749 cases of beer destroyed in the District of Columbia (20 November 1923)

Library of Congress National Photo Company photograph of nine men smashing bottles at a dump. The caption says 749 cases of beer (18,000 bottles) received from Philadelphia were destroyed that day.

Date: 1923-11-20
Kind: photograph
Source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Retrieved: 2026-10-11
Rights: The Library of Congress item record states: "No known restrictions on publication." Collection: National Photo Company Collection. Call number: LOT 12295, vol. 8 <item> [P&P]. Reproduction number: LC-USZ62-95873 (b&w film copy neg.).

The Library of Congress caption reads “A Consignment recently received from Phila., Pa. 749 cases of beer (18,000) bottles were today destroyed in the District of Columbia.” The photograph shows nine men smashing bottles at a dump. The record dates it 20 November 1923.

The caption does not say who seized the consignment or on what authority it was destroyed. The copy stored here is the Library of Congress service JPEG.

itemZion City, Illinois, destroys 80,000 pint bottles of beerLibrary of Congress National Photo Company photograph of the mayor of Zion City, Illinois, pouring out two bottles in what the title calls the destruction of 80,000 pint bottles of beer. Dated between 1921 and 1932.

itemBarrels of beer emptied into the Schuylkill River, Philadelphia (1924)Library of Congress photograph captioned "Putting a kick in the staid old Schuylkill", showing barrels of beer emptied into the Schuylkill River. The man with the axe is identified only as probably the U.S. Marshal, with an alternate identification.