Life, 1922-05-18 · page 6 of 34
Life — May 18, 1922 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes enforcement of Prohibition (1920-1933). The article "With the Material at Hand" offers humorous substitute cocktail recipes—Martinis made with French Vermouth, Bacardi made with rum substitutes—mocking both the law and creative workarounds by affluent hosts. The three cartoons below, titled "A Helpful Hint to Guests," depict social awkwardness around Prohibition. The leftmost shows a guest being asked to write something clever in a guest book. The middle and right panels appear to show guests struggling with inappropriate behavior or comments at dinner parties—likely depicting the tension between maintaining social propriety while everyone understood illegal drinking occurred. The satire targets the absurdity of Prohibition enforcement among the well-to-do, who simply substituted ingredients rather than abstaining.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OW that Prohibition has come to stay and the authorities have evolved an adequate technique for its enforcement (see Annual Report of the Anti-Saloon League, pp. 223 and 224, et seq. Speech of Mr. Wm. J. Bryan before the Ladies’ Aid Society, Bethesda Church, Tulsa, Okla., also Interview with Mr. Richard E. Enright, New York World, February 30th, 1922), dinners and luncheons have oc- casionally been flat failures, particu- larly where hostesses have provided nothing to take the place of that potent aid to sociability, the cocktail. The following recipes for substitute cock- tails have been suggested to Lire by a popular New York hostess, who uses in their compounding, no ingredients save such as can be obtained under the present Prohibition Law with the con- sent of its enforcement officers. Substitute Martini Cocktail One-half Dry Gin One-quarter French Vermouth One-quarter Italian Vermouth One tumblerful cracked ice. Shake well, and serve with or without thin caviare sandwiches. Substitute Bronx Cocktail One-half Dry Gin One-quarter French Vermouth One-quarter orange juice One tumblerful cracked ice. * LIEE With the Material at Hand How to Entertain Under Strict Prohibition Enforcement Montague Glass Shake well, and serve with or without thin caviare sandwiches. Substitute Whisky Cocktail One-third Rye Whisky One-third lemon juice One-third simple syrup One tumblerful cracked ice. Shake well, and serve with or without thin caviare sandwiches. Substitute. Bacardi Cocktail Two-thirds Bacardi Rum One-sixth lemon juice One-sixth Grenadine The white of one egg Tumblerful of cracked ice. Shake well, and serve with or without thin caviare sandwiches. Note: In this last recipe, should there be any trouble obtaining the white of an egg in neighborhoods where the Volstead Act is more stringently en- forced, it may be omitted, unless it can be had under a doctor’s prescription. With the meal itself, the following substitute beverages may be served, viz: Substitute Beer, Substitute Bur- gundy, Substitute Bordeaux, etc., etc. An excellent substitute for beer has become most popular at dinners and luncheons in the more fashionable Hamburg. Avenue and Bushwick sec- tions of Brooklyn. It is composed of hops, malt, yeast and sugar, and may be obtained at all groceries. It should be ordered preferably in cases of A Helpful Hint to Guests “Oh, Mr. Smithkins, you must write something clever in our guest book.” “Delighted, but I must beg off till to- morrow—no ideas to-night.” SN WA NSS Ss “T’d like to have hold of the person who invented guest books. Oh, for something snappy and appropriate.” twenty-four bottles and is known by the trade or cagmmercial name of Lager Beer, or sometimes simply Beer. Substitute Burgundy, Substitute Champagne, Substitute Bordeaux, etc, are not so generally stocked, but can nevertheless be obtained under the trade names of Beaune, Pommard, Chambertin, Veuve Cliquot, Pommery Greno, Saint Julien; and by blending some of these substitute ingredients, an excellent Champagne Cup was served the other evening at the last Lenten Meeting of the Junior League of the Home for Indigent Mothers With Small Children Not Exceeding Forty Pounds Net. The following was the recipe employed: Four magnums Duc de Montcbello, 1912 Three bottles Fin Cognac Four bottles Clos—Vougeot The juice of one orange Three tumblers Oxygenée It is interesting to note just how Pro- hibition operates in the case last re- ported. In pre-Prohibition days, had this Champagne Cup been compounded with ingredients unsupervised by Pro- hibition Enforcement Officers, it is es- timated by competent authority that it would have required four patrol wagons and twelve policemen to clear the premises. However, by using only such ingredients as can at present be obtained, only three patrol wagons and nine policemen were needed. “At last an idea!” Bei pre. of ¢ spen He bett woo of Ame M Priv: sider false again shak comicbooks.com