Cocktail Hour: Authentic Recipes and Illustrations From 1920 to 1960
by Susan Waggoner and Robert Markel
Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 96 pp., $15.95
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Authors Susan Waggoner and Robert Markel published a similar book, titled Vintage Cocktails: Authentic Recipes and Illustrations from 1920 to 1960 five years ago – same size, same publisher, same concept – and sold several Pullman cars full of them. The premise then, as now, was to celebrate the years when being tipsy was sophisticated and sexy. Think of Nick and Nora Charles, attired in formal wear while servants worked up martinis in drink shakers, slapping time to flapper rhythms. Or Hemingway perched on an 80-foot fishing yacht in the Caribbean, quenching his thirst with rum, sugar, and lime on the rocks.
The authors do a brilliant job of taking us down memory lane with obscure drinks like the Monkey Gland and the Parkeroo. In fact, the strength of Cocktail Hour is also its weakness. If you are looking for classics like the martini, Manhattan, or margarita, you’ll have to search out their first book; they put the 100 most famous drinks there. If you want classics that your friends have probably never heard of, Cocktail Hour has 100 drinks just for you. Personally, bartender, I’ll take both.
This article appears in May 26 • 2006.
