Cocktails 1921 to 1930

Continuing our journey, after looking at ‘Cocktails of the 1800s’, ‘Cocktails 1900 to 1910’, and ‘Cocktails 1911 to 1920’ , we are leaving what is often called the ‘Golden Age of Cocktails’, and entering a very challenging period for both Cocktails and the World at large.

Let’s take a look at the third decade of the 1900’s, at cocktails created and popular in this early part of the 20th Century, a time when Prohibition (1920–1933) ‘shut-up-shop’ in the USA, and the World was recovering from both the First World War (1915–1918) and the Great Influenza Pandemic (Spanish Flu – around 1918 to 1920).

This decade may have been called the ‘Roaring Twenties’, with surging economies and a new level of consumerism, brought about large-scale development of cars, films, radios, electrical appliances and fashion. As well as urbanization, for the first time more Americans lived in cities than in rural environments, and the jazz-age and other music was taking hold. But if you wanted to drink, you had to do it illegally, at least in the USA, with US Prohibition in full swing from 17 January 1920.

Despite the ban on producing and selling alcohol in the USA, by the mid-1920s consumption was back to pre-Prohibition levels. The alcohol was low quality and variable, with thousands dying from poisoning by liquor that should never have been consumed, and by 1925 Prohibition had set the scene for an unprecedented development of organised crime.

Experienced Bartenders like Harry Craddock and Harry MacElhone left the USA for places like London and Paris, thankfully preserving hundreds of ‘golden-age’ cocktail recipes in their respective books. The ‘roaring economy’ came to a screeching halt at the end of the decade, as the world plunged into The Great Depression.

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BOOKS – THE RECORD OF EARLY 1900’s COCKTAILS

We largely understand the cocktail history of the early Twentieth Century from the books and articles published at the time, as well as early movie appearances. Some of the historical references for this period are included in the list below:

1914 – Jacques Straub, Drinks, for the popular Prohibition era lock-tail #039 ‘Bacardí Cocktail’.

1927 – Harry MacElhone, Barflies and Cocktails, so many recipes including lock-tail #040 ‘Boulevardier’.

1928 – Basil Woon, When It’s Cocktail Time in Cuba, for lock-tail #038 ‘Mary Pickford’.

1930 – Harry Craddock, The Savoy Cocktail Book, perhaps the most famous cocktail book of all time, and the first appearance of so many Prohibition and pre-Prohibition cocktails, including those mentioned in previous era summaries 1800’s, 1900-1910, and 1911–1920, as well as lock-tail #031 ‘Fallen Angel’, the ‘Greyhound’ related to lock-tail #036 ‘Salty Dog’, lock-tail #037 ‘Sea Breeze Cooler’, also lock-tail #038 ‘Mary Pickford’.

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COCKTAILS FROM THE 1920’s – THE 10 REMIXES

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FULL INGREDIENT LIST (from the 1921 to 1930 Cocktail Remixes)
* items with asterix below have also been used in previous (1800’s, 1900-1910, or 1911-1920) mixes.

For the ingredients for the next 10 cocktails (1931-1940), see ingredients.

For the full index of future (and past) cocktail mixes, see index or the alphabetical listing.