Food History

It’s very sad, but of the thousands of cocktail booklets that various liquor producers have circulated, I only possess two and neither of those are particularly antique or special. Well, my Vickers cocktails booklet is special, but only in a minor way.

Cocktails have only quite recently entered Australian culture. There have been various attempts by liquor manufacturers to hasten their adoption, and this little booklet is one of them. It was produced by Vickers and is undated. The illlustrations and the lack of metrication suggest the late fifties or early sixties and the National Library of Australia’s copy is listed as 1950s.

When you flick to the back pages there is a four page spread lauding the virtues of Corio Whiskey, made near Geelong. This firmly places the manufacturers near Geelong and gives the reason for the booklet. If I could get my scanner to work, I would give you a picture from it, but alas, today everything is revolting - from the TV to my scanner - and such things aren’t possible.

Instead let me give you some pithy quotes (shortly) to show you the sort of customer Vickers was wooing and maybe a recipe or two.

Why do I love this booklet? So much of it reminds me of the peculiar distance between Australia and the rest of the world at the time of its making. Cocktails were daring, cosmopolitan and needing much explanation. By the time mixed drinks became a normal part of our entertaining, we had lost a lot of our cultural cringe and even more of the slight innocence of distance.

Compare the recipes and glossy paper to the atmosphere of speakeasies in the US during Prohibition or to the decadence of gin and absinthe drinking in Europe earlier. This attempt by an Australian manufacturer to encourage Aussies to venture into the more frequent use of spirits and strong alcohol seems oddly safe. An ocean of dangerous spirits and the Australian manufacturer offered its patrons a swimming pool protected by a safety fence.

Think of the booklet as a moment of small attempted elegance in a much more vigorous history of alcohol.

I promise there will be more posts on drink history, sometime. Also I promise I will watch out and expand my drink ephemera collection. I didn’t realise how impoverished I was in this regard!!

Quotes from “Vickers Cocktails”

“A good host makes a good guest”

“Opening this book can mean, to many, the opening of a new chapter in their lives - a chapter of enjoyment, entertainment, good fellowship.”

“While cocktail mixing is child’s play, it is not, in fact, recommended for children.”

“Don’t strain friendship bu giving a drink that looks like the fruit salad.”

Recipes

Shady Grove Cooler

1/2 tbs sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 oz. Vickers Gin
Mix in long glass and fill with iced ginger beer.

Mildura Fizz

Half fill shaker with large pieces of ice and add -

juice of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1/2 orange
1 oz. Vickers Gin
dash of orange bitters
Grenadine to taste

Shake well, strain into long glass, fill with cold soda and top with slice of orange.

Note: soda in Australia at this time was unflavoured, unsweetened and made using a soda siphon.

Sydney Southerly

Juice of 1 orange
1 tsp cherry brandy
2 oz. Vickers Gin

Mix well in long glass and fill with ginger beer, icy cold.

The Adelaide (for 6)

Into a shaker put broken ice the add -
6 oz. Vickers Gin
6 oz. Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz. orange bitters
1 oz. Curacao
Shake well and serve with cherry and a piece of lemon rind.