1935 Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book

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OLD WALDORF-ASTORIA BAR BOOK

had treated from other standpoints in another volume, PEACOCKS ON PARADE, earlier published. When OLD WAL– DORF BAR DA Ys came out, few Americans dreamed that repeal was hardly more than two years off. And so, while I "translated" and more or less codified and put into alpha– betical order the contents of that battered, dog-eared lit– tle album, its pages stained with many samples of liquors, and which would probably show under a microscope the thumb prints of many barmen who had had to consult it, I had no idea of turning out a guide of any sort. I merely incorporated it as something that might interest the re– searcher into American mores, who, I felt sure, would find much material therein, and so permitted myself very little elaboration. However, the book attracted wide and favorable com– ment. As Repeal Day approached, critics and connoisseurs who knew good liquors and particularly what cocktails used to be like, found that, by virtue of having been long in actual daily use, here was an authoritative compendium of the authentic cocktails of a by-gone day. True, its availability was handicapped by being tacked on, as it were, to a quasi-historical narrative and exposition, so that those who merely saw the book and the title did not read– ily guess, as a rule, that it contained a collection of cock– tail recipes. B<"r:ause of the book's history, it stood alone. It should be improved, amplified as much as necessary, and made thoroughly understandable and useful. This was emphasized by Mr. Howard L. Lewis, Secre– tary of Dodd, Mead and Company. So that the author, encouraged and stimulated by the interest of a publishing firm of such high reputation and standing, gladly under– took the work of revision.