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research rabbit hole
Oct. 17th, 2021 09:09 pmEvery so often I find myself stumbling over something I had no idea about whatsoever that sends me down a rabbit hole. It's most interesting when it relates to something I actually know anything about, because then the rabbit holes tend to be legitimately obscure.
Today it is wine bricks. I am reading Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death, for my Bowie books project, and she claims that the wine industry created and popularized a mode of advertising which I can best describe as intentional double-talk that is not actually lying.
Basically, after the U.S. passed Prohibition, the vineyards of California panicked, as they had only just gotten to the point of making what they considered a world-class product. They were pretty sure Prohibition wouldn't last forever, but if they all tore up their vineyards to go into other agricultural businesses, it would take a literal decade to re-establish the plantings when it was time to come back. But the sale of non-alcoholic grape products, such as concentrate, was perfectly legal.
Thus, the wine brick, 1920-1931, a brick of grape which carried on the label a very strict warning NOT to leave it in a gallon of water and let it stand at room temperature for one week in a dark and quiet place because then it would TURN INTO WINE, which we all know would be bad, continued the label, despite wine being perfectly legal to make at home ENTIRELY YOURSELF FOR PERSONAL CONSUMPTION. (Which was true, just most people didn't own vineyards.) Available in flavors such as muscatel, sauternes, and riesling to tell you exactly which wine you were not supposed to be making, and, for some reason, also available in lemon and orange.
In 1931, the government got around to closing this loophole, but by then the writing on the wall was pretty clear for Prohibition, and the California wine industry survived the two-year wait for repeal.
People don't appear to make these anymore, but a few survive.
I honestly can't imagine what they would taste like. As far as I can tell, the concept has fallen entirely out of pop culture, especially since pop culture made during the period could not openly show the bricks' usual use.
Anyway, as of the 1990s the various professional funeral directors' associations of the U.S. were sending around leaflets to various funeral establishments saying that in their experience the usual charges for various funeral appurtenances began at x$, and IN NO CIRCUMSTANCES was this information to be used for industry-wide price fixing, WE'RE JUST MAKING SURE YOU KNOW NOT TO DO THAT.
... I can understand why this reminded Jessica Mitford of a wine brick.
Today it is wine bricks. I am reading Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death, for my Bowie books project, and she claims that the wine industry created and popularized a mode of advertising which I can best describe as intentional double-talk that is not actually lying.
Basically, after the U.S. passed Prohibition, the vineyards of California panicked, as they had only just gotten to the point of making what they considered a world-class product. They were pretty sure Prohibition wouldn't last forever, but if they all tore up their vineyards to go into other agricultural businesses, it would take a literal decade to re-establish the plantings when it was time to come back. But the sale of non-alcoholic grape products, such as concentrate, was perfectly legal.
Thus, the wine brick, 1920-1931, a brick of grape which carried on the label a very strict warning NOT to leave it in a gallon of water and let it stand at room temperature for one week in a dark and quiet place because then it would TURN INTO WINE, which we all know would be bad, continued the label, despite wine being perfectly legal to make at home ENTIRELY YOURSELF FOR PERSONAL CONSUMPTION. (Which was true, just most people didn't own vineyards.) Available in flavors such as muscatel, sauternes, and riesling to tell you exactly which wine you were not supposed to be making, and, for some reason, also available in lemon and orange.
In 1931, the government got around to closing this loophole, but by then the writing on the wall was pretty clear for Prohibition, and the California wine industry survived the two-year wait for repeal.
People don't appear to make these anymore, but a few survive.
I honestly can't imagine what they would taste like. As far as I can tell, the concept has fallen entirely out of pop culture, especially since pop culture made during the period could not openly show the bricks' usual use.
Anyway, as of the 1990s the various professional funeral directors' associations of the U.S. were sending around leaflets to various funeral establishments saying that in their experience the usual charges for various funeral appurtenances began at x$, and IN NO CIRCUMSTANCES was this information to be used for industry-wide price fixing, WE'RE JUST MAKING SURE YOU KNOW NOT TO DO THAT.
... I can understand why this reminded Jessica Mitford of a wine brick.
