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Hip flasks are slim containers for holding alcohol, often made of metal and engraved. They became popular in the 1920s during Prohibition in America and are still used today for style and convenience, despite laws against open containers of alcohol. They are often passed down as family heirlooms.
A hip flask is a container used to hold a drink, typically alcohol in some form. It’s shaped to fit in a trouser pocket and designed to be slim so it won’t interrupt the line of a pair of pants. Engraved vials are sometimes given to people as memorial gifts. Many companies also make highly ornamental hip flasks that are designed to be admired and used. These jars are passed down as family heirlooms, as they are often made with expensive materials such as silver.
Various containers have been used to make alcohol portable for centuries. In the 18th century, precursors to the hip flask began to appear, primarily for use among the upper classes. Like modern flasks, they were usually made of metal, because metal is a durable material that can withstand heavy use. Silver was a popular choice of metal, and the vials were often ornately engraved.
The popularity level of the hip flask really began to rise in the 1920s in America, after a Constitutional Amendment outlawed alcohol. Numerous social rebels began carrying vials of illicit alcohol or alcohol so they could drink discreetly. The small size and slim profile would have made it easy to slide a hip flask from one pocket to another, or to stuff a flask into garters designed to hold stockings. Like short skirts and Tommy guns, the hip flask is a 1920s cultural icon for Americans.
After the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed with the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933, drinkers no longer needed hip flasks to be discreet. However, its close association with the lively cultural period of the 1920s ensured that hip flasks would live on. Many members of the military carried them during World War II so they could have a backup alcohol supply, and people continue to use and carry hip flasks to this day.
In general, people are open about drinking out of a hip flask, despite abundant laws prohibiting open containers of alcohol. These laws specifically prohibit the consumption of alcohol in public. The flask is used more to imply style and social status than anything else. You can also take a hip flask to an event that charges for alcoholic beverages, or smuggle it into a place where alcohol is prohibited. In these cases, the hip flask is usually concealed, just as it was in earlier days, lest the authorities confiscate it or dump the alcohol.
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