A pair of sterling silver 1920s Prohibition-era Art Deco flasks in original leather case, decorated with engine-turned linear ornament, hallmarked on the bottom.
For nearly 14 long years – from January 1920 to December 1933 – it was impossible to get a drink in the U.S.A. Legally, that is. The sale and manufacture of alcoholic beverages were outlawed during what became known as the Prohibition Era. Amongst all the clandestine methods for beating the booze ban, this ensemble offered by Ruzhnikov has to be the most stylish: a matching pair of sleek, rectangular silver flasks fitting snugly inside their purpose-designed black leather attaché case. Just the job to keep executives’ spirits up during a lengthy board meeting! Once, these flasks contained moonshine – whiskey produced illegally (mainly in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama), then transported to secret bars known as speakeasies (‘keep quiet or the cops will hear us’) by bootleggers.
