1911 Beverages de luxe

T he Glass for

BY JOS. MESS MER Secy. Ferd. Messmer Mfg. Co. St. Louis, Mo.

the Beverage

®The

sélection of a proper glassware equipinent for a modem club, hôtel or saloon bar is an art ac- quired only through wide expérience in and long association with the dispensing business.

The glassware and supply salesman should, himself, be so thoroughly posted and well informed in this capacity that his advice will be a valuable aid in the sélection of a fitting equipinent. In the past, location had con- sidérable influence as to the quality of glass selected for service, and, while no longer so gênerai, it is still apparent to the trav- eler that in the North and West the présence of cut-glass service ware on the bar is much more prévalent than elsewhere, plain light ware being still the custom. It is difiicult to find a reason for this condition, if indeed there is one, but it is equally cer- tain that the condition is changing. New equipments are almost invariably selected from Portieux, France, and Val. St. Lam- bert lines of cut-glass stemware, and from the American lines of cut-glass tumblers. Thèse lines comprise an amazing variety of shapes and sizes, supplying a distinct glass for every natural or prepared beverage. The constant trend towards better glassware service, the deinand for wider varieties and distinctive patterns, has so specialized the glassware business that the old queensware house is no longer the source of supply, but is supplanted by the bar supply house, whose entire energy and capital is devoted to the interest of the club, cafe and bar trade. This brings the trades' wants directly to the manufacturer^ plant, and results in producing new shapes, adéquate sizes and broader and more extensive varieties. When the cooling highball became a popular drink it was difficult to find two bars that used the same kind of glass in serving it. Anything from a small taper seltzer glass up to a beer goblet was used to serve this drink, with the resuit that little or no individuality was given to it. In the better class of cafés, hoAvever, the careful dispenser soon discovered the need of a low, wide glass, that would accommodate a large-size lump of ice and sufficient seltzer to niake the drink palatable, with the resuit that the highball now enjoys the same, if not greater popularity, than the Americau cocktail. It is this close atten-