Smuggling from Canada
While America went dry and its distilleries were closed, those of Canada continued to produce fine whiskies. In America, before prohibition, the favorite whiskey was rye, followed by Scotch, and bourbon’s appeal was limited to the south for the most part. During Prohibition, Americans developed a taste for Canadian whiskey. Bootleggers brought alcohol from Canada to the United States via the Great Lakes or moved it to the sea via the St. Lawrence River, where the ships carrying it joined the others on Rum Row, which became so crowded off of New Jersey, an important delivery point since it was near New York City and Philadelphia, that as many as 75 ships could be seen from the shore at times.
The ships on Rum Row, particularly those from Canada, offered further enticements to bootleggers to whom they wanted to sell their wares, including prostitutes who would provide free services to the bootleggers while their cargo was being transferred. Some ships flew banners advertising the beverages available for sale, and the prices. A Pacific Rum Row developed of the west coast of the United States, fed by ships from the western Canadian ports, and off southern California where South American rum was offered for sale to the bootleggers. The Gulf of Mexico was also crowded with shipping delivering products in demand by thirsty Americans.
As on land, where bootleggers were increasingly at war with their competitors by the mid-twenties, their sea-based fellows were soon in arms against each other in territorial disputes. Chicago’s Al Capone operated an important smuggling base on the island of Miquelon, a French possession near Newfoundland, and his ships left the island for rendezvous with the small craft armed with machine guns. Capone was just as determined to protect his water routes as he was his territory on the streets of Chicago, and just as ruthless in doing so.