Bootlegger cars...need one!!

[Steve Moskowitz]

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia is looking for a car for their exhibit in 2012. Anyone with any leads to one of these cars?

Thank you for taking a few moments to speak with me on the phone earlier today. As I briefly explained, we are in the early stages of developing an exhibit on Prohibition. Finding a bootlegging car is high on our list of “wow” artifacts for the exhibit. Our Curatorial consultant, Dan Okrent (“Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition”), referred us to the cars known as the “Whiskey 6”, such as the Buick or Studebaker, used by the bootleggers. Or we would be interested to find any car of the era with a “false bottom” or some kind of hidden compartment for the liquor. The exhibit is set to open Summer 2012. Any help you or your members can provide would be great. I’d love to have some sources I can start calling by the end of the month. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

Edited January 17, 2011 by Steve Moskowitz (see edit history)

[Mssr. Bwatoe]

I am not sure if it would be available but here is a real one..

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

Sounds like a job for someone with NASCAR given in their early days most of the drivers were running shine. If I recall correctly Junior Johnson went to prison for running shine right in the middle of his best years on NASCAR Tracks in the mid 1950s.

There is a Museum in North Wilksboro, N.C. which has a number of old shine runner cars, including one or two donated by Junior Johnson. Since Museums will loan exhibits out to other Museums, they might just give those fine folks in N.C. a holler. If they're lucky they might even make a connection for some real, honest to goodness North Carolina creek water......... uummm, good!

Jim

[West Peterson]

I believe there are some in the Charlotte area. I can't remember names, but perhaps a call to Mel Carson could stir up something. Our own Tom Reese owns a 1932 Buick roadster nicknamed the "Whiskey Six," but Minnesota may be a little too far away for this exhibit.

[Rusty_OToole]

Most popular with working bootleggers were the Hudson Super Six and the Studebaker Whiskey Six. I asked before, what exactly was a Studebaker Whiskey Six and the consensus seemed to be, the Studebaker Big Six of the twenties.

REO Speedwagon was the bootleggers' favorite truck.

Both these cars were big, fast, and reliable and could carry a considerable load. But were not so flashy or expensive as to stick out in a crowd. Quiet, inconspicuous, and got the job done.

For a time in Detroit and environs, Lincolns were popular in the underworld. This was right after Henry Ford took over the Lincoln company. He got the bright idea of forcing all Ford dealers to take surplus Lincolns off his hands whether they wanted them or not. Selling Lincolns beside Model Ts made as much sense as selling Lamborghinis at a Kia dealership but the Ford dealers had to take them or lose their franchise.

Sharpie operators like Goose Island Tommy went around to small town Ford dealers and bought them up cheap, sometimes below wholesale. Then they took them to the city and flogged them to other sharpies with cash in their pockets and a fondness for an under the table deal.

These cars were more used for showing off than for "work". Sort of like today's bling encrusted Lincoln Navigators.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I knew a couple of old time bootleggers or at least, guys with "conneggshons". One was a violin player who worked in Detroit at a speakeasy, playing in a band called The Gondoliers.

He lived in Windsor and drove from Canada to the US to work every day. The first thing he did when he got the job, was to look around for a car that burned oil. He found an old Studebaker touring car and bought it.

Then he took a one gallon oil can and washed it out real clean. Each day he filled the can with whiskey, filled the crankcase with oil, and drove across the bridge. If the customs agents stopped him he would refuse to shut off the engine claiming it would not start again. The oil can was conspicuous on the floor next to the driver's seat. They would push the oil can aside, look under the seats, under the car etc. but soon get sick of the oil smoke and wave him on his way.

Once he got to work he sold the whiskey to the owner of the speak. He made $40 for each gallon of good Canadian whiskey, when he was making $35 a week as a musician.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

The same guy told me how a friend of his used to smuggle whiskey in a baby carriage. He had a small infant at the time. On weekends, if it was a nice day, he would take the baby for an airing. First he would lay a few quarts of liquor in the bottom of the carriage and cover it with a pad or folded blanket. Then tuck the baby in all comfy and give him a sucker. When they got to the customs he would take the sucker and throw it away. Then go through customs with a crying baby. If the customs agent said anything he would explain that the child was cranky because he soiled his diapers lol. He picked up a lot of extra money this way and never got caught.

O ya once the got across the bridge he would give the kid a fresh sucker. In case you think he was mean.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I also knew an old time mechanic who worked for bootleggers on the Canadian side in the twenties. One used an Indian motorcycle and sidecar. He would conceal bottles under a false floor in the sidecar and pad them with excelsior. One time he picked up a cop he knew and gave him a ride across the bridge. Nobody stopped him that time.

[HarryJ]

Mssr. Bwatoe.........Nice "L" Lincoln! Early Ford unit. What is the serial number?

[Rusty_OToole]

A favorite trick of smugglers in the winter was to dodge the customs and revenue agents by driving across the frozen river at Detroit. They would buy old jalopies, touring cars by preference. If they got a sedan they would sometimes take the doors off or at least drive across with the door ajar.

They would wait till the patrol went by the everyone made a mad dash for the American side. Once in a while a car would go through the ice and the driver would have to bail out quick. Once a man went through the ice and got caught underneath he was a goner. Most got out and got picked up before they drowned or froze to death. Some drove across towing a row boat with cases of liquor in it.

[Rusty_OToole]

You could look up The Rumrunners by C H Gervais for some first hand interviews with old timers and Booze Boats and Billions or Whiskey and Ice by C W Hunt the story of Canada's most daring rumrunner Ben Kerr.

