The eighteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed on January 29, 1919, prohibited the production and consumption of alcohol. Every working man up to Samuel Gompers was opposed to this amendment (some were teatotalers), because of the loss of jobs in breweries and distilleries. By years end, the breweries were closed and being torn down.

On January 15, 1919, a steel vat burst pouring 2.3 million gallons of molasses, which had been earmarked for rum productions sat in a vat waiting for a purchaser, in 30 feet waves over the area near Boston Harbor and Commercial Street, just blocks from where the Boston Garden is today. Twenty one people were dead and 150 injured. Snared in the flood, one could not move. It plugged nostrils airtight, wooden buildings were moved off their foundations, and policemen had to shoot horses trapped in the flood.

Another labor disaster occurred in September when 1117 of 1544 Boston police go on strike in protest of 19 suspensions for union activity. Massachusetts Governor, Calvin Coolidge promptly hires new policemen. In a statement which propels him to national prominence, he declares, "there is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, anytime." The 1117 are never rehired.