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Shake 'Em Up! a practical handbook of polite drinking
1930 First Edtion(not stated) published by Brewer & Warren. Tan boards illustrated with a cocktail shaker on front. Binding tight and pages clear. Boards have staining with only slight wear to edges and corners. Owners name and date on FFEP. Tall 4vo. A mixture of recipes and advice to the flapper generation. Ships next day fromthe US.
80 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1930
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 27, 2015
"Shake 'Em Up" is a book of cocktail recipes, party-giving tips, and hangover remedies, first published in the United States in 1930 -- when Prohibition was still the law of the land. The authors even advise on what mixture of herbal extracts will give your bathtub gin the most authentic flavor, which got them in trouble with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Truth be told, a lot of this book consists of recipes for cocktails and canapes that probably won't appeal to a modern palate, which is why I'm only giving it 3 stars. The recipe for a "dry" martini would be considered outrageously "wet" these days (two parts gin to one part vermouth), and the appetizers are mostly variations on "slice white bread, butter it, and put something salty-fatty-savory on top."
Still, there's enough historical interest and insouciant 1930s wit to make this slim book worthwhile. For instance, to introduce their section on drinks for cocktail novices, the authors write "Tender young things, who have just been taken off stick candy, prefer complicated pink and creamy drinks which satisfy their beastly appetite for sweets and at the same time offer an agreeable sense of sinfulness. If you have any creme de menthe or creme de cocoa about the house, make them up some kind of a mess of it and push them under the piano to suck on it."
Civil disobedience has rarely been so cheerful or such good fun.
Truth be told, a lot of this book consists of recipes for cocktails and canapes that probably won't appeal to a modern palate, which is why I'm only giving it 3 stars. The recipe for a "dry" martini would be considered outrageously "wet" these days (two parts gin to one part vermouth), and the appetizers are mostly variations on "slice white bread, butter it, and put something salty-fatty-savory on top."
Still, there's enough historical interest and insouciant 1930s wit to make this slim book worthwhile. For instance, to introduce their section on drinks for cocktail novices, the authors write "Tender young things, who have just been taken off stick candy, prefer complicated pink and creamy drinks which satisfy their beastly appetite for sweets and at the same time offer an agreeable sense of sinfulness. If you have any creme de menthe or creme de cocoa about the house, make them up some kind of a mess of it and push them under the piano to suck on it."
Civil disobedience has rarely been so cheerful or such good fun.
February 26, 2014
A light-hearted book about Prohibition cocktail recipes, hors d'oeuvres, and entertaining. I'd really like to know how large a wine glass was back then, as several recipes called for multiple glasses of gin or rye or whatever...
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August 18, 2013Delightfully olde-timey!
May 22, 2016
Even though there's a heavy dose of gin (non-alcoholic, of course) I need to own this and try all the recipes!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews