Here’s How Prohibition Era Cocktail Book

Description

A well preserved copy of the scarce but staggeringly influential Prohibition era cocktail recipe book, “Here’s How!” in its later revised edition.

Here’s How! by Judge Jr. John Day Publishing : New York, 1927. Third printing, February 1928.

 

Written in a time of technical illegality and changing tastes, this cocktail recipe book captures several classic drinks in their earliest iterations and provides insights into the conventions of Prohibition era drink making. Notable mentions include the “75 Cocktail”, renamed the “French 75” in the Savoy cocktail guide of 1930, the first English language appearance of “Cointreau”, “Gordon Water” as a euphemism for bathtub gin, and “The FrankenJack” cocktail, immortalizing one of the pseudonymous author Norman Hume Anthony’s favorite New York speakeasies “Frank and Jack’s”.

Hume, a cartoonist and illustrator, was later editor of Judge Magazine and Life Magazine as well as the creator of the depression era weekly magazine, “Ballyhoo”. His other books included “The Drunks Blue Book” and “What to do Until the Psychiatrist comes”.

16mo, 63pp, original orange cloth, minor soiling to boards with cracking along front spine hinge, wear with cloth losses to lower spine. Brown card pastedowns and endpapers. Bookblock spotted. Pages clean. Lacks dust jacket. Good condition.

 

If you liked this book, you might also like this original dime museum pamphlet from New York’s infamous Dr. Kahn.