bootleggers
Illegal alcohol dealers
Bootleggers are people who make, transport, or sell illegal goods—originally and especially liquor during Prohibition.
The term comes from smugglers hiding flasks in their boot legs.
The meaning extends to anyone trafficking in contraband or unauthorized copies: bootleggers selling pirated DVDs.
The verb is bootleg; the adjective describes illicit goods: bootleg whiskey, bootleg recordings.
Illicit liquor establishments
- 18th AmendmentConstitutional liquor ban
- temperanceHabitual moderation in behavior
- repealAnnul a statute
- 21st AmendmentConstitutional reversal of alcohol ban
dry laws · Eliot Ness · Al Capone · rum-running · prohibition era · teetotaler · raids · flappers
Prohibition liquor smuggler
- contrabandProhibited trade goods
- traffickingIllegal transport for profit
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- black marketIllicit trading system
tunnels · border crossings · boats · trucks · stash · cargo · routes · distribution
Concealed information
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- covertIntentionally concealed
- illicitProhibited by law
- hiddenKept out of sight
furtive · disguised · under-the-table · concealed · passwords · false walls · trap doors · coded language
Unmoving, or continuing
- corn whiskeySpirit distilled from maize
- white lightningIllicit homemade corn whiskey
- hoochIllicit liquor, slangily
- bathtub ginAmateur-made illegal liquor
homebrew · rotgut · firewater · poteen · backwoods · Appalachia · mason jars · corn mash
speakeasies
Illicit liquor establishments
- 18th AmendmentConstitutional liquor ban
- temperanceHabitual moderation in behavior
- repealAnnul a statute
21st Amendment · dry laws · Eliot Ness · Al Capone · rum-running · prohibition era · teetotaler · raids · flappers · roaring twenties
rum-runner
Prohibition liquor smuggler
- contrabandProhibited trade goods
- traffickingIllegal transport for profit
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
black market · tunnels · border crossings · boats · trucks · stash · cargo · routes · distribution · supply lines
secret
Concealed information
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- covertIntentionally concealed
- illicitProhibited by law
hidden · furtive · disguised · under-the-table · concealed · passwords · false walls · trap doors · coded language · lookouts
still
Unmoving, or continuing
- corn whiskeySpirit distilled from maize
- white lightningIllicit homemade corn whiskey
- hoochIllicit liquor, slangily
bathtub gin · homebrew · rotgut · firewater · poteen · backwoods · Appalachia · mason jars · corn mash · unaged
gangster
Criminal organization member
- syndicateCombined group pursuing shared interest
- mafiaCriminal organization using intimidation
- mobDisorderly, aggressive crowd
racketeer · outlaw · fence · cartel · bribery · payoffs · turf wars · violence · arrests · prison
- drink historyspeakeasies, temperance movement, 18th Amendment, 21st Amendment, beer brewing
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany
- Prohibition EraProhibition, speakeasies, moonshiner, Al Capone, rum runners
- ProhibitionProhibition, speakeasies, 18th Amendment, prohibition era, prohibition agents
- Roaring Twentiesflappers, Charleston, speakeasies, jazz age, Prohibition
- black marketblack market, illegal trade, smugglers, contraband, traffickers
bootleggersprohibition agents
Enforcers of alcohol bans
revenue agents · revenuers · Eliot Ness · federal agents · revenuer