Behind the Door

Inside the blind pig.

Prohibition did not make drinking disappear. It pushed part of Detroit’s liquor trade behind unmarked doors, upstairs rooms, back rooms and establishments that operated outside the licensing system. The term “blind pig” became part of the city’s vocabulary for illegal drinking places, but the establishments themselves varied widely in size and clientele.

For this project, a blind pig matters only when a source places it in a particular building, neighborhood, raid or police record. The atmosphere belongs to Detroit history; the evidence determines which door we can actually open.