Drinks by theme

1920s Drinks: Cocktails and Non-Alcoholic Recipes

1920s drinks from the books of the decade: the Sidecar, White Lady and Monkey Gland of London and Paris bars, and Prohibition’s soda-fountain drinks.

Updated October 31, 2026

A Sidecar, a Monkey Gland and a Gimlet on a zinc bar top against ochre Art Deco panels.

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A pale amber Sidecar in a small stemmed cocktail glass, beside half a lemon and a decanter of brandy.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

Sidecar, Brandy, Cointreau and Lemon

Harry MacElhone’s Sidecar, printed in London in late 1923 or after: brandy, Cointreau and lemon in equal parts, sharper and more orange-led than the brandy-heavy version poured today.

A tall highball glass of deep purple grape juice and soda water with a little cracked ice, beside a small bottle of soda water.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 3 min total

Grape Juice Highball, the Prohibition Soft Drink

A cup of purple grape juice, a teaspoon of syrup, a little cracked ice and a top of soda water: the highball as a 1920 temperance hostess served it.

A small heavy-based tumbler of faintly hazy pale greenish-yellow Gimlet beside a corked clear bottle of lime cordial and a glass stirring rod on worn pine against white plaster.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

The Gimlet as MacElhone Printed It (1923)

Plymouth gin and Rose’s lime juice cordial in equal halves, stirred and served in the same glass, iced only if you like: the Gimlet as Harry MacElhone printed it in London in 1923, with a note that it was popular in the Navy.

What did people drink in the 1920s?

In London and Paris, short cold cocktails of gin or brandy with citrus, a French liqueur or vermouth: the Sidecar, the Monkey Gland, the White Lady, the Gimlet. In the United States, dry from January 17, 1920, the law-abiding drank at the soda fountain, from egg phosphates to grape juice highballs, and mixed ginger ale punch for their parties.

The bar books of the decade were printed abroad. Harry MacElhone, signing himself “Harry” of Ciro’s, published his ABC of Mixing Cocktails in London in 1923. Its recipes are mostly fractions of a glass: the Sidecar of brandy, Cointreau and lemon in equal parts; the Monkey Gland of gin and orange juice, marked as his own; a White Lady with no gin in it at all. By 1927 he owned Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, and his Barflies and Cocktails of that year has the Boulevardier in a single line.

The dry side had its own trade. A New York soda-fountain monthly counted “no less than 1,000 new fountains” put in across Cleveland in twelve months, and its reporter thought the fountain had “succeeded in a measure to the place filled in this respect by the saloon.” Bertha Stockbridge’s What to Drink (1920) gave the hostess grape juice highballs, egg phosphates and a ginger ale punch, filed under “Non-Alcoholic Cocktails.”

The decade ended with the tomato. In January 1929 a Broadway cocktail of equal parts tomato juice and gin was drunk against the next morning’s headache; by 1930 a Washington hotel served a tomato juice cocktail with no gin at all.

Most recipes here come from books of the decade; the older classics it still poured, and our alcohol-free versions, say so on their own pages.

It has succeeded in a measure to the place filled in this respect by the saloon.

The Soda Fountain (New York), January 1921, on the Cleveland soda fountain

What cocktails did they drink in the 1920s?

Short, cold and shaken, made with gin or brandy, citrus and a liqueur or vermouth. The London and Paris bar books of MacElhone and his rivals are the record of what was poured.

A coral-orange Monkey Gland in a stemmed cocktail glass, with a halved orange and a small bottle of absinthe behind it.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

Monkey Gland, Gin and Orange Cocktail

Gin and orange juice in equal parts with grenadine and a dash of absinthe, named in 1923 after a surgeon who grafted monkey glands into aging men.

A cloudy pale-yellow White Lady in a small stemmed cocktail glass, with a cocktail shaker and strainer on a white tablecloth.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

White Lady, Brandy and Mint Cocktail

Harry MacElhone’s earliest printed White Lady had no gin: two-thirds Cointreau with a little brandy and crème de menthe, and no citrus at all.

