Written with his signature wry good humour, Crosby Gaige (1882–1949) guides the amateur host through the finer points of cocktail making, beginning with the basics of a home bar set-up, and the proper use of glassware by example of the world famous Aldorf-Astoria service.
Published in the later years of WWII, Gaige notes that while “good whiskey is now scarce”, there is an abundance of rum available. A potted history follows in the chapter ‘Learn to Use Rum’, in which c.40 rum cocktail recipes appear, including the President Watson (generally better known both before and after as the Cuban El Presidente). Mixed drinks follow the spirits, and the Guide rounds off with good wine management, and a rehashing of the canape recipes in Gaige’s 1941 Cocktail Guide and Ladies Companion.
Presciently named but unrelated cocktails include the Black Bomber, Tom and Jerry, Quarterdeck, and the Merry Widow, so the neatest acknowledgement to the ongoing Second World War is a brief lamentation of French wine: "due to circumstances temporarily beyond her control, France no longer sends us her fine vintage wines, but it is pleasurable to know that we are doing pretty well here in America…”
