The Wine Brick
from the do-not,-under-any-circumstances… dept.
From a Nanog discussion, via Hiro, comes this story about the Wine Brick, something I’d never heard of before. During Prohibition, you apparently could buy a compressed block of grapes, ostensibly for making grape juice. It had instructions that began:
To make a refreshing grape-juice drink, dissolve contents in large pitcher of water…
But on the other side was a warning:
Caution: Never mix contents in two gallons of warm water to which you have added a pinch of yeast, and one pound of sugar. If this mixture is left to stand in a cloth covered container for two weeks, an ALCOHOLIC beverage will result, which is illegal.
I love this. As we grope our way toward an uncertain future, may we never lose sight of those things that make this nation truly great.
