Make Mine a Gin and Tonic
From 1920 to 1933 the sale of alcohol in the United States was illegal. This period of time was called prohibition.
The American Temperance League was behind this bit of controversial legislation. They made the evils of drink the subject of many a sermon all over the country.
However they severely underestimated the determination and the pluck of men and women from all walks of live to have a drink whenever they wanted and no bible-bashing fanatics were going to get in the way.
In the movies it is always portrayed as a rather jolly time with car chases through woods, shoot outs with rival gangs, raucous laughter and people dancing on tables in underground clubs behind locked doors then running out when the police arrived.
Rum running and bootlegging had existed for years as a means of avoiding paying tax on the import and production of liquor and now it became a much bigger concern. Rum running was a way of transporting rum or moonshine into the country by ship and boot legging was the way of transporting it over land.
Moonshine or white lightening as it was sometimes known had a romantic aura because of the dangers of producing it and even the dangers of drinking it. You could test if the moonshine was drinkable by pouring some into a spoon and lighting it – if it burnt a yellow flame it was dangerous to drink but a blue flame gave it a green light. Stories of exploded stills in the backwoods, far away from the long arm of the law, were common. Moonshine is any distilled spirit made in an unlicensed still. A distilled spirit is made by yeast fermenting a sugar to produce alcohol, which is then extracted by means of distillation. We all learnt about distilling in school if only we had been paying attention!
Bathtub gin sounds even more fun. This is any style of homemade spirit produced by an amateur. Many variations were created, by mixing cheap grain alcohol with various flavourings, including juniper berries.
Things got quite heated during this period with rival gangs taking over districts and being the only ones allowed to sell alcohol from the back of their cars or in sheds deep in the woods. Getting a drink was a serious business.
A plethora of gin-based cocktails were born to disguise the terrible taste of the gin. Names such as Gin Fizz, Slings, Sours, Rickys, Tom Collins, White Lady and even a Salty dog are still drunk today even though there is no need to hide the taste. Whiskey needed to be aged but gin was good to go immediately, which made it the most popular tipple.
Mrs Julius Walsh JR, of St Louis Missouri, allegedly held the first cocktail party, in May 1917. 50 people attended the one-hour event until lunch was announced at 1p.m.
Cocktail parties were a great invention. You could entertain in a set time frame with no messy comings and goings. The invitations would clearly state arrival and departure times. Sometimes a few close friends would have a further invitation to stay on to dine. Or the hosts themselves could be going to dine at another house. Some of the guests may have attended several such parties in one evening. A limited menu of drinks would be served with a few canapés. In this scenario it would be possible to invite many more than you would be comfortable having to a sit down meal.
The constitution was eventually amended and alcohol went on public sale again. During prohibition there was of course less suffering from the effects of alcohol on the body.
Apart from the immediate and obvious one, which is, having a ‘hang over’ there are all the hidden ramifications such as damage to internal organs and dehydration making our skin look and feel dreadful.
The first sip of an alcoholic drink affects the body and the mind. You may find yourself feeling more sociable with basic functions such as walking and talking becoming more difficult. You may talk too much or become morose.
Alcohol alters your brain chemistry, which can lead to depression. Heavy drinking is associated with anxiety and debilitating depression.
The cell membranes are highly permeable to alcohol so once it is in the blood stream it moves rapidly into nearly every biological tissue.
Drinking at levels that are obviously stupid or a sign of addiction, lead to memory loss, inability to learn, slow reactions, aching muscles and joints, a tendency to bruise more easily and much, much more.
Alcohol is a diuretic which accelerates a lack of body fluids resulting in dry, brittle hair and nails, both of which are made from keratinised cells which rely on moisture to hold them together in the layers that form the nail plate and hair shaft. Your skin quickly becomes dull and wrinkled if there is not enough moisture around to reach it.
I am not going to quote government guide lines for alcoholic consumption here, mainly because they seem to change weekly, or extol the benefits of a regular glass of red or white wine (the colour choice being dependent on who is writing the article) because its entirely up to the individual to decide what their intake is. But if you are fighting the signs of ageing with expensive lotions and even some cosmetic work then you may want to take into consideration the damage that drinking could be doing to your appearance.
The ubiquitous hang over is actually a collection of symptoms that occur after over consumption of alcohol. These include, but are not limited to, a pounding headache, a parched tongue and a queasy stomach. Variables that effect your likelihood of having a hang over include the time of day, the type of alcohol, lack of sleep, whether or not you are eating at the same time and whether or not you stay well hydrated.
If you are eating at the same time as drinking then less alcohol gets into the blood as the alcohol is absorbed more slowly and gets metabolised by the liver and stomach before reaching the blood stream.
If you alternate each alcoholic drink with a glass of water then you are more likely to stay hydrated enough to offset some of the effects.
When you wake in the morning feeling rotten do not reach for a cup of coffee, as the caffeine it contains is a diuretic and will only serve to make you even more dehydrated. Avoid orange juice because its acidity makes your stomach feel worse.
Alcohol is also used in the beauty world and you will find industrial alcohol in some cosmetics, mainly toners and products to aid skin conditions such as acne. These kinds of alcohol act as an inflammatory and are irritating and drying to the skin. Avoid cosmetics that contain SD Alcohol, Methanol, and Isopropyl alcohol if they are listed in the first five ingredients. Small amounts are ok for most people but those with sensitive skin may find them irritating at all levels.
The myth that alcohol can warm you up is just that along with the hot toddy helping cure a cold myth. Shame, but both have been scientifically proven to not make a difference. What it does do is relax you so you are less anxious about being cold or ill which can be dangerous so avoid that brandy if you are suffering or stuck on a snow covered mountain top.
Happy Trails, Readers, Happy Trails.
First Published November 2011 By The Dart
