On January 15, 1920, a day before the law took effect, a federal judge declared that all liquor found outside the privacy of home could be confiscated. This caused a panic on the streets as millions of people across the country, who for weeks had been stockpiling private supplies of liquor in warehouses and safe deposit boxes, were now forced to take their reserves home. Speaking of New York, author Thomas M. Coffey writes that anything with wheels was commandeered, "Here, as in most other cities, the streets had been filled with cars, trucks, taxis, wagons, and even baby buggies, all carrying heavy loads of bottled goods. Pedestrians had burdened themselves with as much as they could lift."

Saloon keepers who were faced with being on the wrong side of the law slashed their prices. A few even gave away liquor since those who were...