A delightful history of cocktails from the era of new interstate
highways, sprouting suburbs, and atomic engineering
America at midcentury was a nation on the move, taking to wings and
wheels along the new interstate highways and in passenger jets that
soared to thirty thousand feet. Anxieties rippled, but this new Atomic
Age promised cheap power and future wonders, while the hallmark of the
era was the pleasure of an evening imbibing cocktails in mixed company,
a middle-class idea of sophisticated leisure. This new age, stretching
from the post-World War II baby boom years through the presidency of
General Dwight Eisenhower into the increasingly volatile mid-1960s,
promised affordable homes for those who had never dreamed of owning
property and an array of gleaming appliances to fill them. For many,
this was America at its best--innovation, style, and the freedom to
enjoy oneself--and the spirit of this time is reflected in the whimsical
cocktails that rose to prominence: tiki drinks, Moscow mules, Sea
Breezes, Pina Coladas, Pink Squirrels, and Sloe Gin Fizzes.
Of course, not everyone was invited to the party. Though the drinks were
getting sweeter, the racial divide was getting more bitter--Black
Americans in search of a drink, entertainment, or a hotel room had to
depend on the Green Book for advice on places where they would be
welcome and safe. And the Cold War and Space Race proceeded ominously
throughout this period, as technological advances alternately thrilled
and terrified.
The third installment in Cecelia Tichi's tour of the cocktails enjoyed
in various historical eras, Midcentury Cocktails brings a time of
limitless possibilities to life though the cocktails created, named, and
consumed.
