Paper parasols as cocktail garnishes -> (*very* OT)
Garry J. Vass
Let's get something straight from the beginning: I'm a gin & tonic man.
Occasionally, I'll take a B-52 or a Moscow Mule if there's magic in the
night; but generally I stick to the straight-and-narrow. It's the
dale-walkers in my life who venture out into such cocktails as Pina Coladas,
Velvet Hammers, and the like.
By the way, did you folks know that the etymology of "Highball", as in the
cocktail, comes from a railroad signal meaning to accelerate? Or so they
say. Never mind. The subject line says this post is OT...
So there I was in one of those poolside bars where the stools are in the
water - pissed as a newt - daydreaming about indecent subjects and sinful
acts; and I notice that my companion's Pina Colada has a little paper
parasol in it as a garnish.
This is nothing particularly special, we've all seen them. Wooden ribs and
haft, paper boss - pastel coloured, and they open and close like an
umbrella.
Where did they come from? Who first dreamed up the idea to garnish a
cocktail with a paper parasol? Would it be some story like the guy who
invented the paper clip and got paid a pittance while the manufacturer went
on to become blue chip?
Or even more interesting, could the paper parasol cocktail garnish be
informed by some ancient tradition extending back thousands of years and
attested to by inscriptions on clay tablets from some place like Timbuktu?
Stone carvings in the inner temple of Angor Wat? Antediluvian legends from
the southern Volga?
I remain intrigued with this question and have spent some time on the
internet attempting to learn where they originated.
This aging scribe is happy to report that there's lots of stuff out there on
cocktail garnishes. But sadly, most of the material is horizontally
oriented, and my query needs a vertically oriented site. I can also report
that there's lots of google-dross out there to provide distraction. Focus
is key in these sorts of endeavours...
To make a long story short, the first appearance of a paper parasol cocktail
garnish is proving tough to nail down. If not tough, then simply
impossible. I'm aware that making comments like that in aue can lead to
sharp (and embarrassing) rebukes, but I'm pretty sure that the origin of
this garnish is shrouded in the mists of time...
So I have employed some deduction to concoct a theory which is plausible at
a minimum, and even perhaps dead accurate. Please note that this theory has
no authorities or documentation in support of it - it's just my best guess -
I made it up from thin air! Here goes...
"...the paper parasol cocktail garnish was first developed at the Raffles
Hotel in 1913, although they were originally made of silk. Its invention is
generally credited to the head bartender, Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon. Its purpose
was to serve as a glass cover to deter insects attracted to the various
fruit juices mixed in the exotic cocktails invented at Raffles. By the time
the "Singapore Sling" made its debut in 1915, the paper parasol had evolved
into the form we know today. Since then, it has become a stock item for
exotic cocktails all over the world! While myriads of other cocktail
garnishes have been developed in the intervening century, few can match the
popularity and endurance of paper parasol..."
That constitutes my theory. I would be grateful for any corrections,
amendments, revisions, urban legends, ducal estates, foundation grants, or
any other additional folklore about the paper parasol. Enthusiasts and
other rocket scientists will see that this year marks its 100th
anniversary!!!
If aue is willing to accept this theory, I'll press forward into the murky
chronology of the plastic scimitar cocktail garnish - which is equally
elusive.
Kind regards,
GJV
Ben Zimmer
>
> So I have employed some deduction to concoct a theory which is plausible at
> a minimum, and even perhaps dead accurate. Please note that this theory has
> no authorities or documentation in support of it - it's just my best guess -
> I made it up from thin air! Here goes...
>
> "...the paper parasol cocktail garnish was first developed at the Raffles
> Hotel in 1913, although they were originally made of silk. Its invention is
> generally credited to the head bartender, Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon. Its purpose
> was to serve as a glass cover to deter insects attracted to the various
> fruit juices mixed in the exotic cocktails invented at Raffles. By the time
> the "Singapore Sling" made its debut in 1915, the paper parasol had evolved
> into the form we know today. Since then, it has become a stock item for
> exotic cocktails all over the world! While myriads of other cocktail
> garnishes have been developed in the intervening century, few can match the
> popularity and endurance of paper parasol..."
>
> That constitutes my theory. I would be grateful for any corrections,
> amendments, revisions, urban legends, ducal estates, foundation grants, or
> any other additional folklore about the paper parasol. Enthusiasts and
> other rocket scientists will see that this year marks its 100th
> anniversary!!!
Or its 90th anniversary, using the standard calendrical system (but I'm
no rocket scientist). In any case, Googling suggests that the cocktail
parasol may be of more recent vintage:
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/hawaii/0781032649.html
The postwar years saw the beginnings of Hawaii's faux culture.
Harry Yee invented the Blue Hawaii cocktail and dropped in a
tiny Japanese parasol.
http://www.kevdo.com/maitai/harryyee.html
With orchids, parasols and names like "Missionary's Downfall,"
the exotic drinks of Hawaii are the most unusual in the world.
