Jake

I was listening to the always excellent ‘Bob Dylan’s Theme time radio hour’ a while ago, and he was talking about a bootleggers drink called ‘Jake’ that was popular during prohibition in the USA. The reason Bob was talking about booze was that not only was ‘Jake’ pretty lethal it actually inspired a whole lot of songs. ‘Jake’ was actually Jamaican Ginger extract, which had an alcohol content of around 70%. It was sold as a medicinal tonic to get round the law against booze. Cheaper than illicit whisky, ‘Jake’ became extremely popular. When the US government got wise to this, bootleggers attempted to mask the levels of alcohol from testers by mixing it with a substance named called Tricresyl Phosphate, an industrial chemical which was initially believed to be non toxic. Sadly this proved to be untrue, Tricresyl was actually a neurotoxin that attacked the nervous system and in particular the spinal cord. People who drank it became crippled, some permanently. Sadly it is thought that over 50,000 people were affected by this batch of adulterated booze. A minority of drinkers regained mobility after time, but due to a lack of proper muscle control they now had an unusual high stepping walk, which became known as The Jake walk. Medical records of the illness are patchy. It mainly affected the black community, and 1920’s segregated Southern states didn’t consider the outbreak worthy of full documentation,so the full extent of ‘Jake’s’ ravages will never truly be known. The best indication of ‘Jake’s’ effect upon the poor black community is in the number of blues songs it inspired such as this song by the Allen brothers from 1930.

I love a bit of overlooked history.