Congratulations! You’ve nearly made it through 2025. If your New Year’s celebrations include an alcoholic beverage, pour one out for the revellers of Prohibition, who had to show spirit without spirits—or get creative with sourcing. In 1926, not long after The New Yorker’s founding, the magazine published “A Bootlegger’s Story,” a four-part series by an anonymous smuggler. “In the first six or seven months of prohibition, everything was very dry,” he reports—but pent-up demand soon created a booming black market. The writer was working as a waiter at the start of the ban, but unexpected opportunities soon led him to quit the restaurant and climb the ranks of clandestine suppliers instead. As he recounts his rise from deliveryman to upper management, he answers questions that you didn’t realize you had about smuggling routes, the psychology of pricing, and how word got around about where to find a forbidden drink.

The New Yorker of that era did its part to aid those seeking alcohol. At a time when aspiring drinkers might not know what to pay, The Talk of the Town published regular updates about what bootleg liquor should cost. Since that service is no longer relevant, we’ll just thank you for your readership and wish you a happy New Year.