Browse Exhibits (1 total)

In the 1950s, Americans used alcohol heavily in their leisure time. Widespread recreational drinking was considered a normal and safe activity for post-World War II Americans (1). Alcohol advertisements from the era show that alcohol was marketed as a signifier of status and sophistication. Alcohol marketing sold not only a beverage or a type of glassware, but the idea of a middle to upper-class, norm-abiding leisurely lifestyle. "Cocktail hour" was a common social ritual (drinks after work, before dinner) for Americans, and consumption of straightforward, no-nonsense cocktails (like the martini) was considered more classy and respectable (1). Moderate to heavy drinking at home played a big part in "the conformist atmosphere of the corporate bureaucracies and suburban enclaves that mushroomed during the 1950s" (2). 

This exhibit explores the way that alcohol is represented in a 1953 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. It includes advertisements for spirits and liqueurs, an article about wine and a blurb about alcohol abuse. Common themes in these materials include the association of certain alcohol products with cultural refinement, wealth, and prestige in the eyes of others. They also stress the geographical/historical roots of the alcohol products (i.e. France for certain spirits, or Kentucky for certain whiskeys) in an attempt to give the company credibility and the product authenticity. In these texts, alcohol and the way it is served represent opportunities for self-expression and social communication of high-class sensibilities. 

1. Rotskoff, Lori. Love on the Rocks : Men, Women, and Alcohol in Post-World War II America, 2002, 195. 

2.  Rotskoff, Lori. Love on the Rocks : Men, Women, and Alcohol in Post-World War II America, 2002, 198.