Getting alcohol during Prohibition could be tricky, unless you had a prescription for it. We aren't sure exactly why Dr Wood prescribed 1 ounce of whiskey 5 times a day for his patient, James Hill, in Nov. of 1933 but there's a number of possibilities. A thread 1/

First and foremost: alcohol was still used in a wide variety of medication and was widely viewed to have medicinal uses on its own. During Prohibition, alcohol for medicinal purposes was allowed to be made and sold. 2/5

A second was to keep patients with alcohol dependencies from going through withdrawal symptoms and to keep them away from dangerous homebrews. Homebrews and black market alcohol regularly killed and maimed those who consumed it. 3/5

Our third reason is financial motivation. An unscrupulous doctor could make quite a bit of money charging patients for a weekly prescription. 4/5

We don't know what Dr Wood was treating James Hill for but this little prescription shines a light on a different facet of life during Prohibition. 5/5