Ron May wonders why Congress would be concerned about the reuse of liquor
bottles when Prohibition was over. I kept thinking someone would know this
off the top of their heads, so I didn't respond right away. I'll check my
home library this weekend, as I have several books on Prohibition. However,
my guess is that Congress was much more concerned about tax and control of
the liquor that was in the bottle than the bottle itself. Because
bootlegging had become a 15-year tradition during prohibition, and the
reuse of bottles that bootlegging required, the folks making the laws
probably believed that the way to stop the continued illegal traffic in
liquor was to destroy all the illegal bottles out there. Only new bottles
specifically made for the newly legal liquor trade, which was now taxed and
controlled by the government, and taxed, could contain liquor. If liquor
was found in any other type of container, it was illegal, because it hadn't
been taxed.

Anyway, that's my guess. I'll check it out, get back to you all, and get
you some citations. I might even be able to fill in Rick's other two
blanks!!

Cathy Spude