According to Fred Minnick, author of Whiskey Women, women bootleggers were five times more effective than men bootleggers because many states had laws that made it illegal for male police officers to search women.
Back then, it was also considered insulting to accuse women of such a crime. Women used this law to break the law, the 18th Amendment. Ironically, women had no say on either law because, at that time, women did not have the right to vote.
Since bootlegging was good money with little punishment for women, alcohol smuggling syndicates took advantage of these loopholes and recruited women into the ranks. Also, male bootleggers were usually loud and harsh, killing whoever got in their way, whereas women were swift and rarely talked.
The ladies would travel on trains from hillsides to towns to transport the moonshine. One may wonder how did the women smuggle the alcohol. Mainly, female bootleggers would hide containers of moonshine under their bulky clothing. The women developed clever undergarments that concealed the various bottles containing illegal alcohol.
The Depot museum will feature replicas of these undergarments during the months of September and October. The museum’s moonshine theme will highlight female bootleggers and the use of trains in Marshall County during the Prohibition Era.
The Depot museum will be open
September 20th from 10:00am to 5:00pm
and
October 25th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.
Guntersville Railroad Depot Museum 