We received a question from the young bartenders at the Tourismusschule (tourism school) in Salzburg about who invented the shaker. Reason enough for us to give them an answer.
The different types of shakers
There are different types of cocktail shakers today. Wikipedia defines them as follows: “The Boston shaker consists of a large metal cup (usually stainless steel) and a slightly smaller mixing glass. … A special form of the Boston shaker are shakers in which both cups are made of metal, also known as Tin-Tin. … The three-piece shaker (also called cobbler shaker) consists of a metal cup, an attachment with an integrated strainer that fits flush into the metal cup, and a cap, all often made of stainless steel. … Two-piece metal shakers are also called French shakers or Parisian shakers (or Parisienne shakers in French) … . They are more similar in shape to a three-piece shaker, but have no closure cap, so a bar strainer is required for straining, as with the Boston Shaker.” [13]
– “Der Boston-Shaker besteht aus einem großen Becher aus Metall (meistens Edelstahl) und einem etwas kleineren Mixglas. … Eine Sonderform des Boston-Shakers sind Shaker, bei denen beide Becher aus Metall bestehen, man spricht auch von Tin-Tin. … Der dreiteilige Shaker (auch Cobbler Shaker) besteht aus einem Metallbecher, einem Aufsatz mit integriertem Sieb, der bündig in den Metallbecher passt, und einer Verschlusskappe, alles häufig aus Edelstahl. … Zweiteilige Metall-Shaker werden auch French Shaker oder Parisian Shaker (bzw. französisch Parisienne Shaker) genannt … . Sie ähneln in ihrer Form eher einem dreiteiligen Shaker, haben aber keine Verschlusskappe, so dass zum Abseihen wie beim Boston Shaker ein Barsieb erforderlich ist.” [13]
These designations are ambiguous from a historical point of view, because in the past, Boston shakers and cobbler shakers were sometimes understood differently. David Wondrich therefore groups the types as follows:
Type 1: The two-piece shaker as a combination of glass and metal cup. [11-177] The Tin-Tin, as can be concluded from David’s explanations, also belongs to type 1.
Type 2: The two-piece shaker as a combination of two metal cups fitting flush into each other, similar to a double-barrel mug (Doppelfassbecher). [11-178]
Type 3: The two-piece shaker, which we now call the Parisian shaker, with its special lid shape.[11-178]
Type 4: The three-piece shaker with a strainer integrated into the top, [11-178] today called the cobbler shaker.
The (alleged) origin
Numerous authors believe that the development of the shaker can be traced back over 9000 years, because at that time people mixed things together in a gourd. Egyptians are also cited [12-1] or Hernando Cortez, who reported in 1520 that the Aztecs prepared a foamy drink in a container. [12-1][12-2] It is undisputed that someone somewhere mixed something liquid together. That has certainly been the case since time immemorial. But – we would like to object – this has very little to do with the origin of the cocktail shaker. There is no direct connection. In our opinion, it all began with the Doppelfassbecher (double-barrel mug).
The Doppelfassbecher
The question of when and on what basis the shaker we know today developed and how it evolved into its present form has been aptly answered by Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, which is why we want to start with it.
For Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, one thing is clear: the shaker is older than the cocktail, because the shaker first appeared in Germany in its modern form in the late 16th century. Cocktails from that time, however, are not known. The container is called a ‘Doppelfassbecher’, which translates to ‘double-barrel mug’. [1]
However, this was used more for toasting than for mixing, they suggest. It was in use in Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries and was made of silver, brass or gold. In its shape, the Doppelfassbecher resembles a modern two-part shaker: two roughly equal-sized mugs can be inserted into each other with their openings. In addition, their height and diameter are often comparable to a modern shaker. Anistatia and Jared think this is no coincidence. Because from Germany, the Doppelfassbecher made its way to England, where it developed from a drinking vessel into a cobbler shaker. [1]
Further development in England
The Doppelfassbecher came to England because many refugees came to England as a result of religious persecution in Germany. However, there were also political connections between the two countries that were favourable for a cultural exchange: in 1714 there was a personal union between Great Britain and Hanover, [1] and the Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg respectively King of Hanover was at the same time King of Great Britain. [2] Thus it happened that the Doppelfassbecher became increasingly popular in England, especially in London, towards the end of the 18th century. [1]
In England, the Doppefassbecher then became the cobbler mixer, so postulate Anistatia and Jared. In the middle of the 19th century, ‘Farrow & Jackson Limited of London’ offered cobbler mixers. These differed somewhat from the Doppelfassbecher: they no longer had an imprinted stave pattern, but only had the horizontal bands running around them that are typical of a cask. [1]
Various illustrations of cobbler mixers are included in Charlie Paul’s book ‘American and other iced drinks’, published in London. The first edition was published in London in 1884. There, simply the different sized cups are illustrated. [14-23]
The 1887 edition then shows how such a cobbler-mixer is applied. Two cups are inserted into each other. [15-69] This illustration obviously comes from the book ‘The Gentleman’s Table Guide’ by E. Ricket and C. Thomas. [17-36]
In the 1902 edition, a new illustration is shown: it is a cobbler-mixer by Farrow & Jackson. [16-15] Here we can see the similarities with the double cask mug particularly clearly: the staves have disappeared, but the hoops that hold a cask together are still visible.
However, Charlie Paul also knows of a three-part cobbler mixer. He calls it “a new pattern”, a new model. [16-21] It has an integrated sieve and is therefore what we understand today as a ‘cobbler shaker’.
This first two-part and then three-part cobbler Doppelfassbecher. [1]
The road to America
It is easy to explain why the shaker made its way to the USA. On the one hand, of course, because there were connections with England; after all, the eastern United States was once a British colony.
But a German influence may also have been important. Anistatia and Jared point out that Germans worked in American bars more than other ethnic groups. Statistics prove this: from 1860 to 1900, the number of bartenders and saloon keepers had increased from just under 4,000 to almost 50,000. Of these, about 40 percent were newcomers from Germany, 25 percent were of German descent. Germans were thus disproportionately represented. These must have been familiar with the Doppelfassbecher, they think.[1]
Älteste britische Hinweise
One of the oldest British references to a cocktail shaker dates from 1869. In ‘Meloria: A Quarterly Review of Social Science’ we read: [1] “This endeavour to get up a system of stimulation has given rise in America to the manufacture of ‘cocktail’ (a compound of whiskey, brandy, or champagne, bitters, and ice), dexterously mixed in tall silver mugs made for the purpose, called ‘cocktail shakers.’” [19-48]
In ‘Notes and Queries’ from 1868, i.e. a year earlier and published in London, the subject is new English words and the opposition they provoke. The author G[eorge] A[ugustus] Sala [11-178] writes: “These complaints against the prevalence of new or seemingly new words and phrases may sometimes appear querulous and meticulous, but to my mind they are very useful. They serve to show the amazing elasticity and eruptiveness of the English language: for instance, in the very next column to that in which Mr. Redmond laments over the vulgar phraseology of the day, your correspondent W. T. M. mentions, in connection with a capital pun from Ovid, “a pair of cocktail-shakers to be found in a house in Hong Kong.” Now I can imagine the inmate of some quiet country rectory, brimful of the Diversions of Purley, Harris’s Hermes, and Stoddart’s Universal Grammar, looking up in horror and amazement from his “N. & Q.” and crying, “Shades of Minsheu, Junius, and Skinner! what is a cocktail-shaker?” I never possessed a pair of ‘cocktail-shakers’ myself, but a young officer in the Blues [the Union army during the American Civil War] a fellow-passenger in a Cunard steamer in which I crossed the Atlantic in 1865, did possess, and was very proud of, a brace of tall silver mugs in which the ingredients of the beverage known as a ‘cocktail’ (whiskey, brandy or champagne, bitters and ice) are mixed, shaken together, and then scientifically discharged—the ‘shakers’ being held at arm’s length, and sometimes above the operator’s head—from goblet to goblet, backwards and forwards, over and over again, till the requisite perfection of homogeneousness has been attained. These are the ‘cocktail shakers’ and our friend in the Blues was so great a proficient in the difficult art of goblet-throwing, and the compounds he made were so delicious, that ladies on board, who in the earlier stages of the voyage had been dreadfully sea-sick, were often heard to inquire, towards two p.m., whether Captain ——— was going to make any ‘cocktails’ that day.” [20-401]
According to this description, the American mixed the ingredients, shook them, then loosened the cups and poured them back and forth a few more times. [1]
In America
These two quotes may give us a clue: Both times, the shaker is integrated into an American background. Even though the shaker may not have originated in the USA, it became popular there and was used in many different ways, because it was there that American bar culture developed as something new, starting with cocktails. In England and Germany, on the other hand, people initially remained more traditional and drank punch and similar drinks that did not require a shaker.
