Prohibition: The Lipstick Cocktail

What cocktail is two parts champagne, one part gin, one part orange juice, a dash of grapefruit, and a trickle of cherry brandy? Why it is none other than a cocktail invented by the New York socialist Barney Gallant in honor of New York Times journalist Lipstick Liz, or so was her signature name on all her columns.

Who was Lipstick Liz?

According to the author Joshua Zietz in his novel, Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern, Lipstick Liz was a woman journalist. She wrote for magazines and newspapers like Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. Her real name was Lois Long. She wrote about places to drink and the adventures of the new type of women called flappers. They wore their hair bobbed and their style of dress was short and simple. A small dress without any corset, no petticoats, shoulders and chest exposed, and their dress never touched their feet. The iconic signature style of the flapper was their stockings rolled up to their knees. It was quite a scandalous time to dress like that considering most women of the older generation still dressed like the Edwardian period.

Prohibition and Popularity

It was the constant writing of her time in the nightlife of the booming metropolis known as New York City that she became an icon of the time. She wrote about all the nightclubs and popular places where young flapper women would dance and party all night. Though she did not include any pictures or photographs of herself or where she was in her column, many people assumed Lipstick was a man or a woman and often tried to use the nickname to get into clubs or score free eats in restaurants.

Of course, what she was writing was often scandalous back then because during the First World War, the United States made alcohol illegal. But it didn't stop anyone from knowing where to go for a speakeasy, a type of illegal bar where jazz music played, people smoked their cigarettes and drank orange blossoms, a drink with gin and orange juice, and danced until they couldn't Charleston no more.

The Lipstick cocktail is in honor of this marvelous trail blazer that as one would describe it, is as sassy as Lipstick Liz herself. A wallop of sass and a dash of frivolity, this cocktail is the perfect 1920s cocktail that would make a great occasion at your next Gatsby New Year's Eve party.

For Your Pleasure

If you would like to buy Joshua's book and read about flappers and all the iconic women of the time such as Lipstick Liz, Clara Bell, and Zelda Fitzgerald check out the links below this article for his book available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.

Available on Amazon for Kindle or Paperback.

Also available at Barnes & Noble for paperback and the Nook Book.