How to Mix Drinks: Victorian Style

By Sharee Hochman, Intern

            Jerry Thomas’s book “How to Mix Drinks: Or, The Bon-vivant's Companion, containing Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States, Together with the Most Popular British, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish Recipes” dates back all the way to 1862, and contains an array of Victorian style cocktails. At Dalnavert in 2020, we picked out a handful of cocktail recipes that we thought would be well suited to drink in each room.

Kitchen- A Staff Drink

Mulled Wine

Mulled wine is a simple and fast cocktail to make, it requires simple ingredients that are typically found in any kitchen. This means the servants/staff would have had full access to the ingredients needed to make the recipe. Mulled wine can be drunk hot or cold and takes a long time to go bad. This would be perfect for the servants to sip on while continuing their daily tasks. They could even be discrete by pouring it into a tea cup as it could be mistaken for a black or herbal tea.

Ingredients:

To every pint of wine allow:

·         1 Small tumblerful of water

·         Sugar and spice for taste

Directions:

            “In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quantity might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful. Boil the spice in the water until the flavor is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling point, then serve with dry toast or with biscuits. The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port or claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a large proportion of sugar. The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately clean”.

 Dining Room- A Guest Drink

Porter Cup



            The Porter Cup is composed of a variety of tasteful ingredients that will clean your tongue palate. This refreshing cocktail would be perfect for dinner guests to drink in-between meals, to cleanse their palates for the next entrée.

Ingredients:

·         Porter beer

·         Table-ale

·         Brandy

·         Ginger Syrup

·         Sugar

·         Nutmeg

·         Carbonated Soda

Directions:

            “Mix in a tankard or covered jug of bottle of porter, and an equal quantity of table-ale; pour in a glass of brandy, a dessert spoonful of syrup of ginger, add three or four lumps of sugar, and half a nutmeg grated; cover it down, and expose it to the cold for half an hour; just before sending it to the table, stir in a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda. Add the fresh-cut rind of a cucumber”.

Parlor- A Party Drink

Tip-Top Punch



            The Tip-Top Punch is a fruitful party drink mixed with Champagne. This punch would be a great cocktail to serve in the Parlor where Lady Macdonald would entertain her guests. Because this cocktail has the perfect mix of fruity and bubbly, the notes and delicate aromas can be irresistible to guests, making them to want to visit more often.

Ingredients:

·         1 Bottle of Champagne

·         Soda water

·         1 Liquor glass of Curaçao

·         2 Tablespoonful of powdered sugar

·         1 Sliced pineapple

Directions:

            “Put all the ingredients together in a small punch-bowl, mix well, and serve in champagne goblets”.

 Solarium- A Ladies’ Meeting

Peach and Honey



            This smooth mix is a sweet and fruity drink that could be served at room temperature, hot, or cold. The Peach and Honey cocktail would be a perfect substitute for actual tea during an afternoon tea while planning social events. Similar to the servant’s cocktail of Mulled Wine, the Peach and Honey mix could be served in a tea cup and be disguised as orange pekoe tea.

Ingredients:

·         1 Tablespoonful of honey

·         1Wine glass of peach brandy

Directions:

            “Serve one tablespoonful of honey into a glass, and fill it with peach brandy. Stir with spoon”.

 Study- A Men’s Meeting

 Whiskey Cobbler



          This Victorian styled Old Fashion is simple yet heavy-duty. The Whiskey Cobbler has a mix of zest from the sliced oranges and vanilla oak from the whiskey. It is a cocktail that one could sip on during legal and political meetings, perhaps like those between Sir Hugh Macdonald and his associates.

Ingredients:

·         2 Wine glassfuls of whiskey

·         1 Tablespoonful of sugar

·         2 or 3 slices of orange

Directions:

“Combine all ingredients, then fill a tumbler with ice and shake well. You can imbibe through a straw”.

 Veranda- A Summer Drink

Mint Julip



            The Mint Julip is similar to a mojito cocktail, a cool and refreshing beverage to drink on a hot summers day. This fresh cocktail would be perfect to cool off from the sun while on the veranda with some guests, or to enjoy alone.

