Introducing Condé Concoctions

Still life of varicolored cocktails, essential bar components, and the suspended splash of a dropped ice cube.

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After discovering a 1959 House & Garden article from the “Corkscrew” series – a long-running feature on favorite tipples of the iconic American chef and food writer James Beard – I began looking at other Condé Nast titles to explore how they addressed cocktails and drinking. This topic synthesized when I discovered the wealth of material in our Archive. Long before James Bond sparked a craze for martinis “shaken, not stirred,” drinking and the art of mixing drinks were discussed and debated, and almost every Condé Nast magazine has addressed this subject.

Cocktails are very much a part of American society, and by the turn of the century, drinking and alcoholism were on the rise for both men and women.

This 1894 cover illustration depicts a conversation among three women over a glass of sherry.

The entire January 25, 1894 Vogue is devoted to the theme of drinking, with illustrations and articles centered on society “in their cups.” The author of an article in that issue, “Women Who Drink,” noted:

The subject of drinking by women is one of growing and awful importance. The woman who drinks “cocktails” and “pick-me-ups” between meals is becoming yearly less and less of an exception.

Many historians believe the first American book about mixing drinks was The Bon Vivant’s Companion: How to Mix Drinks, written in 1862 by “Professor” Jerry Thomas. Thomas, considered by many to be the father of American mixology, might not have been familiar with martinis (that drink’s origins have never been confirmed), but he certainly knew the importance of mixing or stirring to create the perfect cocktail.

A tray of cocktail glasses.

From 1915 to 1920, alcohol consumption was on the decline, but apparently not for the British writer P.G. Wodehouse, who published “My Battle with Drink” in the December 1915 Vanity Fair. The piece is a comic pose about his youthful addiction to ice cream sundaes and how he broke that habit when he began having highballs for breakfast.

An early 1920s cover featuring a costume ball, with guests in the mezzanine overlooking the drinking and dancing.

A reportage sketch of the interior of a bar; one patron rests an elbow on the counter, while another reads at a table.

The bar of the Hotel du Rhin, looking through the front window into the street.

In 1917, three years before Prohibition in the United States, the American vaudeville star Elsie Janis created four recipes for alcohol-free “Prohibition Cocktails,” including the “Engagement” and “Second-Marriage” cocktails, the latter of which proclaims, “This should be taken only after the effect of the other cocktails has worn off”:

Two parts sophistication. (Which must be at least thirty-two years old)

One part bank account. (The length of the drink depends entirely upon size of account)

One dash common sense. (The Cocktail will not be a success with out it)

A spoonful of experience. (This adds a slightly bitter flavor)

Two drops of sense of humor. (No more than two drops, on any account.  It is a dangerous commodity.  If there were more of it in the world nobody would marry at all)

Four women in evening attire, enjoying passed cocktails.

Two women in breezy summer dress lounge aboard a ship, while the captain shakes cocktails.

Glasses of various shapes and purposes sit on a shelf above a row of bitters bottles and cocktail shakers.

In one installment of the “Corkscrew” feature, Beard, considered by many to be the father of American-style gourmet cooking, wrote about his travels in and favorite drinks from South America. He discusses two liquors from the region – a Brazilian sugar cane rum called cachaça or aguardiente, a pure white liquor bottled straight from the distillery with no aging or flavoring; and a Peruvian raw grape brandy called pisco. Cachaça is often mixed with coconut or fruit juices, while pisco is similar to grappa and has a pungent odor and taste resulting from the beeswax-lined clay containers in which it is aged. Below are two of Beard’s favorite recipes:

Batida I
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup orange juice
1 cup cachaça
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup orgeat syrup (a syrup of almonds, sugar, and rose water)
Dash of grenadine

Shake thoroughly until foamy and serve very cold.

Serves 4

Pisco II
2 ounces of Pisco
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon or lime juice
1 egg white

Shake with crushed ice and pour into a chilled, sugar-rimmed glass.

Serves 1

We hope to make “Condé Concoctions” a regular series, so look for future posts that explore our wealth of images and articles and titles on the theme of sophisticated vintage tipples.

A brightly colored, sharply angled illustration by Reynolds of a swank couple having drinks.

A portly, pompous ship's captain stands at the wheel, with a sailor bearing a drink on either side.

Behind bottles of vermouth and Grand Marnier, a mirror reflects a mural by Charles Baskerville depicting the stock market "bear and bull" having a toast.

A table prepared for a champagne breakfast, with Georgian urn, porcelain cups, Georgian bacon dish, and linen monogrammed napkins; a liquor service stands on the bar.

The elliptical cocktail bar at the Knickerbocker. Heath Robinson's "Legend of the Cocktail" illustrations decorate the walls.

Two models holding cocktail glasses, wearing, from left to right, a sheer Eton jacket over a black lace dress and a dotted black dress.

A still life of three fancy cocktails under a green and white awning.

Against a tartan background, a bottle of Scotch stands near to a poured glass and a cigar burning in an ashtray.

A glass of red and a glass of white accompanied by two clusters of grapes, with a vineyard scene in the background.

An assortment of cheeses and a goblet of beer, arranged temptingly against a gingham background.

A trio of tropical summer cocktails against the backdrop of a setting sun.

A model in a black cocktail dress and faux pearls sips a martini.

A "Sloppy Joe's Mojito," made with lime, mint, and white rum, from Sloppy Joe's Bar in Havana.

The components of a dark and stormy: rum, lime, and ginger beer.