Gentlemen Bootleggers
The True Story of Templeton Rye, Prohibition, and a Small Town in Cahoots
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
During Prohibition, while Al Capone was rising to worldwide prominence as Public Enemy Number One, the townspeople of rural Templeton, Iowa—population just 418—were busy with a bootlegging empire of their own. Led by Joe Irlbeck, the whip-smart and gregarious son of a Bavarian immigrant, the outfit of farmers, small merchants, and even the church Monsignor worked together to create a whiskey so excellent it was ordered by name: Templeton Rye. Gentlemen Bootleggers tells a never-before-told tale of ingenuity, bootstrapping, and perseverance in one small town, showcasing a group of immigrants who embraced the American ideals of self-reliance, dynamism, and democratic justice. It relies on previously classified Prohibition Bureau investigation files, federal court case files, extensive newspaper archive research, and a recently disclosed interview with kingpin Joe Irlbeck. Unlike other Prohibition-era tales of big-city gangsters, it provides an important reminder that bootlegging wasn’t only about glory and riches, but could be in the service of a higher goal: producing the best whiskey money could buy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Baure brings to life the Prohibition era in this history of a small Iowa community's response to the 18th Amendment. People at all levels of society in Templeton, Iowa worked to undermine the ban on the sale of alcohol: Monsignor F.H. Huesmann, for example, passed out samples of rye produced locally, and even allowed a still to operate in the basement of his church. Otis P. Morganthaler, a doctor and the town's mayor, ordered that the town's water supply be turned on at night to enable citizens to refill their mash tanks, and even posted bail for those who had been arrested. The narrative is framed by the story of Joseph Irlbeck, who rose from poverty to become the town's leading maker and seller of illegal alcoholic beverages; his iconic Templeton Rye achieved national success. Bauer turns phrases easily, as in this description of local sheriff Benjamin Wilson, who oversaw a county divided about Prohibition by "compromising law and order to the passions of inflamed patriotism and jingoistic fervor." Readers will be entertained. B&w photos.
