“Drinking” has, of course, always been a popular sport among the
members of the better classes of society, but never has the
enthusiasm for this pastime been so great in America as since the
advent of “prohibition.” Gentlemen and ladies who never before
cared much for “drinking” have now given up almost all other
amusements in favor of this fascinating sport; young men and
debutantes have become, in the last few years, fully as expert in
the game as their parents. In many cities “drinking” has become
more popular than “bridge” or dancing and it is predicted that,
with a few more years of “prohibition,” “drinking” will supersede
golf and baseball as the great American pastime.
The effect of this has been to change radically many of the
fundamental rules of the sport, and the influence on the
etiquette of the game has been no less marked. What was
considered “good form” in this pastime among our forefathers now
decidedly _démodé_, and the correct drinker of 1910 is as
obsolete and out of date in the present decade as the
“frock-coat.”
The game today is divided into (a) formal and (b) informal
drinking. “Formal drinking” is usually played after dinner and is
more and more coming to take the place of charades,
sleight-of-hand performances, magic lantern shows, “dumb crambo,”
et cetera, as the parlor amusement _par excellence_. “Formal
drinking” can be played by from one to fifteen people in a house
of ordinary dimensions; for a larger number it is generally
better to provide a garage, a large yard, and special police,
fire and plate glass insurance. The game is played with glasses,
ice, and a dozen bottles of either whisky or gin.
The sport is begun by the host’s wife, who says, “How would you
all like to play a little bridge?” This is followed by silence.
Another wife then says, “I think it would be awfully nice to play
a little bridge.” One of the men players then steps forward and
says “I think it would be awfully nice to have a little drink.”
An “It” is then selected—always, by courtesy, the host. The “It”
then says, “How would you all like to have a little drink?” The
men players then answer in the affirmative and the “It’s” wife
says, “Now Henry dear, please—remember what happened last time.”
The “It” replies, “Yes, dear,” and goes into the cellar, while
the “It’s” wife, after providing each guest with a glass, puts
away the Dresden china clock, the porcelain parrot. and the gold
fish globe.
Sides are chosen—usually with the husbands on one “team” and the
wives on the other. The purpose of the game is for the
“husbands’, team” to try to drink up all the “It’s” liquor before
the “wives’ team” can get them to go home.
When the “It” returns with the liquor he pours out a portion for
each player and at a given signal all drink steadily for several
minutes. The “It’s” wife then says, “Now—how about a few rubbers
of bridge?” She is immediately elected “team captain” for the
rest of the evening. It is the duty of the “team captain” to
provide cracked ice and water, to get ready the two spare
bedrooms, to hold Wallie Spencer’s hand, to keep Eddie Armstrong
from putting his lighted cigaret ends on the piano, and to break
up the party as soon as possible. The game generally ends when
(1) the liquor is all gone, (2) the “It” (or three guests) have
passed “out,” (3) Wallie Spencer starts telling about his war
experiences. “Informal” drinking needs, of course, no such
elaborate preparations and can be played anywhere and any time
there is anything to drink. The person who is caught with the
liquor is “It,” and the object of the game is to take all the
liquor away from the “It” as soon as possible. In order to avoid
being “It,” many players sometimes resort to various low
subterfuges, such as sneaking down alone to the club locker-room
during a dance, but this practise is generally looked upon with
great disfavor—especially by that increasingly large group of
citizens who are unselfishly devoting their lives to the cause of
a “dry America” by consuming all of the present rapidly
diminishing visible supply.