Beer: Cullen-Harrison Act

The Cullen-Harrison Act (named for Representative Thomas H. Cullen from New York and Senator Pat Harrison from Mississippi) was enacted by the United States Congress on 21 March 1933 and signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt the following day. This legislation simply rewrote the Volstead Act to allow the production of beer with an alcohol content of 3.2 percent by weight and wine of the same alcohol content. The legislation went into effect on 7 April 1933. However, it stipulated that each state had to pass similar legislation to legalize the sale of low-alcohol beverages in that particular state.