The first thing you see upon entering the new National Archives exhibit “Spirited Republic: Alcohol in American History” is a column containing 26 gallon-jugs filled with pure alcohol, each with varying amounts and representing our annual consumption over the centuries. And while it might sound like a lot to learn we currently drink 2.3 gallons of alcohol per year, back in 1830, that number was 7.1 gallons, impressive even by Blutarsky standards.
The exhibit, carefully put together under the guidance of curator Bruce Bustard and drinks historian Derek Brown, chronicles America’s bond with booze (with the unfortunate exception of the years 1920-1933). Among the artifacts on display is a receipt, dated June 1, 1803, for the purchase of 30 gallons of wine and 6 kegs of beer by one Captain Meriwether Lewis, prior to his historic expedition. (The bill totaled $77.20, which comes to about $1,583 today.) Tucked in a corner is FDR’s cocktail shaker and shot glasses, which Roosevelt used at the end of each work day as governor and president, making libations for his closest staffers—even during Prohibition. (Mrs. Roosevelt, who had alcoholics in her family, reportedly avoided these occasions.) There’s even a “drunkometer,” ca. 1933, that supposedly could estimate one’s blood-alcohol level (but no one seems to know how this precisely worked). It was patented by biochemist Rolla Harger, whose colleague Robert Borkenstein would later go on to make the first breathalyzer.
And of course no exhibit would be complete without some multimedia feature. In this case, my favorite is a video series featuring alcohol-related PSAs. There’s a 1950 clip of sailors imbibing (“There’s something about a drink that’s welcome and cheerful. But there’s something about too many drinks that’s mean and ugly”), grainy color footage from 1975, and a 1999 message from Shaquille O’Neal on behalf of RADD (Recording Artists, Actors, and Athletes Against Drunk Driving). Come to think of it, Shaq was all three!
The Prohibition section is rather depressing—as Derek Brown observed in his brief timeline of the cocktail, it’s astounding that a Congress that barely agrees on anything came together to pass the Eighteenth Amendment. A pro-Prohibition poster from 1929 proclaimed, “Daily Drinking, Impaired Memory: Daily drinking greatly reduced abillity to memorize.” It’s an absurd notion for reasons I can’t seem to recall.
Aside from the exhibit itself, there are also weekly panel discussions between May 16 and August 8 (for the record, I am moderating the August 8 panel on “The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks“). And while tickets are necessary, the good news is the discussion of spirits will actually be accompanied by spirits.
