When the Cullen-Harrison Act took effect on April 7, 1933, it signaled that the national nightmare known as Prohibition was coming to end. In practical terms, it provided for the return of lower alcohol 3.2 beer (which is 3.2% by weight, or 4% ABV). Looking through the historic record, loads of people all over the nineteen states, plus the District of Columbia, where they could once more legally drink starting April 7, stayed up past midnight to get that first sip of beer in thirteen years. I think I would have done the same, honestly. A lot of politicians who helped to dismantle prohibition were sent some of the first cases of beer by grateful breweries who suddenly were able to get back to work, feeding their families and supporting the economy. There’s a famous photo of an Anheuser-Busch team of Clydesdale horses pulling a wagon of beer to deliver to the White house.

But as iconic as the photo is, it was not the first beer delivery on that day to the White House. While less well-known, it was widely reported on the day. That honor fell to a local brewery, the Abner-Drury Brewery. That brewery has originally been founded in D.C. in 1870 by John Albert, who in 1898 sold it to Edward F. Abner and Peter A. Drury, who renamed it. It survived prohibition, but not much longer, closing permanently in 1938.

Two days after the passing of the Cullen–Harrison Act on March 22, 1933 (and a day after it was signed into law by president Franklin D. Roosevelt), the D.C. newspaper, The Evening Star, sent a reporter to the brewery on 25th and G Streets to see how they were preparing for the upcoming flood of beer two weeks later. Having survived prohibition in part by brewing near-beer, that horribly mis-named N/A, they were already quite prepared to resume brewing the real thing. In fact, beer was already in the tanks but could not be bottled until they receive their official permit, which they’d already applied for.

The permit must have come through, because at midnight on April 7, 1933, an Abner-Drury beer truck, guarded by a U.S. Marine riding on top, rolled up the White House gate to deliver some beer to FDR as a thank you, and also a few additional cases destined to be delivered to the National Press Club in the morning. There were already lots of people camped out at the White House, not to mention members of the press. The president had already gone to bed, unfortunately, but naturally there were plenty of people there willing to open and drink that first beer just a few minutes past midnight. Apparently, that honor fell to the Marine who was helping to guard the beer truck, and while supposedly there are photos of that, I couldn’t find any of those. He does, however, show up in other photos from that night.

The story is mentioned briefly on the Wikipedia page for National Beer Day:

The Abner-Drury Brewery sent a guarded truck to the White House at a minute past midnight with two cases of beer for Roosevelt, though when it arrived, it became apparent he was asleep. The Marine guarding the beer opened the first bottle and drank it, allowing the press to photograph him. Roosevelt later sent the cases of beer to the National Press Club. People across the country gathered outside breweries on April 7, some of whom camped outside the night prior. An estimated 1.5 million barrels of beer were consumed, with an estimated $5 million of beer being sold in Chicago alone. Hundreds of breweries, bars, and taverns could reopen and expand again, hiring workers and buying new equipment, while restaurants could sell alcohol again. In the four months that followed, manufacturing grew by 78%, automobile and heavy equipment sales by almost 200%, the stock market by 71%, and approximately four million people found employment, with approximately 500,000 more jobs being created in related industries.

But the fuller story was picked up all over the wire services and by morning was retold all over the country. This one is from one of the local papers, the Capital Journal:

Here’s a version from the Knoxville News Sentinnel:

This one’s from the Tampa Tribune:

And this is from the Okmulgee Daily Times of Oklahoma:

And from the Buffalo News:

The celebrations took place all over the map, and this one describes what went on in San Francisco from The Californian:

And here’s what well-known humorist Will Rogers had to say about it:

The Abner-Drury Brewery also ran an ad in the newspaper on April 7, 1933: