I’ve finally gotten around to sitting down and watching Prohibition, the film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that Americans like to drink…a lot. After cutting his teeth in the hard scrabble world of Civil War documentaries, Ken Burns has now become America’s preeminent provider of infotainment, so I like to take him at his word. And in Prohibition, the word is booze.

America may not be filled with the itinerant drunkards like it used to be (excepting David Hasselhoff of course), but we do certainly still love our booze. Even now in these crappy economic times, as industry after industry continues to suffer, the alcohol industry continues to grow year over year. Some people might think that this indicates some kind of weak moral character on the part of the American people, but I think it really just shows our priorities.

So, as a proud Washington, DC company, we wanted to pay homage to some of our town’s hard-drinking heritage.

Our Prohibition shirts are made from a two-ply poplin with a complex check pattern in three colorways (blue, fuchsia and green). Consider this complexity as a metaphor for the storied relationship we Americans have had with alcohol — ha!

The three come in our most popular style – the signature Hugh & Crye tall semi-spread collar, contrast gussets, and convertible cuffs (for the H&C newbie: these cuffs can be buttoned or worn with cuff links!).

We named them the Rickey, for DC’s official drink, the Williamson (pictured above), for the famed bartender who made it, and the Shoomaker, for the bar where it was made.

Let us know what you think! Here, on Facebook, Twitter or email.

– TC