Old Waldorf bar days; with the cognomina and composition of four hundred and ninety-one appealing appetizers and salutary potations long known, admired and served at the famous big brass rail; also, a glossary for the use of antiquarians and students...

Description: Illustrated by Leighton Budd. Fine. This is a classic work... Illustrated by Leighton Budd. Fine. This is a classic work capturing the glamour and gaiety of time and place when cocktail culture was at its height. Charming illustrations by Leighton Budd, including "The Bar of the Old Waldorf." Laid in: a small booklet (1930s or 40s) of cocktail recipes, printed in red and black and containing 8 leaves. Elegant bookplate of previous owner on half-title. Silver boards, with cover and spine titles in black, as well as a spine illustration of a glass of champagne and a cover illustration of a waiter carrying a tray of beverages. A minor bump at top of spine, else a fine copy; boards fresh and bright. We have sold many copies of this book over the past seventeen years as specialists in books on all aspects of food and drink and know firsthand how easily the silver boards of this book are smudged, discolored, or stained. This is the best copy we have seen. Noling, p. 121. The author was a journalist who frequented the bar soon after it opened in 1897 and thereafter quite regularly for almost twenty years. In writing its history and a record of its cocktail recipes (pp. 115-228), he has called upon his own memories as well as those of veteran employees and regular patrons who knew its habitués and the remarkable stories of what went on there. In evoking those pre-Prohibition days, Crockett sounds both joyful and wistful notes. "[Some of us like to dwell on days] when drinking was often an honored social custom among gentlemen, and when the man who indulged enjoyed the full protection of government, and did not thus necessarily render himself, in effect, an enemy of law and order."; tall 8vo 9"-10" tall; [8], 242, [5] pages; (Full sub-title): With the Cognomina and Composition of Four Hundred and Ninety-one Appealing Appetizers and Salutary Potations Long Known, Admired and Served at the Famous Big Brass Rail; ...also...A Glossary for the Use of Antiquarians and Students of American Mores.