Similarly, it can be seen that the cocktail shaker as a term only developed around 1850 or shortly before, otherwise it would not have been discussed as a new, ‘unheard of’ word in 1868. This is not surprising, because it was only with the arrival of ice in bars and saloons that people everywhere could shake on ice and had a need for appropriate tools.
David Wondrich’s ‘Type 1‘ shaker consists of a glass and a metal cup, and he says it was standard in most American bars. There, it was simply called a “cocktail shaker”. Elsewhere it was called “American Shaker”, later “Boston Shaker American Style” and then simply “Boston Shaker”. [11-178]
Originally, however, Boston Shaker referred exclusively to ‘Type 2‘, which we will discuss later. Why the name Boston Shaker was chosen, nobody knows. This original Boston Shaker is advertised in two important British books of the 1920s by the W. R. Loftus company: in 1922 in Robert Vermeire’s book ‘Cocktails’ and in 1923 in Harry McElhone’s ‘ABC of Mixing Cocktails’. [7-88][8][11-179]
David Wondrich explains: in later times ‘Type 2’ became uncommon, and in the 1960s and 1970s the term ‘Boston Shaker’ passed to ‘Type 1’ in the UK. This change of meaning was then naturalised in the US by Dale DeGroff in the late 1990s as part of the cocktail renaissance. David Wondrich says that in the course of this renaissance, the glass was also largely replaced by a metal cup.[11-179]
Let us dwell a little on ‘Type 1’. Sometimes it is stated that shaking was initially done using glasses. Metal shakers, especially the two-part metal shaker, only came into being later. We would like to contradict this. The findings of Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown paint a different picture. Nevertheless, glass was used in the vastness of America, this is not to be disputed. Numerous sources report on this.
In ‘The Upper Ten Thousand: Sketches of American society’ by Charles Astor Bristead, published in 1852 [22] as a reprint of a text from 1850, [6] here is a detailed description of how a cobbler is prepared. [12-2] This explanation is important: “When Aston returned to his sitting-room, after arranging his bag, he found Benson in all his glory, surrounded by the sutorial prerequisites. Four large tumblers, two wine-glasses, a couple of lemons, ditto of knives, a decanter of sherry (not Manzanilla, but dark in colour and high in flavour), a saucer of powdered sugar, and another of finely-pounded ice, were paraded on the table, and among them sat Benson, on the table also, examining a bundle of fresh straws. … ‘Now fill your tumbler half-way with pounded ice. Good. And now pour in two wineglasses of sherry. … Don’t be impatient; we have to mix yet.’ He took up one of the spare glasses, covered with it the mouth of the tumbler which contained the magic compound, and shook the cobbler back and forwards from one glass to the other a dozen times -without spilling a drop.” [6-261][6-262]
We are now faced with a puzzle. The tumbler is closed here by an upturned glass. Unfortunately, we are not told more about this tumbler. The ‘Oxford English Dictionary’ defines a tumbler with the words: “A drinking cup. originally having a rounded or pointed bottom, so that it could not be set down until emptied; often of silver or gold; now, a tapering cylindrical, or barrel-shaped, glass cup without a handle or foot, having a flat bottom.” [3-459][3-460]
So it may well have been a metal tumbler. In view of its size – after all, two wine glasses of sherry and ice were poured into it – a metal tumbler seems more likely than a large glass tumbler. Nevertheless, glass tumblers were already known in the 17th century, as the ‘Oxford English Dictionary’ proves by passages.
