Prohibition

Prohibition was a period during the early 20th century when the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was illegal in the United States. The Muggle government of the United States enforced prohibition from 1920 to 1933 on a federal level (although some states enforced their own prohibition laws for longer). However, even though it was illegal, the manufacture, trade, and consumption of alcohol did not stop, with scores of clandestine bars called speakeasies springing up throughout the country.

The wizarding government of the United States apparently enforced prohibition at the same time. In 1926, there was at least one magical speakeasy in New York, which was located in Harlem and run by a goblin gangster.