I can only give a 1980s perspective about the Cocktail Culture in America.
What I've learned is that you can take any decade and look at its events,
media coverage, fads, and available products and it will explain why certain
cocktails were popular.
I talk a little about this decade here:
http://www.misscharming.com/recipes/history.htm. Things left out on that page
about the 1980s that are important to know is about a lady named Candy
Lightner. In 1980, a drinking California driver hit her 13-year-old little
girl named Cari. The car threw Cari's body 125 feet knocking her shoes off.
The hit mutilated her body so bad that no organs were available for donation.
Her mother, Candy Lightner founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
Following this, laws were passed to raise the drinking age to 21 again. Also,
the Federal government told all 50 states that if they did not raise the
drinking age to 21 then they would receive ZERO highway funding (roads). This
lead to stricter DWI laws (now called DUI). But from 1980-1984 people got
stinky drunk at bars (but this is the way it had been for a few decades).
You should know that names of drinks were always pretty tame up until the
1980s. You see, America had just come out of the wild and free rock/disco
explosion due to the ending of the Vietnam War, but then in 1981 a disease
that no
one had ever heard of permeated the world. It was called AIDS and it was
frightening because no one knew what was causing it. Finally it was found to
be a sexually transmitted
disease.
For the bar scene, this was a huge concern. Ever
since women had first been allowed into bars (in the 1920s), bars
had had sexual undertones. In the 1980s, public anxiety grew, and many
people were frustrated by not knowing what to do because
having sex—the way they were used to—could mean dying.
It was the collective frustration of not being able to act out
sexually that conceived these drinks with provocative names.
Bartenders were providing only what the public desired at that time. If people
couldn’t have sex, then, by gawd, they would drink it.
Midori came out in 1978, so the Melon Ball was around. Peach Schnapps came out
in 1984, which led to the Fuzzy Navel then Sex on the Beach. Captain Morgan
Spiced Rum exploded on the scene. Butterscotch schnapps came out. Drinks took
on provocative names as well as drug-related names. In the late 1980s there
were at least 4 brands of vodka (up until then you only had rot gut well and
Smirnoff). Stoli and Absolut were new.
Wine choices were Chablis, Blush, and Burgundy. I remember Michelob being the
hot beer. Cocktail, the film came out in 1986. Cocaine was probably the most
popular drug. Yes, they would dump it out on the bar and grab a straw.
Bartenders DID NOT serve food. Slowly by the mid-late 1980s they were serving
appetizers because of the MADD thing. Today, bartenders have to know more than
anyone in the place. They have to know the entire food and drink menu and
wines! Turnover was higher then I believe because it was easier to hit the
ground running w/o having to learn a catolog of products and a POS system.
My favorite films were Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Breakfast Club, The
Terminator, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Color Purple.
Madonna came out with a song with the word Virgin in it, Marvin Gay sang about
Sexual Healing,and Olivia Newton John wanted to get Physical. These three
songs were a little shocking.
Some drinks I remember are: Long Island Iced Tea, Sex on the Beach, Fuzzy
Navel, Hairy Navel, Strawberry Daiquiri, Melon Colada, Midori Sour, Amaretto
Sour, Apricot Sour, Whiskey Sour, Lynchburg Lemonade, Sloe Comfortable Screw,
Jelly Bean, White Russian, Russian Quaalude, Screwdriver, Harvey Wallbanger,
Buttery Nipple, Slippery Nipple, Slippery Dick, Flaming Dr. Pepper, B-52,
Alabama Slammer, Melon Ball, Golden Cadillac, Freddy Fudpucker, Kamikaze,
Watermelon, Alabama Slammer, Tequila Slammer, Dirty Mother, Bushwhacker, Sloe
Comfortable Screw up against the Wall, Seabreeze, Greyhound, Salty Dog, Pearl
Harbor, Blow Job, Tequila Sunrise, Orgasm, Screaming Orgasm, Sloe Gin Fizz,
and any tropical drink.
--
Cheers!
Cheryl Charming
www.misscharming.com---------------------
20 year anniversary
The Last Barman Poem by Tom Cruise in the 1988 film, Cocktail
I am the last barman poet,
I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make,
Americans getting stinky on something I stir or shake,
The Sex on the Beach, the schnapps made from peach,
The Velvet Hammer, The Alabama Slammer,
I make things with juice and froth,
The Pink Squirrel, the 3-toed Sloth,
I make drinks so sweat and snazzy,
The Iced Tea, the Kamikazi,
The Orgasm, the Death Spasm,
The Singapore Sling,
The Dingaling.
America you've just been devoted to every flavor I got,
But if you want to got loaded,
Why don't you just order a shot?
Bar is open.