1954 King Cocktail Shake Again with Eddie

Oi/BK> THB

Before you delve into the mysteries of what the Cocktail Shaker may hold, may I first intro duce myself, and tell you a little about this pleasant form of drink ing. My name? Well, I expect you will find it somewhere in the book. My experience? Some 25 years be

CoMiue

hind bars—No! Not the iron ones—just counter bars.

Briefly to span the years, my fifteenth birthday already found me at sea, with every intention of making it my career. Although my original idea was to become a ship's officer, fate deemed it otherwise, and three years later I became a ship's bar-tender. During the years that followed, life became more and more interesting. What could have been better than travelling round the world, in such wonderful ships as the " Empress of Scot land," " Empress of Australia " and " Empress of Britain," meeting countless famous people, and having the great honour and privilege of mixing drinks for Royalty—the Prince of Wales, Duke of Kent and the Duke of Gloucester. Although throughout the summer months these grand ladies of the sea ploughed their way back and forth, from Southamp ton to Canada on the Mail Run, the winters found us cruising into tropical waters, and to summarise, my own travels con sisted of: four world cruises, three West Indies cruises, three Mediterranean cruises and three Norwegian cruises. In 1934 I came ashore and went as head bar-tender at Berkeley Hotel until April, 1936, when bitten again by the travel bug, I opened the first cocktail bar in Dublin, at the Royal Hibernian Hotel. At the end of the year I returned to London and took over as head bar-tender at the London Casino until New Year's Eve, 1938. In January, 1939, I was engaged as head bar-tender at the Savoy Hotel, where I remained until 1940, when, like many others, I exchanged my shaker for a gun. I joined the Royal Artillery as a Gunner.