1930 The Drinks of Yesteryear a Mixology

Foreword .. ..

The Author was for twenty years a "Wine Clerk." Per– haps, though, "Wine Clerk" needs today, under t he Volsteadian Eclipse, illumination of definit ion. He was one of those gentle– men, and they were gentlemen, who mixed and served what– ever "little hearts desired, " at and from the mahogany bars of all high-class cafes, clubs and hotels. And to secure such occupation in the Liberal Age required- have no doubts of it-long qualifying years of· training and experience, f'?r ~e v.:as truly an artist in liquors, and as surely as the artist m oils, had to mature to acceptable perfection for the patrons of his art. The Author, himself, was apprenticed as a young man to the leading wholesalers of his native New England St.ate-to l~ from them basically and comprehensively the w_hole sub1ect of the varieties, qualit ies and care of liquors and wmes. After a year he became attached to the corps of admittedly the most epicurean hotel and restaurant east of t he Hudson River, where in a service of three years he studied the applied ~ of compounding and properly serving "mixed and fancy drinks" for a clientele of most refined and exacting t ast es. This training and experience gave him currency as a qualified "Wine Clerk" and opened t o him, for expert's finesse, ex:npioy– ment successively at a select old Boston Club, a nationally known rendesvouz in Washington, a Broadway Rest~urant, two of the most fastidious hotel bars of New York City and lastly, for years before The Drought , at a Yale world-famous hostelry in New Haven, Connecticut. . So that the Author confidently regards himself as an ac– corded authority on t he subject matter of this volume. It represents a cull of the sum total of his " tricks of the trade" accumulated as just outlined. What he gives under the headings "General Directions ~d Care of Bottled Goods" can be relied upon as perfectly m- [61