One man, Harry K. Yee, created 15 of them, including the Blue
Hawaii, the Banana Daiquiri and Tropical Itch. [...]
He invented the Blue Hawaii in 1957 in Waikiki because nobody
knew what to do with blue liqueur. And it looked like Hawaii's
ocean. It was an instant classic.
The dean of Honolulu bartenders also:
* Put the first Vanda orchid in a drink in 1955.
* Dropped a Chinese back scratcher in a Tropical Itch in 1957,
to create a hit drink and cottage industry in back scratchers.
* Popped a tiny parasol in a Tapa Punch in 1959; the drink
faded but the umbrella lives on.
The latter site seems more authoritative, since it includes an interview
with Harry Yee himself.
tomca...@yanospamhoo.com
> By the way, did you folks know that the etymology of "Highball", as in the
> cocktail, comes from a railroad signal meaning to accelerate? Or so they
> say. Never mind. The subject line says this post is OT...
Same as "balling the jack"?
Ben Zimmer
>
> http://www.frommers.com/destinations/hawaii/0781032649.html
> The postwar years saw the beginnings of Hawaii's faux culture.
> Harry Yee invented the Blue Hawaii cocktail and dropped in a
> tiny Japanese parasol.
>
> http://www.kevdo.com/maitai/harryyee.html
> With orchids, parasols and names like "Missionary's Downfall,"
> the exotic drinks of Hawaii are the most unusual in the world.
> One man, Harry K. Yee, created 15 of them, including the Blue
> Hawaii, the Banana Daiquiri and Tropical Itch. [...]
> He invented the Blue Hawaii in 1957 in Waikiki because nobody
> knew what to do with blue liqueur. And it looked like Hawaii's
> ocean. It was an instant classic.
> The dean of Honolulu bartenders also:
> * Put the first Vanda orchid in a drink in 1955.
> * Dropped a Chinese back scratcher in a Tropical Itch in 1957,
> to create a hit drink and cottage industry in back scratchers.
> * Popped a tiny parasol in a Tapa Punch in 1959; the drink
> faded but the umbrella lives on.
Hmm, not surprisingly there are some prior claims. Cecil Adams got this
story from Victor J. "Joe" Bergeron III, son of the founder of Trader
Vic's (a San Francisco-based chain of tiki-style restaurants):
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/001117.html
Joe said Vic's had served drinks with cocktail umbrellas up
until the early 1940s, when importation of the little parasols
from factories in the Far East was halted by the outbreak of
war. [...]
Joe went on to say that his father had borrowed the umbrella
idea and a few other things from the Don the Beachcomber
restaurants (now defunct), which had pioneered Polynesian-style
dining. Prior to that, he believes, they were available in
Chinese restaurants, which coincides with the view we've heard
elsewhere that the parasol (or at least the idea of putting it
in a drink) was a Chinese-American invention.
Laura F Spira
I was given a tiny paper umbrella when I was very young, in the early
1950s, by either my aunt or my grandmother who had purloined it at a
Masonic Lodge Ladies' Night dinner, thinking I would like to play with
it. IIRC the umbrella was not considered unusual by anyone other than me
(it was preserved in my dolls' house for many years after) so they must
have been relatively common in the UK at that time, even to non-drinkers
like my parents.
--
Laura F Spira
(emulate St. George for email)
Charles Riggs
<ga...@totally-official.com> wrote:
>By the way, did you folks know that the etymology of "Highball", as in the
>cocktail, comes from a railroad signal meaning to accelerate?
I daren't speak for all the folks, but I knew it.
Charles Riggs
That means to go fast, but not necessarily to accelerate. It is US
slang, but old. It was used as recently as 1957, though, by Jack
Kerouac in _On Road_: "He balled the jack and told stories for a
couple of hours".
Padraig Breathnach
felix
> It was used as recently as 1957, though, by Jack
> Kerouac in _On Road_: "He balled the jack and told stories for a
> couple of hours".
Musta been a minor character - the real men in Kerouac can ball the
jack and talk all night. And then get abandoned by their
long-suffering women the next day.
felix
dcw
Laura F Spira <la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:
>I was given a tiny paper umbrella when I was very young, in the early
>1950s, by either my aunt or my grandmother who had purloined it at a
>Masonic Lodge Ladies' Night dinner, thinking I would like to play with
>it. IIRC the umbrella was not considered unusual by anyone other than me
>(it was preserved in my dolls' house for many years after) so they must
>have been relatively common in the UK at that time, even to non-drinkers
>like my parents.
We had one at much the same time, but I have no idea where it came from.
My parents and grandparents were also non-drinkers, so I doubt if it
came from a cocktail.
David
John O'Flaherty
Now you'll have to start all over again.