But one did not only shake, one also threw. In ‘Quadroon’, a story by Mayne Reid from 1856, the preparation of a julep on a boat in the Mississippi is described: [12-3] “The gentleman now placed side by side two glasses — tumblers of large size. Into one he put, first, a spoonful of crushed white sugar — then a slice of lemon — ditto of orange — next a few sprigs of green mint — after that a handful of broken ice, a gill of water, and, lastly, a large glass measure of cognac. This done, he lifted the glasses one in each hand, and poured the contents from one to the other, so rapidly that ice, brandy, lemons, and all, seemed to be constantly suspended in the air, and oscillating between the glasses. The tumblers themselves at no time approached nearer than two feet from each other! This adroitness, peculiar to his craft, and only obtained after long practice, was evidently a source of professional pride. After some half-score of these revolutions the drink was permitted to rest in one glass, and was then set down upon the counter.” [23-232]
Here it is easier for us: by ‘tumbler’ the author meant large glass cups. Some authors therefore argue that sometime between 1783 and 1830 the cocktail shaker as we know it today came into being, invented by some innkeeper who – when pouring drinks from one glass into the other – had the idea that the containers could be put into each other if they had a different diameter, in order to then shake the drink back and forth without spilling anything,[12-3] and that a metal cup could also be used for this purpose.
This is how it is illustrated in Harry Johnson’s ‘New and improved illustrated bartenders manual’ from 1888: a metal cup is put over a glass. [12-3][24-73]
Einer der erste Hinweis auf einen metallenen Becher zur Herstellung von Mischgetränken in den USA stammt aus dem Jahr 1850. George Foster beschrieb die Arbeit eines Bartenders mit den Worten: [11-177] er »scheint lange Bänder aus Julep aus einem Blechbecher zu ziehen«. [10-9]
– “seems to be pulling long ribbons of julep out of a tin cup.” [10-9]
For David Wondrich, this is an important find. He thinks that the simplest form of a shaker was a simple glass that was closed with a metal cup by putting it over the glass. It is not known when this method was invented, but David Wondrich thinks that George Foster describes exactly this method.[11-177] According to David Wondrich, the usual method of the time was to prepare mixed drinks by pouring them back and forth between two glasses. George Foster, on the other hand, probably described how the bartender prepared the julep by shaking it. [11-177] Critically we would like to interject here: this is speculation. It is not written that way, but only that the bartender poured the julep from a metal vessel. The only thing we can deduce from this source is: at least a metal cup was used in the preparation of the julep.
In the following year, 1851, according to David Wondrich, such a metal cup was called a ‘cobbler mixer.’ [11-177] Perhaps he is referring to a newspaper advertisement of June 19, 1851 in the Evening Post from New York. Cobbler mixers are advertised there, but without giving more details about their nature. [9] Nevertheless, it must be noted that in later sources cobbler mixers were always made of metal, and a glass was never referred to as a cobbler mixer. One may therefore assume with a high degree of certainty that metal cups are meant here.
Another early reference to a metal shaker in the U.S. dates from April 19, 1856. A newspaper article appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that day stating: “The barkeeper and his assistants possess the agility of acrobats and the prestidigitative skill of magicians. They are all bottle conjurors.—They toss the drinks about; they throw brimful glasses over their heads; they shake the saccharine, glacial and alcoholic ingredients in their long tin tubes;”[18]
Since it says here that it is shaken in tin tubes, one can assume that either a Tin-Tin or David Wondrich’s ‘Type 2’ was used here.
