Shake 'em up!: a practical handbook of polite drinking PDF
Preview Shake 'em up!: a practical handbook of polite drinking
Shake 'Em Up Shake 'Em Up A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF POLITE DRINKING by Virginia Elliot & Phil D. Stong ILLUSTRATIONS BY HERB ROTH Copyright © 1930 by Virginia Elliott and Phil D. Stong Illustrations copyright © 1930 by Herb Roth Introduction copyright © 2013 by Amy Stewart All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published by Tin House Books 2013. For information, contact Tin House Books, 2617 NW Thurman St., Portland, OR 97210. Published by Tin House Books, Portland, Oregon, and New York, New York Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West, 1700 Fourth St., Berkeley, CA 94710, www.pgw.com ebook ISBN 978-1-9235639-61-9 Interior design by Diane Chonette and Jakob Vala Printed in the USA www.tinhouse.com � Introductıon BY A M Y S T E WA RT For two months I occupied an apartment next door to the offices of Tin House, the publisher of this book. I promised to pour the editors a drink if they ever came by after work, and sometimes they did. Because I was living there temporarily, I didn’t have a well-stocked bar, so I gave them their choice of an old-fashioned or a glass of straight whiskey. I think 1 SHAKE ’EM UP I served them pretzels once, and another time they got almonds. I never had enough chairs. You might think I wasn’t much of a hostess, but Virginia Elliott and Phil Stong would have approved. Let’s imagine Virginia and Phil as That Couple Upstairs. You know the type. They never issue party invitations, but most nights people seem to turn up anyway. From their fire escape comes laughter and cigarette smoke and the faint clatter of ice cubes against glass. Sometimes one of them calls down to the delicatessen for a carton of orange juice or a can of sardines, but otherwise they seem to make no actual preparations for their parties. They know that people will drink whatever’s on hand and eat any food set before them, even saltines spread with butter and toasted in the oven (see p. 46). Why are Virginia and Phil so unconcerned about the state of their liquor cabinet or the qual- ity of their canapés? Because they are Prohibition- era hosts, and as such they have far more practical 2 Introduction matters to attend to. Acquiring any alcohol at all takes some resourcefulness. And after the stock market crash (this book was first published in 1930), even the most affluent hosts must cut back on the caviar. Pretzels and almonds? Our authors would consider that a fine spread. Let’s also consider the challenges of publishing a cocktail book while the National Prohibition Act, informally called the Volstead Act, was still in effect. Prohibition did not just ban the sale of alcohol; it banned the publication of information about alcohol as well. Sections 17 and 18 of the act made it illegal to advertise the method or means by which alcohol might be obtained or prepared. Even booksellers were in jeopardy: it was a crime to “sell or possess for sale any . . . formula, direction, or recipe” that could be used in the unlawful manufacture of alco- hol. The law created a great deal of confusion and outrage: in 1926, an anti-Prohibition group wrote to Attorney General John Sargent asking if it would be 3 SHAKE ’EM UP lawful to read George Washington’s beer recipe at a dinner in honor of the president’s birthday, strictly for historical purposes. (Sargent refused to rule on the question.) What chance did a cocktail book have of surviving legal scrutiny? In fact, the long shadow of the Volstead Act does fall across the pages of this book. In their opening remarks the authors make it clear that they rec- ommend their drinks be mixed only with “non-al- coholic” gin, scotch, rye, corn, and applejack. The “Commissary,” a list of supplies they advise keeping on hand for cocktail parties, includes no spirits at all. And in all but the first printing of Shake ’Em Up, one page has been removed and replaced with this terse announcement: “This Page Removed at the request of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.” It gives me great delight to report that your humble researcher has located the missing page in one of the few surviv- ing first editions of the book, and that the authors’ 4 Introduction recipe for homemade “non-alcoholic gin” has been restored to its rightful location at the beginning of a section called “Household Hints.” Now, about the drinks. You’ll notice that these are not complex recipes burdened with exotic or handcrafted ingredients. If you’re in the habit of frequenting bars that claim to serve Prohibition- era cocktails, you might be surprised to learn that Virginia and Phil got by with little more than canned grapefruit juice and ginger ale to enliven their “non-alcoholic” alcohol. The recipes are sim- ple, familiar, and unpretentious. The ingredients can be had at any corner liquor store on a modest budget. The measurements are imprecise, and no technique is required beyond a good stir. You will find no dandelion-burdock bitters, flaming orange peels, or Olympic-style shaking here. The food, as I’ve mentioned, is so simple that you might call it artless: Virginia and Phil’s guests were satisfied with Velveeta sandwiches seasoned 5
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