Documentary series have long dominated the catalogs of Netflix and other platforms. But long before they became popular in the stream, they were niche content on cable.
History has been betting on these productions for some time, which usually revisit historical events in an agile and appeal to unpublished testimonies of their direct protagonists or their inner circle. From this Monday 14 to Wednesday 16, at 22:00, simultaneously with History On Demand and History Play, the channel premieres The Sin Industry.
IS three-part miniseries divulges amazing stories behind the origin of the trade in alcohol, gambling, sex and tobacco in the United Statesand of the ambitious businessmen who amassed untold fortunes at the whims of the North American nation.
The six-hour documentary miniseries – an extension of industry giantsthe popular franchise that explored life John D. Rockefeller, JP Morgan and Henry Fordamong other tycoons – will air on History for three consecutive nights and shows the danger, taboo, fun and greed behind every vice. And from his general store.
Like its predecessor, it includes groundbreaking historical facts, expert interviews, and compelling characters who operate on both sides of the law and it shows the cutthroat business of each of these industries.
The historical context and the protagonists
Over the span of nearly a hundred years, between 1860 and 1930, the struggle over gambling, sex, tobacco, and alcohol defined the American cultural experience and helped bring the country of age. It was a time when condoms were illegal, smoking was ubiquitous, and alcohol was banned and re-legalized.
The great debate of those times was between the freedom to enjoy and the protection against the chaos of debauchery.. In this context, innovative types such as Jasper “Jack” DanielAdolphus Busch, Buck Duke, Julius Schmid, Stephanie St. Clair, Billy Wilkerson, Hugh Hefner and others.
All of them they brought these pleasures out of the shadows to the legal market and build some of the largest commercial empires in the country’s history. Even your successes and failures laid the foundation for the state lottery systemthe sexual revolution and the city of sin itself.
Whisky, beer and faso
The first episode of The Sin Industry is “Secret and illegal” And it begins in Tennessee, where orphan Jasper “Jack” Daniel, who lives with a local farmer and herdsman, works side-by-side with a former slave to distill a bland, clear corn-based spirit: known today as American whiskey.
In St. Louis, a German immigrant named Adolphus Busch takes over his father-in-law’s brewery and sets out to create a better-tasting beer, in the end. known as Budweiser.
Meanwhile, Buck Duke pursues the vision of selling tobacco in every tobacconist, grocery and grocery store across America to become the third richest person in the country, with a new product called…the cigarette.
And, in New York City, sausage factory worker Julius Schmid begins to revolutionize contraception: he uses his company’s natural casing to make condoms, which he has to sell clandestinely because they are illegal.
The ban and the birth of the lottery
The second part, entitled “Lost Empires”it shows how the already entrepreneurs Buck Duke with his cigarette, Jack Daniel with his most popular whiskey in the United States and Adolphus Busch with his iconic lager struggle to keep their businesses.
These giants have provided access to these banned products to Americans from coast to coast. But as these products become more widely available, popping up in stores and places beyond back alleys or saloons, crusaders and the temperance movement are rioting to try and have them removed by law.
As progressive reformers try to chart a new path for the nation, Duke, now one of the richest men in the world – after Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller – could lose his tobacco empire; Y titans of the alcohol industry fight for their lives against prohibition.
On the other hand, with US entry into World War I and STDs affecting US troops, New York becomes ground zero in the fight to legalize contraceptionfinally giving the opportunity to the immigrant entrepreneur Julius Schmid openly sell their revolutionary product, the condom.
The episode also tells the story of Stephanie St. Clair, another immigrant who invents a game in Central Park that will make her one of the richest women in America: an illegal game of “numbers” in her Harlem neighborhood that draws the attention of the The New York Mafia for inspire the creation of the state lottery system.
The creation of Las Vegas and Playboy
“City of Vice”, the third and final part, travels to the time when the Great Depression and Prohibition are about to end. And a new group of entrepreneurs is emerging to meet America’s growing demand for pleasure.
To cushion his gambling losses, Billy Wilkerson creates the first luxury casino resort in Las Vegas and mixes with the mafia. The mob also goes to war with Stephanie St. Claire’s numbers game in Harlem, and the state lottery system rises from the ashes.
But there’s one temptation beyond gambling that nearly half of Americans enjoy: smoking. With Camel and Lucky Strike dominating the market, one small company is fighting to distinguish itself: Philip Morris, led by visionary Alfred Lyon, which will eventually become an iconic brand and the leading tobacco company in the country.
The last part also delves into the history of Hugh Hefner and his sexy new Playboy magazinetotally unlike anything the world has ever seen before.
Source: Clarin
