Chasing shine
With a Steve Earle song as earworm, I’m several hours into one of those documentary marathons that give reason to my paying a cable TV bill. This time around, Moonshiners; seven episodes back to back to back. With this particular crime in the eye of the beholder, the ongoing rivalry between ‘shiners and revenuers is an interesting tale.
First, a reality check. The production of alcohol has been going on for a very long time. Distillation was recorded back about two millenia, and the process is understood. Taxation probably goes back just as far, and any time there’s a chance to “cheat” the revenue department, somebody is doing so. This series is set in Appalachia, but that might be more for the scenery and the interesting variation of the Queen’s English.
I didn’t realize the volume of production went beyond a couple of litres at a shot, until now. A mash pot made out of what looks like an oil drum from the back of somebody’s house, and a creek with a dam to provide steady volumes of cooling water are several magnitudes of size over that still that I photographed at the university, ever and ages ago.
Some history keeps the documentary educational. I now know where the term “bootlegger” originated – not in lower ‘town. Fast cars as a seed for NASCAR, and somebody actually using a point the beam thermometer keep us tied to the present. And police; well, they seem to be a step or two behind, just like in the movies. In case you ever decide to go legal, there’s even a book of rules for ‘shinin’, called CFR27…
