Golden Era Barware

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

'Cocktail glass': I'm adamant about this. That triangle glass is not a 'Martini' glass, it's a Cocktail Glass

They're two different styles.

Cocktail glass:

Martini glass:

 

[Senator Jack]

fftopic:

But I have to humbly disagree with Shaul-Ike and re-label these images:

Cocktail Glass

Martini Glass

Typical Description of Cocktail Glass:

Cocktail Glass
This glass has a triangle-bowl design with a long stem, and is used for a wide range of straight-up (without ice) cocktails, including martinis, manhattans, metropolitans, and gimlets. Also known as a martini glass.

Size: 3-8 ounces



A good visual reference is 'The Thin Man' series. Watch when they order martinis, they always come in the bowl-shaped glass.

The members over at Drinkboy.com (who just founded The Museum of the American Cocktail) are as stringent on this identification as I am. We know we're fighting a losing battle, but we just can't bring ourselves to accept the current switch in terminology. Indeed, I don't believe the public began to call the triangular glass a martini glass till the cocktail made a comeback in the late 80s. Before then, it was always a cocktail glass.

Happy drinking.

Senator Jack

 

[scotrace]

A good visual reference is 'The Thin Man' series. Watch when they order martinis, they always come in the bowl-shaped glass.

And those, at least around here, are hard to find. I've been looking since I saw Nick lift one in the first Thin Man.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

But I have to humbly disagree with Shaul-Ike and re-label these images:

The humbleness obviously should be on my side. (Shall we start with "I'm the most humble!" - "No, I am!"?)

I'm not sure where I first learned about cocktail glasses vs. martini glasses, but I faintly remember Mr Schumann in his American Bar has it the way I thought, which of course doesn't mean he's right. I don't have the book here - maybe it's a mistake not to have in my office anyway. (As an aside, this is a wonderfully made book with lots of classy drawings - the pictures at the Amazon link don't do it justice. The gentleman's an American bartender in Munich, Germany; he seems to have written it in German first.)

I do have the glasses in The Thin Man before my eyes, but if you're right about the glasses, this might be one of those cases where I put personal preference over period authenticity. In other words, 70 years ago, I'd probably have ordered my Martini in a cocktail glass.

Any sources? Couldn't find any at a casual look at the Drinkboy site.

 

[scotrace]

This deserves its own thread.
Let's see your barware! Cocktail shakers, glasses, stir sticks from all over, serving trays, ice buckets, liquor cabinets, stoppers, corkscrews, etc.!

(And this post should be up there. /\ )

 

[Braxton36]

I might suggest

to resolve this dispute about shapes that you consult a vintage era etiquette book which often has charts of drawings of various glasses. You might be surprised at some of the results. I have an Emily Post from the 20's and it's full of shapes. A later 1940's Esquire Etiquette is more bar-oriented. A Vogue Etiquette from the 1950's is also interesting.

Another good source is old bar guides which have some charts as well.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Don't get me started......

A few pieces of "other types" of Bar-ware than is normally associated with my bistro collecting interests.

A couple of vintage cobalt cocktail shakers, 30's battery operated cigarette lighter, a Chase Bell hop cigarette holder, cobalt Top Hat pick holder, and various glass stirrers.

I'll have to dig around the bar and see what is lurking in back of the cabinet.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

I have an Emily Post from the 20's and it's full of shapes. A later 1940's Esquire Etiquette is more bar-oriented. A Vogue Etiquette from the 1950's is also interesting.

And? Do the one you have or can access show cocktail and/or martini glasses?

 

[jake_fink]

The problem I have with the martini glass (round bottom) is the slop-over. When gesticulating wildly - even mildly - and when, late in the evening, I have a notion to blow the dust off the surface of my dry martini, little tsunamis are created in the bowl of my glass and - plop - I get slop-over.

I've contemplated drinking martinis from Slurpee cups to save the slop, but it seems so wrong on so many levels.

 

[Flitcraft]

Round vs. Triangular .....

Think I'm going to do some field research here- have a coupla martinis in each style glass and report back- hate to do it, but if its in the name of scientific research......

 

[scotrace]

A couple of vintage cobalt cocktail shakers,

Those are fantastic. I love cobalt blue. My shakers are all plain glass or stainless (well, I just have three - two of them leak).

 

[Senator Jack]

From Bartender's Guide by Trader Vic copyright 1947

From Mr.Boston 1962 edition

From what I've seen in illustrations, almost all golden era cocktail guides show the rounded bottom with the label 'Cocktail Glass'. Some even have a triangular glass but with a flat bottom and this is called a cocktail glass too. What I have never come across in any of the older tomes is the label 'martini glass'. The Mr. Boston Book that I have is chronologically the first (in my collection) to specifically illustrate the triangular glass that is the cause of debate. Even in David Embury's 'The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks', the triangular glass does not appear with a label, though there are illustarions of it at chapter headings (odd.)

So somewhere along the line there is change. When did the rounded glass come to be known as a martini glass? When did the cocktail glass come to be known as a martini glass?

Either way, the round bottom glass does not make for a very good vessel for libations. Similarly, and just recently, a bartender tried to serve me a Sidecar in a flat Champagne (Margarita?) glass and I had to stop her. She said she was too short to reach the cocktail glasses above the bar, so she had to use the Champagne glass. I ended up having to climb up on the bar to get the glass for her. What happens with the champagne glass is that when you take that last sip, odds are you're going to get a lapful of cocktail. Bad design at that, and a glass to be avoided.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

When did the rounded glass come to be known as a martini glass?

Typo?

Thanks for the great images.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

Charles Schumann: American Bar

Here's what I meant yesterday. (For a higher resolution click da pic!)

 

[scotrace]

Finally.

Just got 6 of these at a garage sale for 10 cents each.

Just like in The Thin Man!

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Dang it, the great unwashed call cocktails Martinis. That is a decline in propriety right there and it gets my goat every time. I'm running out of goats. Where's my Fog Cutter?
Nice score, Scotrace.

 

[vonwotan]

We used to have these glasses at home when I was growing up. I do wish they had been stored and not given away, but when "re-decorating" every few years mom would give things away if they did not fit the new plan...

Did you find these at an autction? Or, do you know of a good source? I'd loce to find some vintage barware - we are just about to build a bar in our new apartment.

Finally.

Just got 6 of these at a garage sale for 10 cents each.

Just like in The Thin Man!

 

[Senator Jack]

Crate and Barrel now carries these Martini glasses, only they call them Cocktail Glasses. [huh]

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Feraud]

A good thread deserves a bump.

Here is a set of four glasses we bought on the cheap.

I am not sure if these are technically shot glasses or a coctail style. They are on the small size.

 

[CherryRed]

I'm glad to see this thread.:eusa_clap I have often wondered about those martini glasses as I have seen them in many an old movie besides just the thin man.