A pale, lightly sparkling South Side in a medium tumbler without ice, with fresh mint sprigs and a halved lemon beside it.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

South Side, Gin, Lemon and Mint

Gin, lemon, sugar and fresh mint, shaken and topped with soda in a tumbler: the South Side as Harry MacElhone printed it in 1923, before the gangster stories.

A deep red Boulevardier in a small stemmed cocktail glass on a café table, beside a mixing glass and bar spoon.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

Boulevardier, Bourbon and Campari Cocktail

Bourbon, Campari and Italian vermouth in equal thirds: Erskine Gwynne’s drink, recorded in a single line of Barflies and Cocktails in Paris in 1927.

A small stemmed glass of clear amber-copper Bronx cocktail with a strip of orange peel stands beside half an orange and a curl of peel on gray-veined white marble against an oxblood wall.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

Bronx, Gin, Two Vermouths and Orange

Equal thirds of gin, French and Italian vermouth, with orange bitters, a spoonful of orange juice and a squeeze of peel: the Bronx as William Boothby printed it in 1908.

A cloudy off-white Aviation with a faint lavender tint in a small rounded stemmed glass, beside a metal shaker and a lemon half on a pale limestone counter against an ochre wall.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

The Aviation as Ensslin Printed It (1916)

Two-thirds gin to one-third lemon juice, with two dashes of maraschino and two of crème de violette, shaken with cracked ice and strained: the Aviation as Hugo Ensslin printed it in New York, before the violette went missing.

A small conical stemmed glass of clear amber-red Americano with lemon peel on the rim stands beside a cut-glass mixing jug with a bar spoon and a whole lemon on an ochre marble café table.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

Americano, Vermouth and Bitter

Turin vermouth sharpened with a spoonful of bitter, a few drops of cognac and Angostura, stirred and served short with lemon peel: the earliest printed Americano, from an Italian bar guide of about 1920.

A heavy tumbler of translucent ruby-red Negroni over large ice cubes with a half slice of orange stands beside a whole orange and a paring knife on a dark board, on gray terrazzo before a teal wall.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

Negroni, Gin, Campari and Vermouth

Equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, stirred over ice with an orange slice: a modern recipe for the Negroni, with what the record shows about Count Negroni’s Florence.

A cloudy pink-orange cocktail with light froth in a rounded stemmed glass beside half an orange on pale marble.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

Ward Eight, Rye, Orange and Lemon from 1922

Rye whisky shaken hard with orange and lemon juice and a teaspoon of grenadine: the Ward Eight as a London bar book printed it in 1922, with its own story of where the name came from.

A clear pale gold drink in a V-shaped cocktail glass beside a small peeled white onion on a light oak table.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

Yellow Rattler, the 1922 Martini Shaken with an Onion

Gin and sweet vermouth with a dash of orange bitters, shaken with a small bruised white onion and strained: the Yellow Rattler, which a 1922 London bar book called a cowboys’ cocktail.

A shallow coupe of clear red-amber cocktail beside an orange slice on a dark polished wood bar against a deep green wall.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

H.P.W. Cocktail, Harry Payne Whitney’s Gin and Vermouth

Two parts sweet vermouth to one of gin, shaken with a slice of orange and strained: the H.P.W., made at a New York club for the millionaire Harry Payne Whitney, as a 1922 London bar book told it.

A V-shaped cocktail glass of clear pale amber drink with a red cherry, beside curled orange peel on a pale marble counter.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

R.A.C. Cocktail, the Royal Automobile Club’s Gin and Two Vermouths

Gin with French and Italian vermouth, a dash each of grenadine and orange bitters, stirred and served with a cherry: the house cocktail of London’s Royal Automobile Club, credited to Fred Faecks, 1914.

A small stemmed glass of clear, deep golden-amber Murderer's Cocktail beside a glass mixing jug with a long bar spoon and a green apple on a zinc bar against a dark green wall.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 5 min total

Murderer’s Cocktail, Calvados, Swedish Punch and Rum from 1927

Calvados, Swedish punch and rum in equal thirds, with bitters and absinthe: the Murderer’s Cocktail printed in Barflies and Cocktails in Paris in 1927, with a joke about fire extinguishers.

