A Vintage Cocktail Book
I picked up a vintage copy of The Bartender’s Guide; I will use it as a gift in the future. I was so taken aback to see that the date on it/printed was 1965. But more surprisingly to me was that I found it is basically unused, in really good condition, and in the book is a handwritten recipe with no title. It is a peculiar recipe, as it seems to be a wine-based punch but has beer as one of the ingredients; also on the list at the end you’ll notice is an aspirin.
It caused me to think about the person who owned this book. Was
it a man? Was it a woman? How did they get the book? A gift from someone? Who has a book like that? Somewhat more
intrigued I was by the list of ingredients for said recipe.
Noting the date of the book printing, my mind wandered about
the time, the place, the person. The mid
‘60s. Interesting times in the world. In Europe it had been only 15 years or so since
the end of World War II; they must’ve been in the midst of a huge overhaul of
Europe’s cities and population, struggling with many issues post war. The merger of East Germany and West Germany will wait. In a mere seven years the President of the United States would travel to Communist China and meet Mao Zedong. Unheard of! Radical! Treasonous.
For the Soviet Union and the United States, although some
people might say we’re back there now, we were pretty much at the height of the
Cold War of ideologies between communism and capitalism, between the far right
and the liberal left.
For the people of China, they were in the midst of the
Chinese “Cultural Revolution”, in the age of Mao; the Little Red Book; collective
farms. Teachers and students sent to work on farms both for reasons of
providing food to the population and to affect the beliefs of many.
One would think at that time set for many people, it was a
time of abundance and security. Although I remember once even as late as the 70’s
my aunt giving me a box of clothes to take to people in Europe, continuing to
believe they were in need of money and necessities. It’s very likely that people had a different
perspective on their lives at that time, many feeling relieved to be alive. Many with severe inflictions emotionally as
well as physically. The world was not transient as it is now. There was no
thought of travel from one continent to the next nevertheless across
continents.
For many readers this is probably unfathomable to believe
that there was no ease of transportation, such as now exists in the EuroZone, that
the exchange of goods was far more restrictive.
To communicate with a loved one, you did it by post which could take
weeks for a letter to go to go from one continent to another. Train travel even
back then was an unusual occurrence. Many countries each had their own unique
monetary system, not easily exchangeable from one country to the next – unlike
today in much of Europe.
I live in a community that is a thriving university-retirement-resort
community, so many people bring their books and periodicals to their library or
the local bookstores as they downsize their personal library, that we are often
provided the opportunity to purchase any of these used treasures.
To look back and think about those things that were taking
place in the mid-60’s is a unique reflection on how the world has changed. So I
wonder what the life is like for this person, no longer needing to have a
bartender guide. What is he or she doing now? And what was their life like in
the mid-60’s?
Good readings, mes mi.
Cocktail
Daiquiri
2 parts light rum
1 part plus a teaspoon of lime juice
½ part simple syrup
Appetizer – sliced cucumbers with out seeds, lightly salted
Music – LP album by ABBA
