Yance Marti
6 p.m., Monday, Nov. 5
Historic Milwaukee, Inc.
235 E. Michigan St.
Although Milwaukee hasn’t gone down in history as a “wide-open town” on par with Kansas City or Memphis, red light districts and gambling dens flourished here in the early years of the last century. And once Prohibition was imposed, the City That Means Beer refused to satisfy its thirst with soft drinks. In Wicked Milwaukee, Yance Marti offers a solidly researched and entertainingly written account of the underground economies that sprang up to service the illicit desires and needs of our city’s residents. The elaborate efforts to brew beer under Prohibition are easy to imagine, but many will be surprised to learn of opium dens operated out of Chinese laundries.
