"John Barleycorn's Final Exit" Prohibition and Its Effects on Erie County

Abstract

At the stroke of midnight January 6, 1920 Prohibition enforcement went into full effect. The Erie Daily Times in two articles predicted some of the wildest parties that would take place in honor of the deceased. The city of Erie along with the rest of the nation was on the brink of Prohibition, and the Erie Daily Times was in sorrow for a friend in John Barleycorn.1 Jack London’s literary creation represented many of the perceived evils of alcoholism by Prohibitionists. The main character in the novel slowly became an alcoholic as he was trapped in the saloon. Barlecorn’s decline, which was based on Jack London’s own experiences in the novel, was what many feared about the effects of alcohol.