Prohibition's repeal (1933)
The 21st Amendment ended 13 years of federal Prohibition in the U.S. It handed alcohol regulation back to the states, which built licensing systems for producing, distributing, and selling alcohol.
States such as Illinois created permit frameworks that local governments now administer, including package-goods licenses for sealed liquor sold off-premises.
That structure survives: modern liquor retail in Chicago flows through municipal licenses issued after inspections, the same kind of approval Buchanas received.
The September 2026 Chicago license is a direct descendant of the post-Prohibition regulatory model.