Ingredients:

·         1 Tablespoonful of sugar

·         2 ½ cups of water

·         3 or 4 sprigs of fresh mint

·         1 ½ wine glass of Cognac brandy

·         Shaved ice

·         Berries

·         Jamaica Rum

·         Orange slices

Directions:

“Take three or four sprigs of fresh mint, and press them well in the sugar and water, until the flavor of the mint is extracted; add one and a half wine-glass of Cognac brandy, and fill the glass with shaved ice, then draw out the sprigs of mint and insert them in the ice with the stems downward, so that the leaves will be above, in the shape of a bouquet; arrange berries, and small pieces of sliced orange on top in a tasty manner, dash with Jamaica rum, and spring white sugar on top. Place in a straw, and you have a julep that is fit for an emperor”.

 Master Bedroom- A Cozy Drink

Apple Toddy



          The Apple Toddy mimics the coziness of a warm apple caramel pie with its cider brandy and baked apple slice. This drink would be perfect to warm up next to in bed on a cold night.

Ingredients:

·         1 Tablespoonful of fine white sugar

·         1 Wine glass full of cider brandy

·         ½ of a baked apple

Directions:

“Fill the glass two thirds full of boiling water, and grate a little nutmeg on top”.

 Daisy’s Room- A ‘Something with a Bit of Spice’ Drink

A Jerry Thomas



          This drink if full of surprises, just like Daisy. It contains a handful of raisins, cloves, allspice, and snakeroot! Once you get to know this spicy cocktail, it’s as much of a surprise as our fencing, pant-wearing Daisy being the daughter of a politician in the 19th Century.

Ingredients:

·         ¼ lb. of raisins

·         2 Ounces of cinnamon

·         1 Sprinkle of snake-root

·         1 Lemon sliced

·         1 Orange sliced

·         1 Ounce of cloves

·         1 Sprinkle of allspice

·         Santa Cruz Rum

Directions:

“Fill decanter with Santa Cruz Rum. Bottle and serve out in pony glasses. As fast as the bitters is used fill up again with rum”.

 Jack’s Room- A ‘Something Light’ Drink

Hot Milk Punch



            This simple and warm drink is very suiting for Jack’s room. Not only is it because he was the youngest member of the family, but because he spent most of his time resting in bed due to battling Juvenile Diabetes. This drink is not too sweet and sugary which will help keep his blood sugar on the level.

Ingredients:

·         1 Tablespoonful of fine white sugar

·         2 Cups of water

·         1 Wine glass of Cognac brandy

·         ½ Cup of Santa Cruz rum

·         Milk

Directions:

“Fill with boiling milk, shake the ingredients well together, and grate a little nutmeg on top”.

 Bathroom- A ‘Something Refreshing’ Drink

Bottled Velvet



          The Bottled Velvet cocktail is just as smooth as it sounds. Its citrus and dry taste from the lemons, verbena leaves, and sherry create the perfect drink to sip in the tub. Verbena leaves were commonly used in foods, teas, and cocktails as it helped with respiratory sicknesses. What could be better than getting over a common cold in a hot bath with a Bottled Velvet in your hand? Speaking of which, Lady MacDonald has a speaking tube in her bathroom which leads to the Kitchen. This way she can ask the Chef or Maid to bring her a Bottled Velvet while she is in the tub.

Ingredients:

·         1 Bottle of Moselle

·         ½ pint of Sherry

·         Lemon peel

·         2 Tablespoonful’s of sugar

·         1 Sprig of verbena

Directions:

“All must be well mixed, and then strained and iced”.

 Attic- A Men’s Night in Drink

Canadian Punch



            It is unknown what the attic in the house was exactly used for, but it is likely Hugh Macdonald wished to turn it into a billiards room. Because the Manitoba Club is just down the street from the house, it is possible the attic billiards room was never realized. If Hugh Macdonald’s wish was granted, a glass of Canadian Punch would pair perfectly while playing pool with friends.

Ingredients:

·         2 Quarts of rye whiskey

·         1 Pint of Jamaica rum

·         6 Lemons sliced

·         1 Pineapple sliced

·         4 Quarts of Water

·         Sugar

Directions:

“Mix well and sweeten to taste, pour over ice”.

Works Cited

Thomas, Jerry. “How to Mix Drinks.” Google Books, Google, 1862.

“Ten Meals to Prepare”

“Ten Meals to Prepare”: The Women Who Laboured at Dalnavert

Ruth O. & Rammy S.

