As the Drapers drive home following dinner with Roger and Mona Sterling, an intoxicated Betty, head on Don’s shoulder, says, prophetically, “Lobster Newburg and gimlets should get a divorce. They’re not getting along very well” (season 1, episode 2; “Ladies’ Room”).
But it was the gimlet Betty orders at a bar in October of 1962, with the world on the brink of nuclear war, that really caught our attention. Separated from Don and newly pregnant with their third child, Betty drops Sally and Bobby off at Don’s hotel one evening, then stops at a Manhattan bar on the way home. The Cuban Missile Crisis was intensifying by the hour and no one knew whether they’d be waking up the next day or, if they did, what the world around them might look like. Maybe it was the combination of that existential threat and the gimlet that caused Betty to throw caution to the wind and have sex with a handsome stranger in an office at the bar that night. She never even learns his name.
We do know the name of the gimlet’s creator, however. Sir Thomas Gimlette, a Royal British Navy surgeon from 1879 to 1913 devised the beverage as a way to get sailors to consume enough lime juice to prevent scurvy.
Our gimlet comes courtesy of New York’s ‘21’ Club. If you find yourself needing to meditate (or medicate) in an emergency, sip one slowly, but don’t overdo it.
Vodka Gimlet
COURTESY OF BARTENDER TARA WRIGHT, THE’ 21’ CLUB, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
NOTE: The drink was created using gin and Rose’s Lime Juice. If you switch to fresh lime juice, you’ll need to add simple syrup to balance the tartness of the limes.
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce Rose’s Lime Juice
- Add vodka and Rose’s Lime Juice to a shaker filled with ice.
- Shake and strain into martini glass or pour over ice on the rocks.
YIELD: 1 DRINK
RECIPE FOR DISASTER
Early in the first season of Mad Men, Betty Draper consults a psychiatrist to help her cope with anxiety and nervousness. One of the first things she says to the doctor is, “I guess a lot of people must come here worried about the Bomb” (season 1, episode 2; “Ladies’ Room”).
In the 1960s, that meant the atomic bomb.
The anxiety, fear, and occasional gallows humor that accompanied the threat of nuclear war are skillfully evoked in several episodes of Mad Men, especially when the plot reaches the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962 (season 2, episode 13; “Meditations in an Emergency”).
We first see Don Draper watching the televised address in which President Kennedy tells the nation of a build up of Soviet missile sites in Cuba meant to provide nuclear strike capability against the West. When Don comes to the office the next day, small groups of Sterling Cooper employees are huddled around radios, listening to news bulletins. The atmosphere is tense, the employees distracted. Joan Holloway reminds Don that the office has a civil defense protocol and insists the employees have a right to know.
“Trust me,” replies Don, “I don’t think there will be a point in taking those stairs or diving under a desk.”
In their apartment, Trudy and Pete Campbell discuss an escape plan from New York, which Pete finds ludicrous: “If I’m going to die,” he says, “I want to die in Manhattan.”
The very real threat of nuclear annihilation didn’t stop some, including some in the cookbook business, from having fun with the Cold War. In 1969, the Better Homes and Gardens Guide to Entertaining contained a recipe for “Bomb Shelter Chocolate-Cherry Delight Cake.”
Mixologists had some fun with it, too, and many cocktails were inspired by the lingo of the nuclear age. The B-52, a reference to the U.S. long-range nuclear bomber, contained Kahlúa, Bailey’s Irish Cream, and Grand Marnier. An Atomic Fireball was made with rum, Dr. McGillicuddy’s Fireball Canadian Whisky, and grenadine. An Atomic Tonic was a mixture of Tanqueray gin, Limoncello, St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur, and lime juice. A Nuclear Cocktail, served in a chilled shot glass (think Cold War), was made with peppermint schnapps, vodka, and Grand Marnier. There was even a Cuban Missile Crisis cocktail comprising vodka, Bacardi rum, sugar-free lemonade, and grenadine to be served in an Old Fashioned tumbler.
If you had to die in a nuclear attack, you could at least do it in style.