A tall glass of very dark brown Black Bottom Cooler over ice with a tan foam head, beside a small unlabeled dark bottle and an empty champagne coupe on a marble table.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 3 min total

Black Bottom Cooler, Champagne, Cola and Stout from 1927

Champagne, cola and stout in equal thirds, all well iced: the Black Bottom Cooler that Barflies and Cocktails credited to the jazzband impresario Billy Arnold in Paris in 1927.

What did people drink instead of alcohol during Prohibition?

Soda-fountain drinks: phosphates, juice with soda, orangeade and lemonade, with punch bowls of tea, citrus and ginger ale at home. Every drink in this group is alcohol-free.

More alcohol-free drinks of the 1920s, and older ones, are in Vintage Mocktails: 1920s Non-Alcoholic Drinks and Older.

A tall straight glass of pale yellow, foamy lemon egg phosphate with a dusting of grated nutmeg on its white head.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 45 min total

Lemon Egg Phosphate, the Soda Fountain Sour

Lemon syrup, a whole egg and half a teaspoon of acid phosphate, shaken with ice and topped with soda: the soda fountain’s sour drink from What to Drink (1920).

A plain glass bowl of pale amber ginger ale punch with a mostly submerged block of ice and thin orange slices, beside four small glass punch cups, two filled.

Always alcohol-free

Punches & Cups · 50 min total

Ginger Ale Punch for a Dry Party

Weak tea, sugar, orange and lemon juice over a block of ice, topped with ginger ale and sparkling water at the last minute: a Prohibition party punch.

A glass jug of cloudy orange orangeade beside two tall glasses of it, a halved orange and strips of orange rind.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 1 hr 25 min total

Fresh Orangeade, Juice, Sugar and Water

Orange rind steeped in hot syrup, fresh orange juice and cold water: the real orangeade a 1921 state chemist demanded, from a 1924 London drinks book.

A large tumbler of pale pink lemonade over shaved ice with a lemon slice on top and a paper straw, beside a small bottle of red strawberry syrup.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 2 hr total

American Lemonade, as London Made It

Lemon juice and sugar over shaved ice, homemade strawberry syrup and a fill of soda water, with a straw: a 1924 London book’s idea of American lemonade.

A fluted tumbler of pale, fizzing lime rickey with cracked ice and a piece of lime stands beside a metal hand squeezer and two squeezed lime halves on a zinc counter.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 40 min total

Lime Rickey, the Soda Fountain Rickey Without Gin

A whole lime squeezed over pineapple syrup, then cracked ice and a fill of soda water: the alcohol-free lime rickey from a San Francisco druggists’ journal of 1912.

A tall straight-sided glass of pale strawberry-pink drink with two ice cubes on pale linen, beside a small dish of three strawberries and half a lemon, against a cream wall.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 4 hr 15 min total

Persian Sherbet, Strawberry, Lemon and Orange-Flower Water from 1924

Ripe strawberries mashed and left on ice for four hours with lemon, lemon-rubbed sugar, orange-flower water and cold water, then strained: an alcohol-free sherbet from a 1924 London book of home drinks.

What did 1920s bartenders mix for non-drinkers?

Proper cocktails without the liquor. Robert Vermeire’s London bar book of 1922 gave them a chapter of their own: citrus shaken with bitters, fresh berries mashed to order, and a sour named for the dry campaigner Pussyfoot Johnson.

A cloudy golden-orange drink with white foam and mint in a stemmed wine glass beside a lemon on pale marble.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 5 min total

Pussyfoot Cocktail, the 1922 Bartender’s Mocktail

Lemon and orange juice shaken with a little syrup, mint and egg white: the alcohol-free cocktail a London bartender named in 1922 for the dry campaigner Pussyfoot Johnson.

