Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

In 2020, 100 years after the 18th Amendment went into effect, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum is featuring a new exhibit highlighting prohibition and the temperance movement as a whole throughout the Texas Panhandle.

According to a news release, the Panhandle Prohibition Exhibition will open Saturday at the museum, featuring various artifacts from that time period including a bar. This exhibit will go along with the Flapper Fashion exhibit, which will open in December, continuing the museum’s look into 1920’s history.

As of Jan. 17, 1920, the 18th Amendment prohibited Americans to manufacture, sell or transport alcoholic beverages. But the movement started earlier in Texas, with many counties going dry in the 1910’s, according to a news release.

Stephanie Price, the curator of this exhibit, said this is the second time she has curated an exhibit for the museum. She was partly inspired by the fact that it was 100 years since 1920.

“I was walking around the museum and going to my office. I just thought to myself, you know what would be a really cool exhibit would be something about prohibition because we are in 2020, so it’s 100 years later,” she said. “I thought this would be a great exhibit to get people excited about coming down to the museum. I think people are always really enthralled with the 1920’s. It has such a romantic air to it.”

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