OXNARD – “Shore Lore: How Prohibition Changed Ventura County” opens Saturday, July 4 – Aug 24, 2020 at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum. We look back on the 100th Anniversary of Prohibition and how Ventura Country dealt with the 18th Amendment. Rumrunners Delivered the Good Stuff to America’s Speakeasies. Rumrunning, the organized smuggling of imported whiskey, rum, and other liquor by sea and overland to the United States, started within weeks after Prohibition took effect on January 17, 1920. People still wanting to wet their whistles in illegal speakeasies and at home were rejecting foul-tasting and dangerous locally made industrial alcohol being passed off as the real thing. They were demanding quality, authentic Scotch and other liquor “right off the boat.” Learn about prohibition in this exhibit at Channel Islands Maritime Museum.
We’ve missed you. We are working on a host of measures that will assure that visitors will be able to enjoy our galleries and collections within social distancing guidelines. We anticipate that the visitor experience will be different, with limited numbers of guests on-site, but we know that everyone is eager to come back and we are eager to welcome them. Facemasks are required inside the museum. As of July 4th, Museum hours: Fri-Sun 12-4 PM. Blue Fin Gifts is also open by appointment 10-12 PM and 2-4 PM Mon-Thurs.
Next Online Speaker Series will be July 15th, 7:00 PM with historian Mark Frees on “Rum Runners: How Prohibition Changed Ventura County”
About the Channel Islands Maritime Museum — Nestled on the coast of Southern California, in Ventura County, supported by a vibrant community of art aficionados, a steady, year-round influx of art seekers from the area, and tourists from around the world, Channel Islands Maritime Museum is perfectly poised to bring vibrant and innovative art to the forefront of the local art scene. Discover the Maritime Museum as a volunteer. Located by Oxnard’s beautiful harbor on California’s Gold Coast, 3900 Bluefin Circle, Oxnard, CA 93035. The new operating hours are Fri-Sun 12-4 pm. Admission rates are free for members and children under 6, $7 adults, $5 seniors (62+)/military and their families/students any age with valid ID, and $3 children (ages 6-17). Info: cimmvc.org or (805) 984-6260. Explore galleries full of rare and beautiful maritime paintings dating back to the 1600s, more than seventy world-class models of historic ships, rotating thematic fine arts exhibitions that encourage visitors to expand their horizons about everything maritime.