Kentucky Moonshine by David W. Maurer

Author:David W. Maurer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky

6

MOONSHINING AS AN INDUSTRY

Delays have dangerous ends.

SHAKESPEARE, Henry VI

WITH THE ADVENT of Prohibition in 1919, moonshining took on some of the trappings of big business. Since the owner, part owner, or backer was now heavily preoccupied with sales, distribution, protection, and other such details, he needed a small hierarchy of people working under him to handle production. His contacts were primarily with large customers, sources of protection, and other moonshiners, all of which took him away from the still frequently. For these reasons moonshining became loosely organized as a business.

Capitalization: As in all businesses, financing is basic, and while the old-time one-man still required little investment, modern producers must have access to considerable amounts of ready cash and sufficient reserves to tide them over emergencies.

Any still large enough to require a backer will involve a potential investment of $3,000 to $5,000. And this still will be of small capacity. Some of the big steam stills in the Carolinas have a production capacity of 1,000 to 1,800 gallons per day and are very costly to build and operate. One raided near the Kentucky–Tennessee border in the spring of 1973 was reported by federal agents to have a mashing capacity of 15,000 gallons with a net daily yield of 1,500 to 2,000 gallons of 100 proof sugar whiskey. The initial cost of constructing this still was said to be some $40,000. Operating expenses were very high and the cost of marketing and transporting this volume of whiskey would be enormous. Sales and transportation would have to be expanded over a large area to find a market that could absorb 2,000 gallons of whiskey a day. In other words, within easy transporting distance, bootleggers would have to market some 16,000 pints of whiskey per day just to keep this still running. And of course, we must remember that there are competing stills in the same area. Obviously, the moonshine whiskey industry makes demands on capital that are not common in most legitimate industries.

It is practically unknown for backers to be prosecuted or convicted in connection with moonshining although it sometimes happens in connection with very large alky columns in big cities. The backer, needless to say, never associates himself publicly with any phase of the industry, though it is not unknown for a backer to own a legal liquor store that sells both moonshine and legal whiskey. In fact, there is an obvious trend for some backers to control outlets, handling more legal whiskey than moonshine whiskey, and a few deal exclusively in legal whiskey imported into dry areas where any whiskey is illegal.

Industrial Personnel: The still operator himself is a man of some experience and has the necessary connections to buy raw materials and sell whiskey. He probably comes from a family in which his father and grandfather were still operators. While he is well versed in distilling methods, he is basically a businessman. If the still is over one hundred-gallon capacity, there may be a chief stiller—that is, a still hand

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