Mr. Spectator: The Not-So-Great Gatsby

Most of us know Walgreens as the place where grandparents like to do their Christmas shopping, but did you know that they were once in direct competition with Al Capone?

Back in 1920 (two years before F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote what many critics would later refer to as "the Great American novel" -- much later, in fact, as the book wasn't really widely read until GIs were given paperback copies during WWII), Congress passed the Volstead Act. Although the name evokes images of goat sacrifices, pentagrams, and the summoning of the Dark Lord Volstead, it was actually something far worse. The Volstead Act prohibited the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" throughout the United States, thereby marking the beginning of Prohibition.

Of course, as long as there have been laws, there have been loopholes.

"That sure was a good idea to put that empty barrel down there."

Throughout this period, doctors could count on a steady supply of patients by being liberal with their prescription pads. They would commonly write prescriptions for booze, treating ailments ranging from tuberculosis to chronic depression to general boredom to... yes, alcoholism, and drugstores at this time made bank filling them.

This is how Walgreens expanded from 20 stores in 1920 to 525 in 1930: they were one of the few places that openly sold alcohol to their customers during Prohibition.

Unlike Capone, what they were doing was perfectly legal -- similar to medical marijuana dispensaries of today, except these drugstores were protected by federal instead of state law. As author Daniel Okrent points out, this is also how Jay Gatsby made his fortune: the old sport owned a lot of drugstores.

So if you ever wondered what made the Great Gatsby so darn great, the answer is medicinal hooch.

For many doctors at the time, it was also a matter of principle, as they didn’t like being told how to do their jobs by politicians and bureaucrats. If they wanted to prescribe bottles of whiskey to patients with "hysteria," that was their prerogative. Besides, the medicinal properties of alcohol had been widely accepted for centuries. It was not only an effective pain killer, but it was also an antibacterial agent that almost certainly saved millions of lives before people even knew what bacteria were. Plus it has been making people seem more attractive for millennia, and nine out of ten doctors agree that it tends to make parties a lot more fun.