewish faith. During Prohibition, I had consumed alcohol in a family environment and also participated in the sale of alcohol. Our family owned the Buchman Wine Company in lower Manhattan Borough, New York City, and the sale of sacramental wine was permitted. Our largest customer was the Archdiocese.
