The decades following the American Civil War burst with invention―they saw the dawn of the telephone, the motor car, electric lights, the airplane―but no innovation was more welcome than the beverage heralded as the “cocktail.”
The Gilded Age, as it came to be known, was the Golden Age of Cocktails, giving birth to the classic Manhattan and martini that can be ordered at any bar to this day. Scores of whiskey drinks, cooled with ice chips or cubes that chimed against the glass, proved doubly pleasing when mixed, shaken, or stirred with special flavorings, juices, and fruits. The dazzling new drinks flourished coast to coast at sporting events, luncheons, and balls, on ocean liners and yachts, in barrooms, summer resorts, hotels, railroad train club cars, and private homes. From New York to San Francisco, celebrity bartenders rose to fame, inventing drinks for exclusive universities and exotic locales.
Ms. Tichi will also include information from her new book, “Jazz Age Cocktails: History, Lore, and Recipes from America’s Roaring Twenties” and will discuss her new novel, “A Gilded Death,” which features a bartender as a main character.
Cecelia Tichi is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English and American Studies at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of many books including “Exposes and Excess: Muckraking in America,” “Jack London: A Writer’s Fight for a Better America,” and “What Would Mrs. Astor Do?: The Essential Guide to the Manners and Mores of the Gilded Age.”
Admission is by donation, which is greatly appreciated! All proceeds benefit the development of future programming and the preservation of the History Center and its collections. If you cannot afford a donation at this time, we have a limited number of free tickets available.
Presentation is via Zoom, and will be recorded and available for 7 days for all registered participants. We will email out a Zoom link the day of the presentation, and email a link to the recording within 48 hours.
This program is generously sponsored by The Haverford Trust Company.
225 N. High Street, West Chester, PA 19380 | 610-692-4800
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