The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-01-22
In
New York
ny PAUL HARRISON

find New Workers. recounting ex-
periences of finding scotch in their
old fashioneds and gin in their
Manhattans, and wondering the
while what has happened to the
bartenders of good old prohibition
days.
Well, those bartenders and their
pre- prohibition predecessors are
still on the job. But their ranks
have been augmented by q few
thousand ex-soda jerkers and 3.2
beer dispensers who figure that q
cherry Is the most important fea-
ture Of any cocktail, and that side
cars ought to be vigorously shaken
In fact, the general bewilder-
ment of many Of the bartenders to
date very we'll might serve as q
prohibitionist argument on the
efficacy of the noble experiment.
Thousands Of these young men, 1t
is quite evident, never took q
drink in their lives.
Bar Examinations
This shortage Of capable COM
FOUNDERS Is being corrected,
though, through mass education
enterprises variously called bar
tenders institutes, schools, and
even colleges. There is only one
institute. and 1t requires six weeks
study before offering a bar exam
nation and O diploma >. The
Bartenders and Barmaids' School,
on the other hand, believes that
twelve classes of an hour each
should make q competent mixolo-
gist Of anybody. Such brief train
ing has allowed the school to turn
out more than q thousand bar
tenders in the last two months.
The barmaids have a still easier
time of It,. Most Of them, accord
ing to Chancellor Dave Stone
("King of the Bartenders") are
chorus girls, or girls who were dis
appointed in an ambition to be
chorus girls. There also are few
telephone operators and stenog-
raphers. All the graduates SO far
(says Chancellor Stone) have got
jobs and find the tips are large and
frequent.
They are symbolic OF the
feminist cOnqucsts of Broad.
way night life. The Club
Richman, for example, fea.
buHCS ub 4AEA ASN0Ne 0hA
mattresses, girl barmaids, girl
bartcndcrs and girl musicians.
Other places are catching
onto the idea.
She's q Good Mixer
Feminine bartenders are quite
an innovation, made possible by
grace of the New York liquor
law which prescribes table-drink-
ing and thus spares the people be-
hind the mahogany the extra-cur-
ricular duty Of debating with their
customers on the prospects of the
Yankees next season BY all
odds the most celebrated woman
bartender in town Is red-headed
Miss Dorothy C0wles, who pre-
sides at Billy Gallagher's, on Sew
enth Avenue. Having had expert
ence in a speakeasy, she rather
misses the old-time camaraderie,
together with its gossip on sports
and politics. She has a man assist
ant and can mix rings around
him. And she says she knows how
I to make 900 drinks, from q Green
Angel to a Nagasaki Fizz. Miss
Cowles' father and grandfather
| WCLC OhkLChuCIb IA Lib OHC
has spent nine years at the trade
in this country.
The Domestic Side
Many Of the students at the var
ious schools here never will be pro-
fessional bartenders. For instance.
about 200 Of Chancellor Stones
1000 graduates were buffers and
Wallets sent by their employers to
learn the inner points of house
hold Mythology.
In addition, classes are conduct
ed for hosts and housewives. The
largest co-ed cocktail academy Ii
the Midtown Wine and Liquor
School, on Madison avenue. There
are two women on It's faculty
Head Mistress Margaret Duffy and
Professor Lucy Kilbourne, and
they give lectures on what to mis-
an well as how to mix them
The most din cult part OF their job
they shy, Ia trying 20 convince stu.
dents that Sin IL not a necessary
ingredient OF every alcoholic liba.
tiOn. No th0y give little talks OF
the use OF bourbon, bacardi. coin.
treaii, calvadOs ana the like. witt
q couple OF easy lessons on the
places OF wines on tho Americas
menu.
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