TIME TO SHAKE THINGS UP

A er the horrors of the First World War, the party spirit of the Jazz Age was the perfect tonic for the war-weary populations of Europe and America. In the States, where alcohol production was banned under Prohibition, being able to disguise the foul taste of illicitly produced gin by mixing it with sweet ! avourings and fruit juices was essential. Cue cocktails and the cocktail shaker. The leading silversmiths of Europe and America, including Georg Jensen, Asprey and the International Silver Company of Meriden, Connecticut, started producing cocktail shakers, o"en in novelty shapes and comprising shot glasses, stirrers and spoons. The Zeppelin, # rst produced in 1926 and inspired by Count Zeppelin’s airships that were used in the war and then thrilled the world in the 1920s, was one of the # nest examples of this golden age of the cocktail shaker. It all ended when the Second World War broke out and metalware companies switched to making artillery shells.

The JA Henckels Zeppelin travelling cocktail bar set cleverly comprises a shaker, juicer, four shot cups, a flask, a funnel, a nut dish, a corkscrew and four spoons. This example is from Pullman Gallery, £POA.