Cocktail Shaker

In the 1920s the pattern of mealtimes began to change. Before the First World War, the evening meal in middle-class households was a highly elaborate, formal affair in which many courses were served. The subsequent generation tended to favour a more simplified ritual with fewer courses, starting later in the evening. The cocktail hour was born! Cocktails were an American invention. They assumed widespread popularity, particularly during the era of Prohibition (1919–33). Cocktails could conveniently disguise the appearance of alcohol. But Prohibition failed to stop America drinking. As Gatsby, a character in Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby (1925), amply demonstrates, the rich never

Cocktail shaker · Sheffield · ca. 1930. Electroplated nickel silver. By Keith Murray. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.