Now we have to come back to the contribution of George Augustus Sala and his travel description from 1865. [20-401] Let’s remember: according to his description, when preparing a cocktail, the ingredients were mixed, shaken, the metal cups were then loosened and the liquid was poured back and forth a few more times.
This is for David Wondrich the first description of the ‘type 2’ of a cocktail shaker, where two metal vessels are inserted into each other. [11-178] Somewhat confusing we find related to this quotation his remark about the silver cups used: “These … were designed so that the rim of one cup fit snugly into the other, resting just inside it (the rims were sometimes flanged, to make them more difficult to bend out of round). European silversmiths had been making similar pairs of cups, often detailed to look like a barrel when assembled, for centuries.“[11-178]
Obviously, David Wondrich is of the opinion that the silver cups used were closed in a ‘Doppelfassbecher’-like manner, since they fit exactly into each other. Then the cups would correspond to ‘Type 2’. But wouldn’t some kind of Tin-Tin have been possible, i.e. ‘Type 1’? Since the text does not further define the type of silver cups, we cannot say with certainty what type they were.
Be that as it may. In any case, David Wondrich points to the Doppelfassbecher in this context and aptly notes that the Doppelfassbecher was probably not originally intended to shake a drink with ice. [11-178]
According to David Wondrich, the ‘Type 2’ of a shaker was popular in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, until the 1960s. In America, on the other hand, it was hardly used at all. [11-178]
This was followed, according to David Wondrich, by the development of the ‘Type 3’. For him, this is a variant of the ‘Type 2’ and he thinks this may have been an American development, because this type was offered in an American silverware catalog in 1878. This elegant shaker, David says, was especially popular in France, Germany, Italy and Argentina. [11-178] This ‘Type 3’ was given the name ‘Parisian Shaker’ because of its prevalence in Paris, David enlightens us. However, its use disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s. [11-179]
One comment may be allowed to us: Why should it be an American development, just because this type was offered in an American catalog? Doesn’t the particular popularity in France, Germany, Italy and Argentina rather speak for a European development? Many Argentine immigrants came from Italy and may have brought this type of shaker with them to Argentina. Also, the Doppelfassbecher had a centuries-long tradition in Europe and was certainly a kind of predecessor to this type as well. Could it not be that the silver cup ‘French style’ was only offered in an American silverware catalog because French was just in vogue and the preferred choice for fashionable luxury items?
The ‘Type 4’ is the same shape as the ‘Type 3’ and also has a built-in strainer with a small cap over it. [11-178] The ‘Type 4’ is the same shape as the ‘Type 3’ and also has a built-in strainer with a small cap over it. [11-178] This is the three-piece shaker that we now call the cobbler shaker. It originated in the USA. Edward J. Hauck patented it in 1884. It consists of a large cup and a smaller lid, in which a strainer is integrated, and also an opening that is closed with a small cap.[4][5][11-178]
In the patent specification, reasons are given as to what is novel and worthy of protection about the design: “Be it known that I, EDWARD J. HAUCK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shakers for Mixing Drinks, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to a shaker for mixing drinks, which consists of a vessel, a cup constructed to fitin an inverted position closely over the mouth of the vessel, a strainer secured in the upper portion of said cup, a cap which fits closely over the strainer, and a vent for the escape of the air from the interior of the shaker. With the vent is combined a bent pipe, to prevent the liquid from the interior from escaping, and also to prevent the vent from becoming clogged. This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure I represents a vertical central section. