(Reviewed by JD Jung)
#CommissionsEarned
On January 16, 1920, the Volstead Act was enacted, which established Prohibition in the United States. Of course, people found a way around it and alcohol consumption and bootlegging flourished.
Jazz Age Cocktails takes an in-depth look at Prohibition and the rise of the cocktail culture of the 1920s, predominantly in the United States. It shows how events shaped drinking and how they were expressed in cocktails. The emergence of the automobile, the 1918 influenza pandemic, the post-WWI Soviet scare, and sports scandals were just a few.
Related recipes are included after each topic. For example, the “Lindbergh Crossing” commemorated the first transatlantic flight. Even Al Capone, the most successful and notorious bootlegger had a drink named after him. And of course, we can’t forget the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (also a cocktail). Recipes for today’s popular cocktails that grew out of the era are also included with some of their histories, such as the Manhattan, Orange Blossom, Bloody Mary, and Old Fashioned.
Author Cecelia Tichi introduces us to other successful bootleggers and rum runners, such as Gertrude “Cleo” Lythgoe (the “Bahama Queen”), “Spanish Marie” Waite, and Maisie Mander who happened to be women. She further explores changes in gender roles and sexual norms of the decade and how it was reflected in the cocktail culture. She explains other sociological effects that were brought about by Prohibition. For example, immigrants no longer had to toil in sweatshops; they could work at bootlegging and make a lot more money.
Jazz Age Cocktails not only looks at how events affected drinking, but also how alcohol and the cocktail culture affected society. It was apparent in the literary world, such as the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Gertrude Stein.
Even if you don’t find any of the cocktails to your liking, you may find the extensive study of the cultural events and history of the 1920’s fascinating. From film to music to even the advent of the electric refrigerator, it’s all here.
if you’re interested in 1920’s history, and don’t particularly like alcohol, you still may enjoy Jazz Age Cocktails.