I knew an old timer who used to help on Ben's boat when he was a boy.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

I don't think many bootleggers used hidden tanks, false floors or other such tricks. They depended on being inconspicuous and going about their business obeying all speed laws etc. If the law got onto them they would go like hell and usually get away. No radio cars in those days and the typical cop had a bicycle or possibly a Model T.

If you were careful you very seldom got in trouble, if you did get caught you could usually slip the cop a few bucks or at worst, go to court and get fined $10.

At least it was that way at first. In later years things got more serious. But most of the shows you see with G men shooting it out with tommy guns is bullroar.

The real danger was getting hijacked by another hoodlum but even in those cases, they were more interested in getting away with the goods quietly, than having a shootout.

[Guest 38cadillacjack]

when my parents were dating,mom said every date started out ok,then the cops stopped them,tore the cars apart,never put them back,she said dad stayed clean on date night.other days?

[Rusty_OToole]

Another good trick was to find a deserted dirt road or farm track that went from Canada to the US and cross that way. They would tie a rope on the back of the car and drag a bush to erase their tire tracks. Sometimes the prohibition agents would check these trails for signs of activity but they did not have the resources to guard them all.

[1937hd45]

When Henry Austin Clark was young he built ham radios for rum runners that needed to make contact with boats bring in stuff to Long Island. N.Y. He also told me a lot of booz was delivered in New york City using electric delivery trucks with a top speed of 20MPH or less. I've never understood the myth of rum running at high speeds.

Edited January 18, 2011 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

Tom McCahill told how one gang of rum runners used a dog instead of a radio. The deliveries were made to a road house near the water. On moonless nights a group of tough looking characters would hang around in the kitchen. Then a big wet Labrador retriever would come scratching at the door. They would let the dog in and the cook would give him a big steak.

The guys would drift out one by one to man the boats out to a sailboat and pick up the load. When the whiskey was safely unloaded someone would go get the dog and ferry it out to the sailboat with the last load.

The dog was the signal that the boat was in. When they were in sight of the shore the captain would throw the dog overboard and he would swim to the roadhouse.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Very good stories. The Junior Johnson story is shown regularly on History Channel and they proudly show his 40 Ford coupe but this car and most of the NASCAR-related moonshine runners came after the Prohibition era of 1920-1933, the period The Constitution Center,which I worked on, is concerned with. That Lincoln would fit the bill but it's kinda shabby.

[Mssr. Bwatoe]

Lincoln belongs to a friend, it was a bootleggers car that was hidden away from revenue's vue, under the house when owner went to the pokey (see plate) talk about barn find..

I dont have accces to it...but wow...parked in 32?? Some comment "too shabby" haaaaaaaa

I'll take shabby all day long...You should see the wifes Hup roadster that was with it..equally

shabby!! with 32 plate....

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I'm not saying I wouldn't want the Lincoln for me, I just don't think the Constitution Center would want it to show.

[50jetback]

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia is looking for a car for their exhibit in 2012. Anyone with any leads to one of these cars?

Thank you for taking a few moments to speak with me on the phone earlier today. As I briefly explained, we are in the early stages of developing an exhibit on Prohibition. Finding a bootlegging car is high on our list of “wow” artifacts for the exhibit. Our Curatorial consultant, Dan Okrent (“Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition”), referred us to the cars known as the “Whiskey 6”, such as the Buick or Studebaker, used by the bootleggers. Or we would be interested to find any car of the era with a “false bottom” or some kind of hidden compartment for the liquor. The exhibit is set to open Summer 2012. Any help you or your members can provide would be great. I’d love to have some sources I can start calling by the end of the month. ffice:office" /><O:p></O:p>

The April 2003 edition of the Buick Bugle featured a 1929 Model 44 Buick aka The Whiskey Six.

The vehicle was documented as being originally owned by Fred Hempstead from Pine Creek Minnesota and the article included some original photos of Fred and the car.

The article claims Fred was arrested in relation to his activities and served time in Federal prison in Duluth.

His car, The Whiskey Six is restored and according to the 2008 Buick Roster is still in the Minnesota area.

The Bugle story was written by W. Reese BCA#14497 and was reprinted by permission of the Antique Automobile, March-April 2001.

This would be the ideal car to exhibit with it's extensive probity, including period photographs.

Edited January 19, 2011 by 50jetback (see edit history)

[HarryJ]

A comment to a great man.............If you have read "Driving With the Devil" you will know who Raymond Parks was, he died just a few short months ago; he was the epitomy of the southern moonshiner/NASCAR guy. He lived it , he saw it , he was one of the greats...................

[West Peterson]

The April 2003 edition of the Buick Bugle featured a 1929 Model 44 Buick aka The Whiskey Six.

Stuart

That's the car I meant. My bad, I said 1932. Tom Reese still owns the car.

[50jetback]

Stuart

That's the car I meant. My bad, I said 1932. Tom Reese still owns the car.

It was a great article written by Tom and the research done was terrific and lends so much more to just looking at photos of a restored car.

If someone had a mind to I'm sure court/prison records could now be released in the public interest and a really interesting display could be produced using the " Whiskey Six " as its centrepiece ( Tom Reese willing of course ).

Edited January 21, 2011 by 50jetback (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

One of the first Charlotte AutoFairs I went to, I found a 53 Olds in the swap meet that had its hood propped open barely a foot.

Looked under there and saw a McCulloch supercharger hanging on the engine. An oldster looked under there with me and said "dollar to a dime says this was a likker wagon".