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the cup detached. … the contents of the shaker. … I am aware that liquor-mixers consisting of two cups, the one so as to closely engage the other, have heretofore been used, and I do not claim, broadly, such a device. What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. The herein-described shaker for mixing drinks, consisting of the vessel A, the cup B, constructed to fit closely upon the vessel, the strainer C, secured in the upper portion of the cup, the cap D, fitting closely over the strainer, and the vent for the escape for the air from the interior of the shaker. 2. The combination, substantially as herein before described, of the vessel A, with its cylindrical portion a, the cup B, with its cylindrical rim b, shoulder b’, and cylindrical flange c, the strainer C, the cap D, and the vent d. 3. The combination, substantially as herein before described, of the vessel A, the cup B, constructed to fit closely upon the vessel, the strainer C, secured in the upper portion of the cup, the cap D, fitting closely over the strainer, the vent d, for the escape of the air from the interior of the shaker, and the bent pipe e.« [5]
Edward Hauck’s patent is one of at least twenty issued in the United States between 1870 and 1920 for improvements to cocktail shakers. [11-178]
David Wondrich notes: ‘Type 4’ did not have its own name until the beginning of the 21st century. Before that, this type was simply called a cocktail shaker or three-piece shaker. It was rarely used in American bars, but it was used in other countries, particularly Japan. In the late 1990s, Dale DeGroff began calling this type of shaker a cobbler shaker, drawing on a term previously used in England for various types of shakers in general, including ‘Type 1’ and ‘Type 2’. Today, however, it is used exclusively to refer to ‘Type 4’. [11-179]
The time after 1900
By 1900, shaking in the shaker was probably no longer so popular, and ‘throwing’, that is, pouring from one cup to another, was also hardly used, because at that time it was complained that these techniques had fallen into oblivion and that only stirring was done. [1]
But this soon changed again. In prohibition times, more cocktail shakers were sold than ever before, because people were now preparing mixed drinks at home. [1] But this soon changed again. In prohibition times, more cocktail shakers were sold than ever before, because people were now preparing mixed drinks at home. [12-6]
If you would like to know more about shakers from the time after 1900, please refer to source [12] .
We hope that with this contribution we have sufficiently answered the question of the students and send our best regards.
Charlie Paul: American and other drinks. Containing the most approved recipes, for making the principal „drinks“ used in the United States and throughout the world. London, 1884.
Charlie Paul: American and Other Iced Drinks Containing the Most Approved Recipes for Making the Principal „Drinks“ Used In the United States and Throughout the World. London, McCorquodale & Co. Limited, London, 1887.
Charlie Paul: American and other Iced Drinks. London, McCorquodale & Co, 1902.
E. Ricket & C. Thomas: The Gentleman’s Table Guide. London, 1871.
Harry Johnson: New and Improved Illustrated Bartender’s Manual or: How to Mix Drinks of the Present Style And Containing a Valuable List of Instructions and Hints By the Author in Reference to Attending Bar: Also a Large List of Mixed Drinks, Such as American, British, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Etc., Etc., With Illustrations, And a Complete List of Bar Utensils, Wines, Liquors, Ales, Mixtures, Etc., Etc. Ab Seite 103: Neues und Verbessertes Illustriertes Handbuch für Bartender, oder: Wie man Getränke mischt, enthaltend Practische Regeln, Winke und Anweisungen über sämmtliche Bedürfnisse, gründliche Belehrung über alle Einzelheiten des Geschäfts, vollkommene und correcte Rezepte aller gemischten Getränke der Jetztzeit die in Amerika, England, Deutschland, Frankreich, Italien, Russland, Spanien und anderen Ländern beliebt sind, sowie Listen sämmtlicher Bar-Utensilien, Anweisungen zur richtigen Behandlung von Liqueuren, Weine Bier, Ale und Porter in Fässern und Flaschen. New York, Eigenverlag, 1888.
We received a question from the young bartenders at the Tourismusschule (tourism school) in Salzburg about who invented the shaker. Reason enough for us to give them an answer.
