Early writings: Doc’s Original Book Proposal

VINTAGE SPIRITS;
Graphic Artifacts of the Cocktail Era

An Introduction:

Cocktails and other related drink forms were, as we know them, a way of life for approximately a hundred years, from the early eighteen sixties into the early nineteen sixties. They were also a whitebread fantasy, one not limited to the middle class, but centered there. They were a popular display of sophistication all across the country, but especially in the west where evidence of sophistication was hard to come by and much desired. In the east, establishments were often palatial, the bars themselves, running in excess of a hundred feet in length. Concoctions were complex in procedure and ingredient, bartenders rivalling chefs in creativity and popularity. It was, contrary to popular belief, a world of men and women. There was no dearth of so-called “ladies’ drinks” and the taboo of women-in-bars, largely a temperance distinction.

At the hand of the bartender, something truly exotic could be had; something travelled, speaking of adventure and prestige. It was a romantic time. The rich were few, but America was boundless, powerful and great. Horatio Alger lived here. We opened our arms to the world, and in the future lay progress, a synonym for greater comfort, healthier lives, better flavors, and world unification under our aegis. Here was the richness of euphoria for the wealthy and the working class; truly to the cocktail, anyone allowed in the bar was equal.

Prohibition and its consequences created such sycophants for liquor and the cocktail cause, that only then did drinking achieve cultural immortality through literature, song, film, and radio - imbedding the nature of the fantasy so deeply, it became heritage. Those who drank were superhuman and admirable, clever and funny. Dashiell Hammett`s Nick and Nora, Raymond Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe, and the authors themselves; William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald. They were all having a wonderful time. They were impervious to drink, and were they not, they made it’s aftermath a paper tiger. It was all in fun. College students roaring about with their flasks in their jalopies, the hooch of charismatic gangsters, bootleggers, and rumrunners, detectives, high society, musicians, actors....drinking was our abstract euphemism for fun, with just enough harm to be persuasive. It was our fantasy of adulthood.

With the stock market crash in 1929, Talkies the same year, and prohibition`s repeal at the end of 1933, the appeal became unequivocal. It was escape; the ultimate fantasy. At least seven barguides were published in the two years following repeal. Their contents were mightily inviting, with a return to good booze, and faraway cordials with their strange sounding names. Movies and radio renewed their invitation; we were all part of the cocktail club. Why not? Cocktails were Utopian. Fizzes, fixes, smashes, shrubs, sangarees, juleps, pousse cafes, cobblers, sours, punches, slings, cocktails, and highballs were modern predictions of a better world to come. They spoke of a rainbow around the corner and, in the bargain, they produced physical euphoria. There was the same guilelessness in these hopes as we see in the faces of 1950’s game show contestants. The Working Class liked to think it was worldly, but somehow it still dreamt; It (we) still trusted.

With the expanding network of global communication, accessing the realities of news and cultural affairs, this particular social naivety slowly died. If communication could make all men one, we had found Utopia. Fantasies of a world-on-holiday became an embarrassment. The incontrovertable realities were all too immediate. It was not the trend toward lighter liquors that killed the cocktail. It was the death of our innocence.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner were painful alcoholics. So were era-defining musicians Bix Biederbecke, and Bunny Berigan. The actors who played the parts, the directors who brought the fantasy to the screen, our fathers and mothers who bought the fantasy.....they (we) were not impervious any more. The aftermath was no paper tiger.

We exist in a continuum of time. Adjustments are made, and have always been made, to address the problems of the moment. We easily see it now in our bubble; the fall of communism, of apartheid...the attention to the environment and to our health. We drink less, we smoke less, and that is how it should be -we adjust. The cocktail as a lifestyle is long gone. it died as a panacea for the future of the past.

This book is a pictorial archeology of the very real artifacts of a bygone fantasy. With it you might observe and recreate the potions of Nick and Nora, Marlowe and the others. For a time you might put yourself there among these spirituous genies from a pint bottle and toast with them. As you empty your glass they will go too; they never really existed.

The Proposal:

In form, Vintage Spirits; Graphic Artifacts of the Cocktail Era is divided into sections or chapters based on the primary constituents of cocktails, and subdivided into specific categories within those chapters as follows:

I. GIN: A. Genever B. Old Tom C. Plymouth D. London Dry

II. WHISKEY: A. Bourbon B. Rye C. Scotch & Irish D. Blends

III. RUM: A. Antilles B. Medford C. Polynesia & the Tiki Connection

IV. BRANDY: A. French Grape Brandies B. Calvados C. Eaux de Vie D. Applejack E. Brandies of the world

V. VODKA, TEQUILA & THE LATECOMERS

VI. LIQUEURS

VII. COCKTAIL WINES: A. Port & Madeira B. Sherry C. Champagne D. Claret

VIII BOTTLED COCKTAILS

IX. ADDITIVES: A. Bitters: 1. Aromatic, 2. Orange, 3. Peach B. The Medicine Cabinet

X. MIXERS

XI. TEMPERANCE & PROHIBITION: A. The 19th Amendment; Its precusors and anticedents B. Moonshine & folk distillation

XII. THE AFTERMATH: HANGOVERS & THE MORNING AFTER

Each chapter will discuss the general history, etymology, and genealogy of referenced ingredients, the specific histories of pictured artifacts, salient quotes and anecdotal essays, and at least one interesting recipe utilizing each and every pictured constituent. If the depicted booze is rare, unavailable, or simply exquisite, the flavor of the spirit or cocktail is described in loving detail. The writing is thoughtful and readable, making its own points; not merely padding the pictures.

THE PICTURES

The images in Vintage Spirits, individually or in combination, will consist of the following:

* Full color photographs of product packaging (labelled bottles, tins, and boxes empty or full)

* Colorful illustrative Liquor, Mixer, or Cocktail labels

* Cocktail-referential paper ephemera (Pamphlets, post cards, menus, placemats, vintage mixers manuals with illustrated dust jackets, lurid paperback covers with booze depicted, LP & 78 RPM record labels & covers, matchbooks, poster stamps etc.)

* Prohibition and Temperance paper ephemera as above.

* Cocktail textiles (clothing, napkins, hosiery, table cloths, aprons, drapery etc.)

* Cocktail wallpaper

* Culled illustrative material (Logos, ads, dingbats, cartoon images, poster art, signage, etc.)

* Graphic cocktail paraphernalia (Shakers, travel bars, mixing kits, gadgets, etc.)

* Heretofore unpublished photographs of early twentieth century bars (as duotones)

* Paraphernalia, packaging, paper, and illos dealing with The Morning After to end Our tome on a wry (no pun intended) note.

And Cheers! That’s a book.

Los Angeles 1998