Actually, there are many references to drink in Twain's work but, as
Lowell discovered, few references to cocktails.  Also, from the late 1860s
to the end of his life, Twain regularly dined out and was often the center
of attention as master of ceremonies at stag dinners honoring eminent
guests.  These affairs usually included 8-10 rounds of toasts in addition
to the wines and liquers drank with and after dinner.  Toasts were
primarily made with champagne.  These evenings were more sober than they
might sound.  Paul Fatout describes them: "Although steady winebibbing was
routine, a banquet did not degenerate to a boozy session of bawdy stories.
Toasts, always paying compliments to the chief guest, were usually
dignified, sometimes pedestrian, generally earnest, occasionally
stirring."  See Fatout ed., _Mark Twain Speaking_ (University of Iowa
Press, 1976) for more on Twain's career as a toastmaster and a collection
of almost 200 MT speeches.

Jon

----------------------
Jon Stephen Miller
Assistant Editor
Walt Whitman Quarterly Review
Department of English
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa  52242-1492
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1.319.335.0592

On Mon, 11 Oct 1999, Lowell EDMUNDS wrote:

> Twain's work contains few (I think) references to drink and he
> himself, as far as I could tell, drank little -  warm whisky in
> the evening before bed (my source is some now forgotten biography).
> The whole period of American Literary Realism is a disappointment
> for one interested in the cocktail.
> I hope that someone will jump all over this message and tell me
> that Twain has 10 references to the Martini.
>
> Lowell Edmunds
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