--
john
Wood Avens
<la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:
> I was given a tiny paper umbrella when I was very young, in the early
>1950s, by either my aunt or my grandmother who had purloined it at a
>Masonic Lodge Ladies' Night dinner, thinking I would like to play with
>it. IIRC the umbrella was not considered unusual by anyone other than me
>(it was preserved in my dolls' house for many years after) so they must
>have been relatively common in the UK at that time, even to non-drinkers
>like my parents.
I had one too; I think it might still have been in the old dolls'
house when we packed it all up a couple of years ago.
I seem to remember it was given to me by my sister's godmother. Why
is it that one's brain is cluttered up with totally useless
information like this, to the exclusion of current stuff which might
be of some value?
--
Katy Jennison
spamtrap: remove number to reply
Laura F Spira
Oh, why, indeed? I often wish that there was a selective "delete" button
on my brain which would remove all the trivia. An important thought I
had early this morning is still scuttling around just out of reach: I
can remember the person I wanted to tell it to but nothing else. Yet the
dolls' house and all its furniture and inhabitants is crystal clear
in my mind.
Padraig Breathnach
But that's why usenet exists: to allow us flaunt such trivia and
pretend that they matter.
PB
Mike Lyle
> Greets to aue!
What? We're in mourning?
[...]
>
> If aue is willing to accept this theory, I'll press forward into the murky
> chronology of the plastic scimitar cocktail garnish - which is equally
> elusive.
At the time I was too drunk to get over and tell you how magnificent
was your after-dinner speech at the West Virginia Anabaptist College
Reunion last year.
Mike.
tomca...@yanospamhoo.com
> At the time I was too drunk to get over and tell you how magnificent
> was your after-dinner speech at the West Virginia Anabaptist College
> Reunion last year.
Speaking of reunions, some of the problems with being a suicide bomber are:
1. The successful ones can't show up.
2. The unsuccessful ones don't want to show up.
3. You really don't want anybody to show up.
Charles Riggs
<padr...@iol.ie> wrote:
>Wood Avens <woodav...@gmx.co.uk> wrote:
>>I seem to remember it was given to me by my sister's godmother. Why
>>is it that one's brain is cluttered up with totally useless
>>information like this, to the exclusion of current stuff which might
>>be of some value?
>
>But that's why usenet exists: to allow us flaunt such trivia and
>pretend that they matter.
Better to flaunt it than to flout it if we want to have any fun, says
a master of Trivia Pursuit.
sage
Errm: I think you'll find it's Trivial; Trivial Pursuit. Thank you, yer
honour. I'll try not to bother you again, soon.
(One of its inventors lived nex door to us.)
Cheers, Sage
>
Jitze Couperus
<ga...@totally-official.com> wrote:
..
>
>So there I was in one of those poolside bars where the stools are in the
>water - pissed as a newt - daydreaming about indecent subjects and sinful
>acts; ...
>
Oh Dear Boy! How often have I warned you about the health hazards
associated with swimming pools. It is apparently quite common for
folk to pee in them (thus the silent pee - as in "bath") but now
you tell me that you were "in one of those poolside bars where the
stools are in the water". Gracious me. E Coli pluribus.
Do be more carefull.
There's a good lad.
Jitze
Charles Riggs
>
>Charles Riggs <chr...@aircom.net> wrote in message
>news:7v0edv085smuipukr...@4ax.com...
>> On Thu, 29 May 2003 19:59:10 +0100, Padraig Breathnach
>> <padr...@iol.ie> wrote:
>>
>> >Wood Avens <woodav...@gmx.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>> > Better to flaunt it than to flout it if we want to have any fun, says
>> a master of Trivia Pursuit.
>
>Errm: I think you'll find it's Trivial; Trivial Pursuit.
Speaking of trivia, I object to that semicolon. I would have used a
colon. Colons are underused in my opinion; I'd like to see them aired
more often.
>Thank you, yer
>honour. I'll try not to bother you again, soon.
I wasn't bothered in the least, my polite supplicant.
>(One of its inventors lived nex door to us.)
Okay. It's Trivial Pursuit, if he said so. Logically wrong, and who
wants to put a bad slant on their own game, but who can argue with the
inventor?
Garry J. Vass
"Jitze Couperus" <couperu...@znet.com> wrote in message
news:3ed84f66....@sd.znet.com...
Ooops! Definitely got me on that one! :) I meant these kind of stools:
http://londonelegance.com/tanya/larnaca/larnarca04f.jpg
Entry clearance officers, barristers, solicitors, and any other old scrotes
of similar calling will take note that this evidence is all in proper
conformance to the antiquated (and somewhat vaguely pervy) requirements of
those sad old fucks in the Foreign Office - who need to see it.
Although the paper parasol appears to be mysteriously absent... But it was
there! I promise!
At least the fruited scimitar symmetry is still intact :)
Kind regards,
GJV
Padraig Breathnach
The story of my life.
PB