Four men in hats and coats stand around a large still, with jars, funnels and bottles of liquor laid out on the ground in a yard. — Open the full imageJPG, 640 × 468 px, 0.0 MB

The Largest Still in Captivity, Washington, 11 November 1922 (Library of Congress)

National Photo Company photograph of a still and bottles of liquor, with four men named in the summary, described as the largest still ever taken in the national capital.

Date: 1922-11-11
Kind: photograph
Source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division (National Photo Company Collection)
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Rights: Library of Congress rights advisory: "No known restrictions on publication." Collection: National Photo Company Collection. Reproduction number LC-USZ62-95475 (b&w film copy negative).

The Library’s summary reads: “Lt. O.T. Davis, Sergt. J.D. McQuade, George Fowler of Internal Revenue Service and H.G. Bauer with the largest still ever taken in the national capitol and bottles of liquor.” The National Photo Company number is 21285, and the print’s caption reads “The Largest Still in Captivity.” The stored copy is the Library’s low-resolution film copy.

The photograph records a seizure of Prohibition-era equipment in Washington in 1922. It does not tie the still to a gang or a case.

Object: Seized still with bottles of liquor
Maker: not stated
Date: 11 November 1922
Provenance: seized in Washington; officers named in the Library’s summary
Appears in: LC-USZ62-95475

itemMoonshine still confiscated by the Internal Revenue Bureau, photographed at the Treasury Department (Library of Congress)National Photo Company photograph of a still recently confiscated by the Internal Revenue Bureau, photographed at the Treasury Department in Washington, with a man standing beside it. Prohibition-era evidence, not a weapon.