On 21 December 1895, The Winnipeg Tribune ran an article introducing its readers to the newly constructed mansion of Sir Hugh John Macdonald and his family. Titled “A Perfect Home,” the piece described the lavish interiors of Dalnavert in impressive detail. Perfect, too, were the “arrangements for carrying on the work of the house,” particularly the heating system, laundry facilities, and kitchen. When praising the upkeep of the house, the article focused on the rooms themselves, failing to acknowledge the individuals who laboured in them every day. In celebration of International Women’s Day, we want to talk about the hard work and service of the female cooks and maids that actually kept the Macdonald family home in working order.

 When the Macdonald family moved in, they hired two women to live and serve at Dalnavert: the older, more experienced servant worked as the cook, while the younger served as the maid. While we know very little about the women who laboured at Dalnavert, we do know that one servant was named Mary Keith and that she moved into Roslyn Apartments with Lady Macdonald after the death of her husband. And we know that an earlier domestic servant had emigrated from Ireland. Most of the identities of the servants, though, remain buried in the past, along with their stories.

 What we can do is speak to the labour of these women. We know they lived and worked in the servants’ quarters of the home. Working from the back of the house – divided by doors and tucked away servants’ staircases – the cook and maid navigated the mansion as a near-hidden labour force. They could easily work 13 or more hours a day from sunrise to sunset, labouring away at the endless chores of laundry, cooking, and cleaning.

Dalnavert’s kitchen, located at the opposite end of the house from the front entrance.

The steep, narrow servants’ staircase, leading from the kitchen to the second floor.

 Holidays and special events were especially taxing. As one housekeeper wrote in the Winnipeg Tribune (December 28, 1896) regarding Christmas dinner,

Ten meals to prepare beforehand, and not sure where there will be sufficient scraps for tasty rissoles or shepherd’s pie for lunches. It is bad enough to go to bed with three meals on one’s mind, but when it comes to a dozen, the weight is appalling.

 We also know that roughly 75% of women in the domestic service industry in Canada before the First World War came from the United Kingdom. Canada at this time had an immigration policy that drew in “suitable British single women, ages 17 to 35” (Library and Archives Canada). They were single because it was deemed not respectable for married women to labour for a wage—they were supposed to have their own households to manage.

E. Cora Hind (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

 Perhaps to break away from the stereotypes of women’s work, Canadian women were moving away from domestic service—it did pay relatively well, but it was uninspiring work at a time when women were beginning to consider their own rights and independence. Women were seeking alternative occupations in industry and commerce. E. Cora Hind, for example, came to Winnipeg from Ontario in 1882 to seek work with The Manitoba Free Press as a journalist. After the company denied her a position, she learned to use a typewriter and went to work as Hugh John Macdonald’s secretary. In 1901, Hind was appointed as the agricultural editor of the Free Press, becoming the first female journalist in Western Canada. Yet even as a number of women sought employment in new industries, domestic service remained the main employer of female workers.

 As household technology changed, so did the lives of female housekeepers across Canada. Many innovations made domestic labour less time-consuming, less taxing, and less dangerous. The Kitchen Queen stove, for instance, featured a temperature gauge that no longer required the cook to stick her hand in the oven to determine its heat levels. Another innovation was the Warren Rotary Knife Cleaner, which greatly reduced the labour of cleaning knives by hand. Then there was the electric Beattie washer, an innovation that eliminated the time-consuming work of manually washing clothes.

Kitchen Queen Stove temperature gauge, Dalnavert Museum

Electric Beattie washing machine, Dalnavert Museum

Warren’s Knife Cleaner, Dalnavert Museum

 Even as these new machines eased the overall burden of work, they were sometimes seen as problematic in the hands of women. Some argued that these innovations would lead to female idleness due to their ease of use; one female education manual specifically warned against Rotary Knife Cleaners, claiming that their use would make women “inflexible and indifferent” housewives. There was, it seems, a perceived threat to the status quo, fearing what women would do if housework didn’t keep them preoccupied; they might read, enjoy a cup of tea, or fight for the right to vote! And then what would happen to men’s supper?

 Today, household technology continues to reduce the demands of domestic labour. Many of us have dishwashers and washing machines to do the bulk of the work. But does the responsibility of maintaining a household still largely fall upon women? Who does the dishes or the laundry at your house?