OP: The American Drink Book
Shipping calculated at checkout
Farrar, Straus & Young, New York, 1953. Hardcover. Very Good. First printing.
The political trajectory of what is now the United States has had a parallel relationship with its history of imbibing. Esquire and Reader’s Digest editor S. S. Field includes a lively retelling of that story in his 1953 The American Drink Book.
Access to Caribbean rum throughout the colonial period made that spirit the preferred libation pre-Revolution. During the westward expansion of the late-18th and early-19th centuries into territories where grain could grow easily and plentifully on huge swaths of land, bourbon and whiskey became the obvious spirits of choice. Then, eventually, we became a nation that produced its own wine—a subject to which Field dedicates about a quarter of the book.
Besides the history lesson, Field also includes light-hearted drinking notes, how-tos, instructions for making the “100 greatest American drinks,” and beverage pairings and recipes for an elaborate Thanksgiving meal. While it is certainly not a thorough history, the tone is chatty and jovial, lending itself more to spirited conversation than to collegiate lectures.
Ours is a Very Good copy in a price-clipped and somewhat worn and chipped jacket. Stated first printing.
