Prohibition Years
For the 16 years that followed the 1919 Prohibition Act, widespread non-compliance of federal and state prohibition laws made Tampa one of the 'wettest' spots in the United States. In fact, in 1930 there were reportedly 130 different retailers surreptitiously selling a wide variety of intoxicating beverages. In Tampa, prohibition was a miserable failure. Besides raising the price of liquor and lowering its quality, the 'Noble Experiment' exacerbated Tampa's wide-open moral conditions, corrupted law enforcement and other public officials, and fostered the growth of an emerging criminal element.
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During the 1920s and early 1930s, Tampa received most of its illicit liquor from three sources: local bootleggers, rural moonshiners, and international smugglers.
The art of moonshining was practiced long before the advent of Prohibition. For generations, federal tax collectors scoured the outskirts of Tampa looking for tax-evading moonshiners. Until 1920, the illegal production of alcohol was a small and relatively insignificant business. It was primarily produced for home consumption or sold to neighbors. With the passage of the 18th Amendment, however, the production of moonshine grew into a large, commercial enterprise in the rural districts of Hillsborough and other surrounding counties.
Although the rural areas surrounding Tampa contained an untold number of stills, the 'Daddy' of the early moonshiners was a colorful character named William Flynn. A cooper prior to the 18th Amendment, by 1920 he had an impressive three-still operation that supplied much of West Tampa. Unfortunately for local retailers, this moonshining entrepreneur soon experienced some bad luck. On October 14, 1920, federal agents raided his business and destroyed the stills. Within days, however, other opportunistic 'shiners' filled the void created by Flynn’s arrest.
The alcohol supplied by rural moonshiners was a cheap alternative to homemade wine or expensive liquor. Yet there was a potential risk for individuals who consumed this backwoods 'shine.' Every year during Prohibition poorly prepared moonshine killed or made seriously ill hundreds of customers. All too often small operators, with little knowledge of the distilling process, allowed poisonous leads and salts to seep into the mixture. Moonshine found a receptive market in Tampa’s more notorious speakeasies, but most people preferred high quality imported liquor.
Because of its geographical location and numerous inlets and coves, Tampa became a haven for smugglers during the Prohibition era. For 16 years scores of 'black ships' operated off the coast of Tampa Bay bringing in unlawful liquor. Skillful sea captains, financed by both legitimate business concerns and criminal organizations, risked possible arrest and the impounding of their vessels for high profit yields. The main source of Tampa’s liquor supply came from Cuba and especially the Bahamas.
Few of these rumrunners and their bootlegging allies ever spent time in prison for violating federal and state prohibition statutes. Although the Tampa Daily Times and Tampa Tribune were filled with stories about spectacular liquor raids and well-publicized trials, the lucrative rum trade operated with impunity in Tampa. Public hostility to the Volstead Act, widespread community involvement in the smuggling business, and most importantly, blatantly corrupt city and county officials, made Tampa one of the 'leakiest' cities in the United States.
The official police records during the prohibition era were deceptive. First, many of those arrested were habitual offenders. The prospect of arrest did not intimidate the city’s liquor violators because municipal judges rarely imposed more than token fines. Liquor dealers were fined on a regular basis and many were arrested twice or more within a week’s time. According to one policeman, 'bootleggers made no bones of their business, smiled when arrested, paid up immediately, and continued to defy authorities.” To many bootleggers, getting arrested was merely a slight inconvenience and a minor occupational hazard. Secondly, many of those arrested selling alcohol gave false identities or distorted their names beyond recognition. Finally, the corrupt elements in the department often warned the city's underworld of impending raids. In order to appease the community's prohibitionists, police periodically swept through Ybor City and Tampa and temporarily closed several speakeasies and coffee houses. Forewarned, the establishments scheduled to be raided secreted their high quality liquor and left only a case or two of cheap moonshine in plain view for Tampa's vice squad detectives to confiscate. Following a perfunctory hearing before a sympathetic municipal magistrate, victims of these rehearsed raids usually resumed their illicit businesses within hours.
Bootlegger Italians
The local bootleggers were predominantly Italian immigrants who engaged in the trade to supplement their meager salaries. According to Gary Mormino and George Pozzetta in their book, The Immigrant World of Ybor City,
'The potentially large profits to be made, the nearly unlimited demand for and the acceptance of the illegal sale of alcohol by the public, and the Italian talent at manufacturing, supplying, and marketing... brought together economic opportunity and immigrant resolution.'
Throughout the Treasure City enterprising Italians built crude but efficient stills that produced a variety of potent potables. This cottage industry that employed perhaps as many as 50 percent of Ybor City's families, supplied an eager and appreciative market. In fact, scores of restaurants, coffee houses, and speakeasies served as outlets for this local 'alky cooked' liquor.
Prohibition brought tremendous sums of money into Tampa's Italian community, raising the socio-economic status of those engaged in the illegal trade. The 'Noble Experiment' was also important because it brought Italian-Americans into Tampa's criminal underworld. Prior to the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, organized crime was the near-exclusive domain of the city's Cubans and Spaniards. They controlled all major forms of vice, including the lucrative bolita industry--the Cuban numbers. Brought to Ybor City in the 1880s, this popular form of gambling began as a small sideline business found in Latin saloons. It soon became the single largest illegal money-making enterprise in Tampa’s history.
TAMPA - Tropical Storm Eta made landfall near Cedar Key, Fla. at 4:20 a.m., overnight but it wasn’t until the sun started rising that images of the damage caused by the storm started emerging.
Below are photos taken by journalists and people on the front lines showing damage from Eta. Continue checking back for updates throughout the day.
View right along Shore Blvd. in Gulfport. That’s the casino on the right! As the city tries to locate owners, we’re hearing some of the 6 boats that came to shore may be derelict. #eta@BN9pic.twitter.com/EWHPdcGzXb
— Cait McVey (@CaitMcVey) November 12, 2020Casino Boat In Tampa Florida
Gambling Boat Tampa Fl
VIDEO: Gulfport, 8:45 am pic.twitter.com/AenG9CJ6Uh
— Scott Harrell (@scottharrellbn9) November 12, 2020
Relentless #eta @BCollinsPhotog @bn9pic.twitter.com/EI6TjJgAuS
— Virginia M. Johnson (@VirginiaJohnson) November 12, 2020This is what #BayshoreBoulevard looks like at 11:10pm. Water has breeched the wall and is covering the road and the walk way. Some drivers are taking a chance and driving through. Bad idea. Turn around. @bn9weather@BN9#Eta#FlWxpic.twitter.com/vPWHGUKjVY
— DaveJordanBN9 (@DaveJordanBN9) November 12, 2020Tropical storm Eta is pushing the water from Coffee Pot Bayou over the seawall and into the street. Coffee Pot Boulevard is completely flooded. @BN9#Eta#StPetersburgFLpic.twitter.com/lJgrUDFbHg
— Josh Rojas (@JoshRojasBN9) November 12, 2020This happened SO FAST! Here at the Bradenton Pier, one boat has drifted to the docs. We don’t know if anyone is inside— emergency crews have been called. #ManateeCounty#TropicalStormEta@BN9pic.twitter.com/W5A71akwMJ
— Gabby Arzola (@GabrielleArzola) November 11, 2020What 2020 has been for all of us....rowing a boat in a storm...pouring out the water in between strokes #ManateeCounty#IFeelThat#HurricaneETA@BN9pic.twitter.com/OQy5lpeQhI
— Gabby Arzola (@GabrielleArzola) November 11, 2020