Table Of ContentShake 'Em Up
Shake 'Em Up
A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK
OF POLITE DRINKING
by Virginia Elliot & Phil D. Stong
ILLUSTRATIONS BY HERB ROTH
Copyright © 1930 by Virginia Elliott and Phil D. Stong
Illustrations copyright © 1930 by Herb Roth
Introduction copyright © 2013 by Amy Stewart
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission from the publisher except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First
published by Tin House Books 2013. For information, contact
Tin House Books, 2617 NW Thurman St., Portland, OR 97210.
Published by Tin House Books, Portland, Oregon, and
New York, New York
Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West,
1700 Fourth St., Berkeley, CA 94710, www.pgw.com
ebook ISBN 978-1-9235639-61-9
Interior design by Diane Chonette and Jakob Vala
Printed in the USA
www.tinhouse.com
�
Introductıon
BY A M Y S T E WA RT
For two months I occupied an apartment next door
to the offices of Tin House, the publisher of this
book. I promised to pour the editors a drink if they
ever came by after work, and sometimes they did.
Because I was living there temporarily, I didn’t have
a well-stocked bar, so I gave them their choice of an
old-fashioned or a glass of straight whiskey. I think
1
SHAKE ’EM UP
I served them pretzels once, and another time
they got almonds. I never had enough chairs. You
might think I wasn’t much of a hostess, but Virginia
Elliott and Phil Stong would have approved.
Let’s imagine Virginia and Phil as That Couple
Upstairs. You know the type. They never issue party
invitations, but most nights people seem to turn up
anyway. From their fire escape comes laughter and
cigarette smoke and the faint clatter of ice cubes
against glass. Sometimes one of them calls down
to the delicatessen for a carton of orange juice or
a can of sardines, but otherwise they seem to make
no actual preparations for their parties. They know
that people will drink whatever’s on hand and eat
any food set before them, even saltines spread with
butter and toasted in the oven (see p. 46).
Why are Virginia and Phil so unconcerned
about the state of their liquor cabinet or the qual-
ity of their canapés? Because they are Prohibition-
era hosts, and as such they have far more practical
2
Introduction
matters to attend to. Acquiring any alcohol at all
takes some resourcefulness. And after the stock
market crash (this book was first published in
1930), even the most affluent hosts must cut back
on the caviar. Pretzels and almonds? Our authors
would consider that a fine spread.
Let’s also consider the challenges of publishing a
cocktail book while the National Prohibition Act,
informally called the Volstead Act, was still in effect.
Prohibition did not just ban the sale of alcohol; it
banned the publication of information about alcohol
as well. Sections 17 and 18 of the act made it illegal
to advertise the method or means by which alcohol
might be obtained or prepared. Even booksellers
were in jeopardy: it was a crime to “sell or possess
for sale any . . . formula, direction, or recipe” that
could be used in the unlawful manufacture of alco-
hol. The law created a great deal of confusion and
outrage: in 1926, an anti-Prohibition group wrote to
Attorney General John Sargent asking if it would be
3
SHAKE ’EM UP
lawful to read George Washington’s beer recipe at a
dinner in honor of the president’s birthday, strictly
for historical purposes. (Sargent refused to rule on
the question.) What chance did a cocktail book
have of surviving legal scrutiny?
In fact, the long shadow of the Volstead Act does
fall across the pages of this book. In their opening
remarks the authors make it clear that they rec-
ommend their drinks be mixed only with “non-al-
coholic” gin, scotch, rye, corn, and applejack. The
“Commissary,” a list of supplies they advise keeping
on hand for cocktail parties, includes no spirits at all.
And in all but the first printing of Shake ’Em
Up, one page has been removed and replaced with
this terse announcement: “This Page Removed at
the request of the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York.” It gives me great
delight to report that your humble researcher has
located the missing page in one of the few surviv-
ing first editions of the book, and that the authors’
4
Introduction
recipe for homemade “non-alcoholic gin” has been
restored to its rightful location at the beginning of
a section called “Household Hints.”
Now, about the drinks. You’ll notice that these
are not complex recipes burdened with exotic or
handcrafted ingredients. If you’re in the habit of
frequenting bars that claim to serve Prohibition-
era cocktails, you might be surprised to learn that
Virginia and Phil got by with little more than
canned grapefruit juice and ginger ale to enliven
their “non-alcoholic” alcohol. The recipes are sim-
ple, familiar, and unpretentious. The ingredients
can be had at any corner liquor store on a modest
budget. The measurements are imprecise, and no
technique is required beyond a good stir. You will
find no dandelion-burdock bitters, flaming orange
peels, or Olympic-style shaking here.
The food, as I’ve mentioned, is so simple that
you might call it artless: Virginia and Phil’s guests
were satisfied with Velveeta sandwiches seasoned
5
