A trip to the Bootlegger's

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A trip to the Bootlegger's

Unread postby Mike » Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:29 pm

As a young man, my friends and I had to choose where to get our beer and whiskey from among three sources. This was because our home county was dry.

We could go 'across the river', which meant going over to South Carolina to a liquor store or tavern just across the state line, which was formed by a river. That was about a 10 mile round trip.

Or, we could go over to a neighboring county, about a 35 mile round trip. The beer and whiskey was cheaper than in South Carolina, but the trip was longer.

Lastly, we could go to the 'Bootlegger' in our home county, a round trip of about 30 miles. This was the most expensive option, but there were other factors that entered into the equation when it came to going to the 'Bootlegger'.

There was a definite 'mystique' about the 'Bootlegger' that was missing from our other sources. No matter how many times I went to the 'Bootlegger's' house, I always expected to see him with his pants tucked into some high boots. Never happened of course, but I still kept my hopes up.

There would usually be 4 or 5 of us in the car and somehow each of us managed to say the word 'Bootlegger' at least three times on the way..........such was the power and mystery of the word and the person who would sell beer, whiskey, and moonshine illegally. He was definitely held in high esteem.

The fact that he was a short, fat, bald man with few teeth, living in a run down house with 10 other people, wasn't in keeping with the myth. But in our awe, we simply overlooked the fact that he was quite ordinary.

The first time we went to the 'Bootlegger's' house we were a bit shocked to walk right into his house (directly into a bedroom, not a living room). We walked in front of a pile of people sitting in chairs and lying on beds who were watching wrestling on TV. They paid us no attention, their eyes being glued to the match on the TV. The 'Bootlegger' led us out to the back porch where he had 3 or 4 refrigerators full of 'stuff'. As I recall, a quart of beer was $.75 and a pint of whiskey was $3.00.

We would buy our 'stuff' and pass back through the room with all the folks, eyes still fixed on the wrestling match, and out the door. As silly as you will think I am, I don't think I have ever treasured a bottle (beer or whiskey) in my hand more than I did in that few minutes from the 'Bootlegger's' house to the car. It was like I truly had the water of life in my hands and it had all the blessing it could hope to get, since it had passed through the hands of the 'Bootlegger'.

This story has a sad ending. A few years after my last trip to the 'Bootlegger', several people were murdered at his house one night. It was reported that the 'Bootlegger' and some of his family were shot a point blank range. I never heard exactly what happened or why.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas
Mike
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Unread postby bunghole » Sun Dec 18, 2005 4:58 pm

ima just loves bootlegger stories, Mike! Thanks for your post.

In ima's experience, bootleggers are very different from moonshiners. In my experiance, bottleggers sold beer; bourbon (by the pint only), and corn moonshine liquor by the gallon (the only way it comes).

In my time as a teen-ager, minimum wage was $1.15 an hour. You could easily make 'that kind of money' very easily as a bootlegger. You didn't need to do much, except have some small amount of working capital, and offer beer; bourbon, and moonshine at all hours of the day or night.

Didn't matter much. A buck is a buck. Eight sales a day (or night) = a days poverty income! Hey, what could be better!

My bootlegger made a handsome profit on under age sales alone. Just show up with some money and you could get all you could buy. Easy - Greesy!

Sunday sales was the big money maker. Many 'respectable folks' showed up after church for a pint of this or that.

You want to make good money for doing little or nothing?

Become a bootlegger!

ima - :partyman:
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