🚫 Prohibition and Ocean Liners: The Dry Years at Sea

✨ Introduction

When the United States ratified the 18th Amendment in 1920, Prohibition didn’t just reshape life ashore — it rippled across the Atlantic. Ocean liners, those grand symbols of modernity and luxury, suddenly found themselves at the center of a cultural and legal storm. For American-flagged ships like the SS Leviathan, the “dry” mandate became a crushing handicap in the fierce competition for transatlantic passengers.

⚖️ The Law at Sea

Volstead Act & the 3-Mile Limit – U.S. law banned alcohol within its territorial waters, then set at three miles from shore. Foreign ships could lock away their bars until they reached international waters — at which point service resumed with gusto.

American Ships Caught in the Net – Unlike their foreign competitors, U.S.-flagged liners like the Leviathan were forced to remain dry throughout the entire voyage, no matter how far they sailed from American shores.

s The Illustrated London News joked in 1923, “How a dry ship became wet on Atlantic voyage” — the moment a liner crossed into international waters, champagne corks popped and bars reopened. Except, that is, aboard the Leviathan and her American consorts.

📸 “Mineral Water on the Table; Wine Below It” —: Hiding the Tell-Tale Bottle in the Dining-Saloon of the SS Leviathan. Drawing by C. E. Turner. (The Illustrated London News, 21 July 1923) | GGA Image ID # 20cf2dc729

🛳️ Passenger List Notices: The Official Word

Steamship companies went out of their way to warn passengers about America’s dry laws.

Atlantic Transport Line, SS Minnewaska (1924) – “Only very limited supplies can be placed on board in consequence of the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court prohibiting the entry into their ports of alcoholic liquors.”

Red Star Line, SS Lapland (1923) – Similar wording cautioned travelers that Westbound crossings would be short on wine and spirits.

United American Lines (1923) – Went so far as to re-register ships like the Resolute under the Panamanian flag to evade Prohibition’s reach on world cruises.

These stark advisories show how deeply Prohibition reshaped the passenger experience.

🍽️ Elegance Without Spirits

Even in the most luxurious settings, the absence of wine was conspicuous.

The Ritz-Carlton Restaurant, Leviathan (1923 Brochure) – Supremely Elegant, Yet Coffee Cups Filled Tables Where Champagne Glasses Once Sparkled. | GGA Image ID # 121e51df02

Private Dinner Party Menu, Leviathan (10 June 1928) – Featured Caviar With Blinis and Peach Melba, but No Mention of Libations. the Silence Speaks Volumes. | GGA Image ID # 2203ba0b03

📖 Scholarship & Satire

Frank O. Braynard, in The World’s Greatest Ship, Leviathan (Vol. 4), summed it up:

“The plight of the Leviathan and her dry passengers was a topic of conversation. Since 1923, she and her American consorts were the only ships among the 100 liners on the North Atlantic required to obey the strictest interpretation of the Prohibition Amendment. The situation had even been the basis for humorous poetry.”

Maritime historian Blaine Branchik noted how French Line brochures cheekily promised:

“As you sail away, far beyond the range of amendments and thou-shalt-nots, those dear little iced things begin to appear, sparkling aloft on their slender crystal stems… Utterly French, utterly harmless – and oh so gurglingly good!”

Passengers even joked that Leviathan’s “smoking lounge” was really a “drinking lounge” — minus the drinks.

📉 Impact on U.S. Lines

Leviathan’s Struggles – Despite her size and grandeur, the Leviathan often sailed half full. Wealthy passengers simply chose “wet” ships like Cunard’s Mauretania or the French Line’s Paris.

Short Booze Cruises – Other companies pivoted by offering short “booze cruises” to Bermuda, Nova Scotia, or the Caribbean, where alcohol could flow freely.

Competitive Disadvantage – Prohibition, combined with restrictive immigration quotas and the Depression, cut deeply into revenues for American lines.

☕ A Culture Shift on Shore

Prohibition also reshaped habits at home. A 1919 New York coffee house opened in a former saloon, offering truck drivers coffee instead of beer. While alcohol was banned, social drinking culture adapted — both ashore and afloat.

🌊 Why It Matters

For historians, genealogists, and collectors, Prohibition-era passenger lists, menus, and brochures do more than list names or dishes:

They reveal how global companies adapted to U.S. law.

They capture a moment when American cultural policy reshaped international travel.

They document passenger experience — where the absence of a glass of wine told a story as loudly as its presence once had.

📚 Further Exploration at GG Archives

SS Leviathan Brochures & Menus

• Dining in Style: A Private Dinner Party on the SS Leviathan – June 10, 1928
  Explore the luxurious private dinner party hosted aboard the SS Leviathan in 1928. From caviar with blinis to Peach Melba, discover the menu, notable guests, and the process for arranging a bespoke dining experience on the high seas.
• SS Leviathan (1923): America’s Greatest Luxury Ocean Liner
  📌 Discover the grandeur of the SS Leviathan, the largest and most luxurious ocean liner of the 1920s. This 1923 brochure highlights its transformation from a WWI troop transport to a premier luxury passenger ship, featuring lavish interiors, state-of-the-art design, and a rich maritime legacy. A must-read for historians, genealogists, and ocean liner enthusiasts.

Other Brochures Addressing Prohibition

• Passenger Ships & Passage Regulations - 1924 Hamburg-Amerika Linie and United American Lines (Harriman Line) Brochure provides the complete Passage regulations for First, Second, and Cabin Class Passengers to North America. The brochure is in English and offers a glimpse of the effects of WWI War Reparations and Prohibition.
• The American Way to Europe: A 1924 United States Lines Brochure – A Resource for Educators, Historians, and Enthusiasts
  A comprehensive brochure from the United States Lines was developed to provide information and photographs describing the ships and amenities geared to Americans traveling to Europe. It also contains brief information on sites to see in Europe.

Passenger Lists Addressing Prohibition

• SS Lapland Passenger List - 8 August 1923
  The RMS Lapland of the Red Star Line departed Antwerp, Belgium, on Wednesday, 8 August 1923, bound for New York, with intermediary stops at Southampton and Cherbourg. Commanded by Captain T. Howell, this was a post-WWI voyage that symbolized growing civilian transatlantic mobility in the interwar period.
• SS Minnewaska Passenger List – 31 May 1924 | Transatlantic Voyage of Military Leaders, Clergy, and Tennis Star Vincent Richards
  The SS Minnewaska, part of the Atlantic Transport Line (ATL), departed New York on 31 May 1924 bound for London via Cherbourg. This voyage took place in the interwar years, when ocean liners were not only a means of transport but also cultural crossroads for elites, professionals, and religious figures.

Books and Articles Addressing Prohibition

• Dry Diplomacy: Prohibition and the U.S. Flag at Sea
  Dry Diplomacy is the first complete treatment of the diplomatic ramifications of prohibition. Spinelli explores the widespread effects on international law, shipping, foreign policy, and trade.

Other Resources:

• Ocean Travel Ephemera & Design

📝 Final Thoughts

Prohibition was more than a domestic policy — it was an international headache that made U.S.-flagged ships like the Leviathan curiosities in a world of champagne and cocktails. For researchers, these artifacts offer a unique window into the collision of law, culture, and leisure at sea.