Once they repealed the Volstead Act its understandable that until liquor enforcement got up to par,that these new "legal" places would try to get away with staying open after hours
Outside of having criminal records why did they put liquor licenses in others' names ?
Well, I think the answer to that is probably threefold.
The most obvious reason was because most of them had criminal records that barred them from the industry, Or had 'unsavory' reputations that could be used to bar them as so-called 'undesirables.'
Secondly, although many liquor serving establishments were now 'licensed,' lots of these places also operated as gambling dens, promoted prostitutes, etc. So the sharper guys wanted to keep their names off the business in case of police raids and arrests.
Thirdly, many of the bars and watering holes they ran remained 'unlicensed' despite liquor now being legal, in this way they hoped to sidestep SLA rules and regulations altogether....allowing 'speakeasy' type places to continue thriving. Which of course increased the profitability considerably because NO city, state or federal taxes were being paid to the government. They were essentially, still bootlegging.