A cloudy pale orange drink with a little froth in a wine glass beside a cut lemon half on pale marble against a gray wall.

Alcohol-free version

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 5 min total

Florida Cocktail, a Lemon, Orange and Bitters Mocktail from 1922

Lemon and orange juice shaken with a few dashes of bitters and only as much syrup as you want: the sharp Florida Cocktail from the alcohol-free chapter of a 1922 London bar book.

A clear amber drink with fine bubbles and a cherry in a wine glass, lemon peel on its rim, beside a red apple on oak.

Alcohol-free version

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 5 min total

Jersey Cocktail, Non-Alcoholic Cider and Bitters from 1922

Non-alcoholic cider stirred with gum syrup and bitters, strained into a wine glass with a cherry and a squeeze of lemon peel: an old-style cocktail without the spirit, from a 1922 London bar book.

A clear coral-pink drink with three floating rose petals in a shallow stemmed glass beside two strawberries on pale linen.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 5 min total

Rose Cocktail, a Strawberry, Pineapple and Orange-Flower Mocktail from 1922

Strawberries, pineapple, orange and lemon shaken with orange-flower water and strained into a small wine glass under rose petals: the alcohol-free Rose Cocktail of a 1922 London bar book.

A clear ruby-red drink in a stemmed wine glass beside red currants on a light oak table against a pale stone wall.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 5 min total

Summer Cocktail, Shaken Red Berry Juice from 1922

Currants, raspberries and strawberries mashed with sugar, the juice shaken with lemon and water and strained into a small wine glass: an alcohol-free cocktail from a 1922 London bar book.

A brown fizzy drink with a large ice lump and lemon-peel spiral in a heavy tumbler beside a partly peeled lemon on zinc.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 3 min total

Boston Cooler, Sarsaparilla and Ginger Ale from 1922

Equal parts sarsaparilla and ginger ale over a lump of ice and a whole lemon peel in a large tumbler, drunk while it fizzes: a soft cooler from a 1922 London bar book.

What did they drink for a hangover in the 1920s?

An egg yolk in Worcester sauce in a London bar, and by 1929 tomato juice, with or without gin. The tomato juice cocktail went on to open many a dinner.

A whole orange egg yolk with pepper and salt rests in dark brown sauce in a small stemmed glass beside a cruet of malt vinegar on a polished wooden bar against a dark green wall.

Always alcohol-free

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 3 min total

Prairie Oyster, Egg Yolk in Worcester Sauce from 1920s London

A whole egg yolk in Worcester sauce and malt vinegar, with red pepper and salt on top: the Prairie Oyster of Harry MacElhone’s London bar book of the 1920s, with no alcohol in it.

A frosted stemmed glass of opaque tomato-red cocktail stands between an open unlabeled tin and a clear gin bottle on a dark wooden bar against a green wall.

Cocktails & Mixed Drinks · 3 min total

Gin and Tomato Juice, the 1929 Hangover Cocktail

Equal parts tomato juice and gin, shaken cold: the Broadway cocktail of January 1929, drunk against the next morning’s headache ten years before the name Bloody Mary turns up in print.

Two plain tumblers of deep red tomato juice stand beside a half-full glass jug and a white dish of grated horseradish on white linen against a pale-yellow wall.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 1 hr 5 min total

Dodge Hotel Tomato Juice Cocktail from 1930

Chilled tomato juice with salt, horseradish and a little sugar: the alcohol-free tomato juice cocktail that a Washington hotel said it served more than any other recipe on its menu in 1930.

Smooth brick-red tomato cocktail in a heavy pressed-glass footed tumbler beside a half-full glass jug and a silver teaspoon on a polished walnut sideboard against a cream wainscot wall.

Always alcohol-free

Sodas & Soft Drinks · 2 hr 25 min total

Aunt Sammy’s Tomato Cocktail, a 1931 First Course

Fresh tomatoes cooked with celery and green pepper, sieved, then sharpened with catsup, onion and horseradish and chilled: the USDA’s 1931 first course in a small glass.

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