NY Wives Were Poor Bartenders

Out of the 500, she found only 12 who “never served cocktails,” which should warm the cockles of the distillers, if they wore not aware of it already. Of these, two declared their reasons were those of taste, and that they preferred Dubonnet or sherry to more potent before-dinner quaffs. On almost every call, Miss Howard was moved to say: “Fie, fie,” for the ladies of the house invariably excused their lack of cocktail knowledge with the information that they always left the mixing business to the men of the house.

A NEW YORKER AT LARGE

The “average New York hostess” knows much about cocktails as Eskimos know about the nocturnal habits of the hippopotamus. So, at least, concludes Cynthia Howard, writer and consultant on cocktail hour etiquette and recipes, after telephoning 500 New York hostesses for answers to a score of questions which she described as both pertinent and impertinent. 

Out of the 500, she found only 12 who “never served cocktails,” which should warm the cockles of the distillers, if they wore not aware of it already. Of these, two declared their reasons were those of taste, and that they preferred Dubonnet or sherry to more potent before-dinner quaffs. On almost every call, Miss Howard was moved to say: “Fie, fie,” for the ladies of the house invariably excused their lack of cocktail knowledge with the information that they always left the mixing business to the men of the house. 

“Housewives who pursue such a negligent path are likely to find themselves living alone, whether they like it or not,” warns the consultant hostess. Informed by the city's barkceps that the most popular mixed drinks are the Manhattan, Martini, Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour and Bacardi cocktail. Miss Howard asked each hostess if she could mix any or all of them. 

The results, she says, “were appalling.” Only 3 per cent of the 488 who served cocktails were able to mix all five favorites; 7 per cent, four; 18 per cent, three; 20 per cent, two; 25 per cent, one; and 27 per cent none at all. Many of the ladies did not know.-By Jack Stinnett, New York, 1936

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