In the spring of 1923, the humble dandelion found itself in unexpected legal trouble.
Usually accused of ruining lawns and staining children’s fingers, the little yellow weed was suddenly being watched for a far more serious offense: becoming wine.
At the height of Prohibition, when the Volstead Act had turned ordinary citizens into amateur lawyers every time they opened a cupboard, even old-fashioned homemade remedies could raise suspicion. Dandelion wine, long treated by some families as a tonic, a seasonal tradition, or a harmless summer drink, was no exception.
According to Mrs. Emma Shelton of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, it did not matter if your grandmother made it, your neighbor swore by it, or your cellar had just enough room for one innocent-looking jug. If those dandelions were destined for fermentation, the law had something to say about it.
So before anyone went prowling through vacant lots with a basket and a greening knife, the warning was clear: pick the dandelions for salad if you must, but keep clear from making wine.
Don’t Make Dandelion Wine, Warns WCTU Head; It’s Against the Law
Dandelion pickers, watch your step. The WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) and the revenuers will get you if you don’t watch out.
Mrs. Emma Shelton, president of the District branch of the of the WCTU, today issued a warning to those who are haunting the corner lots with baskets and greening knives.
Her warning is:
“Don’t make dandelion wine if you have any respect for the law. The law against dandelion wine is just as strict as the ban on whisky and brandies.”
Mrs. Shelton has no prejudice against the lowly dandelion. She doesn’t want them rooted up nor greens forbidden as a table dish. But she does think that persons who are planning to put the wine in their cellars should be warned.
It doesn’t make any difference whether your family has made it since before the war and used it as a tonic or a summer drink — your custom must give way to the Volstead act.
“Most of the pickers don’t know this or don’t think about it,” said Mrs. Shelton. “They should be told. Making liquors at home in certain amounts for the makers’ consumption by be but a technical violation, but it certainly breaks the spirit of the law.”
Thousand of dandelion hunters were scouring Washington today for wine making. They’ve been hot after them for three days now.
Source: The Washington Daily News. Washington, D.C. May 1, 1923.
