Page 87 - All About History - Issue 54-17

Last Orders at the Bar

As early as 1865, saloons in Central City,
Colorado featured billiards as part of the fun

FIRE DOWN THE HOLE
It wasn’t just whiskey on the menu
BRANDY

Brandy was invented when Dutch traders sought to lighten
their cargo load by removing the water from distilled wine

good for sipping, especially in the days before ice was readily
B&S – brandy and soda.
available. The most popular brandy cocktail was known as a
for shipping. The resulting cognac soon became a hit and was
GIN

Gin was easy to make in America due to the prominence of
SALOON VITTLES the Tom Collins was so-named by its inventor, who owned one
juniper trees from which the strong alcohol is made. Notably,
The customers who ate a little at the saloon were of a chain of Palace Saloons in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Collins
more likely to stay and drink more, so most kept came up with the idea of mixing gin and lemonade
a little bit of food out the back in order to entice for a most refreshing drink during the 1890s.
them. Some places even went so far as to serve a SHERRY
free lunch with the purchase of one or more drinks,
while others advertised a sandwich and a beer for as Sherry and schnapps were also sipping drinks but
little as a nickel. could be mixed. The Sherry Cobbler, made of sherry and
The contents of these meals — which were really sugar over ice with lemon or orange wedges, was quite
just appetisers and certainly nothing filling — were popular. A Hot Scotch was simply butterscotch schnapps
inexpensive for the house and contained more mixed with hot chocolate. And there was the Allison
than enough salt to make the customer thirsty. Cocktail, a very strong, bitter drink of gin, peppermint
Boiled eggs, cheese, fried oysters, peanuts, potato schnapps and lemon juice.

chips, pretzels, rye bread, smoked meats and
stewed beans usually did the trick and were often WINE
on the menu, becoming staples across the West. Wine was a staple in finer restaurants and also
By spending as little as possible on food, saloon brothels. ‘High wine’ contained more alcohol than most and
owners could still make sure to reap a profit from wine coolers came in the form of a diluted spiced wine called
their paying customers — without losing too much sangaree. Sweeter was the Queen Charlotte, made with claret
from the freeloaders who managed to sneak food or burgundy mixed with raspberry syrup, lime or lemon juice,
without buying anything. and lemon soda. The most disgusting recipe? A Syllabub: wine
Fancier taverns might actually serve daily mixed with milk, sweetened, spiced and served warm.
specials to break up the monotony of the menu. BEER
The Occidental Saloon in Tombstone, where the
notorious Doc Holliday favoured visiting in the If all else failed, there was beer.
1870s, served up a full menu with a considerable Steam beer was brewed in
amount of choice. The buffet included such the California goldfields and said
tantalising dishes as Columbia River salmon, legs to be “highly effervescent”. Many
of lamb, loins of beef or pork, corned beef and saloons had contracts with breweries
cabbage, cream fricassee of chicken, ducks of so could offer beer on tap and would
mutton, suckling pigs and a whole host of pastry advertise by calling themselves
desserts — all for 50 cents. ‘brewery saloons’. Others sold beer by
Erickson’s Bar was one of the best-known the bottle (which were often ceramic © Images courtesy of Jan MacKell Collins
and most elegant drinking establishments rather than glass), while ‘elephant
around Portland, Oregon, in the late 1800s. The buckets’ that served the beverage in a
establishment spanned an entire city block and small pail were also popular.
offered a free “dainty lunch” with “haunches of
beef” and sourdough bread with house-made
mustard, as well as Finnish flatbread with platters
of sausage and Scandinavian cheese. The meal
came with a 16-ounce schooner of beer, all costing
just a nickel.
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