It’s great that the all-American cocktail is back in vogue again.
They’re so leisurely and civilized, and summer vacation is just the time to enjoy them.
At 5 p.m., the worrisome world melts away. We’ll deal with all that noisome nonsense some other day.
Right now nothing is more important than the proper ingredients in the proper proportions with all the proper props. After all, this isn’t just drinking; that would be boorish. We’re Americans, we don’t drink drinks; we have cocktails!
Yes, I did call it the “all-American cocktail.” Everybody seems to agree that Americans did invent the cocktail, but as to when and where, and why it’s called a cocktail, nobody can agree.
The most plausible origin for the name is a horse racing term. Horses of mixed breed were marked by having their tails clipped and tied up high. They were called “cock-tail” horses, because the tail resembled a rooster’s comb.
Cocktails are also a mixed breed, mixed from various ingredients—sort of like America itself is a cultural cocktail of all the world’s nationalities.
Whenever the cocktail was invented, however, it first became popular in the period between the World Wars, probably among American expatriates in Europe.
The irony is that was the period of Prohibition in America. So, those banned from drinking became the world’s most stylish imbibers, teaching the world the art of staging, performing, and enjoying the cocktail.
That era was also the Art Deco period in design, and some of the most elegant cocktail accouterments were designed in this bold and futuristic style.
Often produced in combinations of rich colors and bright chrome, these cocktail sets, shakers, and glasses are works of art in their own right. Cocktails, it seems, were always meant to be performed, not just made.
The next cocktail-loving period in America would be the post war 1940s and 1950s, and from this era we have bar ware that can be stylishly modern or kitschy fun.
The antique shops are brimming with all sorts of elegant and nostalgic cocktail and bar-related paraphernalia from back in those high-spirited times when drinking with friends was considered good, clean, socially acceptable fun.
And they can help to bring those happy days here again.
Appraisals: Cocktail shakers: Chrome bell with walnut handle ($60); Silver plate with rooster finial ($125); Ruby glass with fighting cocks in silver overlay ($275): Chrome, marked “Chase” with tray and 4 cups ($150).
Also: Martini pitcher, cobalt glass, ribbed design ($165); Swizzle sticks, tuxedoed men ($15 each); Soda siphon, chrome with enamel top, Bel Geddes ($175); Bar, mahogany, 1940s French Moderne, credenza-style, mirror-backed interior, sectioned for bottles and glasses ($3,000); Travel bar, cocktail shaker form, 9pcs. Silver plate, German, 1920s (85-100); Rolling cocktail table/bar, campaign chest-style, walnut with brass fittings, sectioned, 1950s ($225); Bottle opener, clown, cast iron, 1920s, ($200).
—Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions and appraisal requests to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.