A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY. . . A LITTLE BIT OF BOOZE

Majors, 1814-1900, made his fortune as a wagon train freighter who later co-founded the Pony Express. He had nothing to do with booze part of the title. (Cute didn't take this picture, it's courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Cutest and I love to mix culture, local history and, occasionally, cocktails. When the stars align and we can enjoy all three at one sitting, we feel we have hit the trifecta!

Last week our good fortune led us to the Alexander Majors Historic Museum and Barn, situated at 82nd and State Line. Run by National Parks, its goal* is to help preserve the Majors’ property, once 300 acres, and its buildings.

For a small donation at a recent fund-raiser there, we could stroll about the barn, stop at various stations, and sample libations that had come to life in the 1800s. We discovered that the term cocktail became a barroom staple during that pre- and post-Civil War span of time.

In the early 1800s, Jerry Thomas, a resident of New York and a bartender by trade, greatly expanded the world of mixology. In fact, Jerry’s book (bible?) of beverage combinations is still in print today.

Several concoctions of Jerry’s and others’ were set out before us inside the Majors’ horse barn. A large wash tub filled with ice and cups of gelatin first tested our taste buds. Jello shots from the 1800s! From there we stepped over to a table setting forth a decanter of Jerry’s own bitters, then on the next there were cups of brandy cocktails, and so on.

At the top of the hour, the knowledgeable director of the organization shed more light on the early American history of cocktails, the days of prohibition and into today’s modern era. At first cocktails were mostly blended with sugar, fruit, bitters, gum syrup and rum or whiskey.  They often called for a “do.”  of something (dollop) and Arabic gum for smoothness.  We bought copies of the recipe book – let us know if you’d like to know how to make a champagne cobbler, a black stripe, a badminton, or a Tom and Jerry (5 lbs sugar, 12 eggs, ½ small glass of Jamaica rum, 1.5 tsp of cinnamon and ½ do. cloves, ½ do. all-spice. Whoa. Is this a drink or dessert?) Use the arrow > to see a bit of the history.

When we returned home, we felt like we had achieved our journalistic goal of the evening by gathering oh-so-insightful information for us, and another blog, while having a good time.

We do hope this arduous research inspires you to seek new and different places for food, beverages, and adventure.  The Majors Museum has several more programs coming up soon, from Buffalo Bill day to explorations of indigenous food, coffee, rum and root beer – you can find info at https://wornallmajors.org/events/. 

Cheers!

*Their official mission reads: "to preserve, protect, and maintain the John Wornall and Alexander Majors historic houses and their collections in an intentional, inclusive, and ethical way, and to preserve them so that future generations can have a tangible connection to nineteenth century Kansas City and beyond; and interpret and present the houses, the lives of all those who lived and labored in them, and the many important events and controversies of the Civil War era, in an honest, inclusive, and accurate way through public programming that engages and informs diverse audiences about our shared past and its legacies." (Cutest wanted this in here because she's afraid the wording is going to disappear.)