”Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933.” (Wikipedia)
So how did Emily Post deal with Prohibition when she published Etiquette in 1922?
“As soon as the guests are seated and the first course put in front of them, the butler goes from guest to guest on the right hand side of each, and asks ‘Apollinaris or plain water’ and fills the goblet accordingly. In the same way he asks later before pouring wine: ‘Cider, sir?’ ‘Grape fruit cup, madam?’ Or in a house which has the remains of a cellar, ‘Champagne?’ or ‘Do you care for whisky and soda, sir?’
But the temperature and service of wines which used to be an essential detail of every dinner have now no place at all. Whether people will offer frappéd cider or some other iced drink in the middle of dinner, and a warmed something else to take the place of claret with the fish, remains to be seen. A water glass standing alone at each place makes such a meager and untrimmed looking table that most people put on at least two wine glasses, sherry and champagne, or claret and sherry, and pour something pinkish or yellowish into them. A rather popular drink at present is an equal mixture of white grape-juice and ginger ale with mint leaves and much ice. Those few who still have cellars, serve wines exactly as they used to, white wine, claret, sherry and Burgundy warm, champagne ice cold; and after dinner, green mint poured over crushed ice in little glasses, and other liqueurs of room temperature. Whisky is always poured at the table over ice in a tall tumbler, each gentleman ‘saying when’ by putting his hand out. The glass is then filled with soda or Apollinaris.”
In From Russia with Love (1957) SPECTRE assassin, Red Grant, reads The Old Reliable (PG Wodehouse). He must have read Etiquette too. He orders Chianti when dining with Bond. James says “red wine with fish. Well, that should have told me something.”
