I’ve been to Moonshine Distilleries and sampled a few flavors here and there. They make everything from Apple Pie to Salted Caramel, and many more. I discovered while researching information for my current book that the origins of moonshine produced today started with the first Scot-Irish people who immigrated here in the 1700’s. Fast forward to today and there are large operations like Copper Barrel in North Wilkesboro, Howling Moon in Asheville, and Call Family Distillery in Wilkesboro.
Moonshine got its name from bootleggers who made their product under “the light of the moon. In the book I’m currently writing, one of my characters is a young moonshiner. He falls in love with the main female of my 1940’s time line. It was called ‘White Lightning,’ as the locals called it then and still call it that today. The clear liquid provided a healthy source of income in North Carolina’s struggling rural communities. Even after Prohibition was repealed, the locals didn’t want to pay tax on something they grew up making themselves and had enjoyed for generations. The officers of law enforcement who attempted to stop the illegal sale of this alcohol were called ‘revenuers.’ All of these people play an important role in my current story.
North Carolina has a long history of moonshine production. Some of the most successful early race car drivers were moonshine delivery drivers first. These men, who outran law officers to deliver their goods, went on to race in the stock car industry. Their soup-up cars lent themselves to racing and the mechanics who altered the Fords and other cars followed along. These families made moonshine for years and learned to navigate the hilly roads of North Carolina from the mountains to the coast and in-between.
My father was not a moonshiner, but when he was young he learned to drive and work on engines with some of the young men who later became NASCAR drivers. I loved to hear him tell the story of one of their favorite pastimes. A group would gather on a Friday night and race to a one-lane bridge on a dark road outside of my hometown of Mebane, NC. My dad sat in the passenger seat and was the gear shifter. Someone else drove the car. How they all survived I’ll never know, but I miss hearing that story told by my dad. His eyes would grow big and large grin would cover his entire face. His freckles would stand out against his skin as he got into the story. He changed back into that brave, young man racing to the one-lane bridge with the fastest cars around.
I did have a great-uncle who made moonshine, back in the day. My great uncle had a reputation of never getting caught near his still, due to how fast he ran. Family lore told the tale of law enforcement bringing in an Olympic runner to catch him in the act of making his hooch. Of course, my great-uncle outran him too. He did eventually get caught after a chase through a cold riverbed, a stop by home to get a new pair of shoes, and after jumping on a train to Greensboro. The authorities caught up with him in Greensboro and he served time. Needless to say, his stories held our attention on Sunday afternoons around the ice cream freezer as my grandfather told us again about our great uncle as we waited for our dessert to freeze hard.
I must say I’m proud of my family history. I love to see the success and abundance of moonshine distilleries in this country. And I know it’s probably safer than the corn mash pushed through a cooper tube and sold in a mason jar from the past. As a child, I might accidently find one stashed in the back cabinet of one of my uncle’s garages. But now I can run down to our local ABC store and buy all I want, labeled with the name of famous NASCAR royalty.
It brings the history or our world back around in a circle, because we all immigrated from somewhere. Those ancestors brought their traditions and recipes which changed as the generations passed. Each book I write has a little family lore attached that adds interest to a character. This book will have dual timelines and I’m working hard to do justice to my grandparents who grew up on the cusp of World War II. But it will not have an emphasis on the war, but on my character’s individual stories and how their lives intertwined and their decisions affected each other. Just like real life.
Can you remember a decision you made that changed your life? Maybe not a huge decision, but a small step that forever changed your path. Leave a comment below, I’d love to hear about it.
