Moonshine

The mist over the Blue Ridge Mountains was nothing more than blue smoke
rising from moonshiners' stills.
Composer Lamar Stringfield

Although the whiskey still in this exhibit was captured by Federal agents in Wilkes county, North Carolina in the 1960s, the copper tank is probably much older. Colonists brought the knowledge of whiskey-making with them from the British Isles, and passed on their skills and often their equipment to succeeding generations. This probably explains the use of this old tank in a modern still.

In the Blue Ridge, as in all frontier areas prior to the Civil War, whiskey flowed freely at christenings, weddings, elections, wakes and funerals, and many farmers had their own stills. Whiskey was not only a welcome barter item in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was also a necessary ingredient in many home remedies. Also, while there was no market for a farmer's excess corn crop, whiskey could be easily transported over roads on horseback and sold for cash.

During the Civil War, the Federal government instituted an exise tax on whiskey distilling, and began to rigorously enforce its collection after the war ended. Many Americans, including people in the Blue Ridge, felt that this tax was an unfair burden on rural commerce, and hid their stills to avoid paying it. Because whiskey making was safest at night and easiest when the moon was out, illegal distillers became known as "moonshiners." Those who sold the product, occasionally concealed in loose-fitting boots, were called "bootleggers."

In numerous communities, especially during Prohibition and the Great Depression, whiskey-making was looked upon as a necessary evil, something a person did to provide an income for his family.

In our exhibit, we have two woodcarvings by woodcarver William Dotson.