The different types of shakers
There are different types of cocktail shakers today. Wikipedia defines them as follows: “The Boston shaker consists of a large metal cup (usually stainless steel) and a slightly smaller mixing glass. … A special form of the Boston shaker are shakers in which both cups are made of metal, also known as Tin-Tin. … The three-piece shaker (also called cobbler shaker) consists of a metal cup, an attachment with an integrated strainer that fits flush into the metal cup, and a cap, all often made of stainless steel. … Two-piece metal shakers are also called French shakers or Parisian shakers (or Parisienne shakers in French) … . They are more similar in shape to a three-piece shaker, but have no closure cap, so a bar strainer is required for straining, as with the Boston Shaker.” [13]
– “Der Boston-Shaker besteht aus einem großen Becher aus Metall (meistens Edelstahl) und einem etwas kleineren Mixglas. … Eine Sonderform des Boston-Shakers sind Shaker, bei denen beide Becher aus Metall bestehen, man spricht auch von Tin-Tin. … Der dreiteilige Shaker (auch Cobbler Shaker) besteht aus einem Metallbecher, einem Aufsatz mit integriertem Sieb, der bündig in den Metallbecher passt, und einer Verschlusskappe, alles häufig aus Edelstahl. … Zweiteilige Metall-Shaker werden auch French Shaker oder Parisian Shaker (bzw. französisch Parisienne Shaker) genannt … . Sie ähneln in ihrer Form eher einem dreiteiligen Shaker, haben aber keine Verschlusskappe, so dass zum Abseihen wie beim Boston Shaker ein Barsieb erforderlich ist.” [13]
These designations are ambiguous from a historical point of view, because in the past, Boston shakers and cobbler shakers were sometimes understood differently. David Wondrich therefore groups the types as follows:
The (alleged) origin
Numerous authors believe that the development of the shaker can be traced back over 9000 years, because at that time people mixed things together in a gourd. Egyptians are also cited [12-1] or Hernando Cortez, who reported in 1520 that the Aztecs prepared a foamy drink in a container. [12-1] [12-2] It is undisputed that someone somewhere mixed something liquid together. That has certainly been the case since time immemorial. But – we would like to object – this has very little to do with the origin of the cocktail shaker. There is no direct connection. In our opinion, it all began with the Doppelfassbecher (double-barrel mug).
The Doppelfassbecher
The question of when and on what basis the shaker we know today developed and how it evolved into its present form has been aptly answered by Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, which is why we want to start with it.
For Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, one thing is clear: the shaker is older than the cocktail, because the shaker first appeared in Germany in its modern form in the late 16th century. Cocktails from that time, however, are not known. The container is called a ‘Doppelfassbecher’, which translates to ‘double-barrel mug’. [1]
However, this was used more for toasting than for mixing, they suggest. It was in use in Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries and was made of silver, brass or gold. In its shape, the Doppelfassbecher resembles a modern two-part shaker: two roughly equal-sized mugs can be inserted into each other with their openings. In addition, their height and diameter are often comparable to a modern shaker. Anistatia and Jared think this is no coincidence. Because from Germany, the Doppelfassbecher made its way to England, where it developed from a drinking vessel into a cobbler shaker. [1]
Further development in England
The Doppelfassbecher came to England because many refugees came to England as a result of religious persecution in Germany. However, there were also political connections between the two countries that were favourable for a cultural exchange: in 1714 there was a personal union between Great Britain and Hanover, [1] and the Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg respectively King of Hanover was at the same time King of Great Britain. [2] Thus it happened that the Doppelfassbecher became increasingly popular in England, especially in London, towards the end of the 18th century. [1]
In England, the Doppefassbecher then became the cobbler mixer, so postulate Anistatia and Jared. In the middle of the 19th century, ‘Farrow & Jackson Limited of London’ offered cobbler mixers. These differed somewhat from the Doppelfassbecher: they no longer had an imprinted stave pattern, but only had the horizontal bands running around them that are typical of a cask. [1]
Various illustrations of cobbler mixers are included in Charlie Paul’s book ‘American and other iced drinks’, published in London. The first edition was published in London in 1884. There, simply the different sized cups are illustrated. [14-23]
The 1887 edition then shows how such a cobbler-mixer is applied. Two cups are inserted into each other. [15-69] This illustration obviously comes from the book ‘The Gentleman’s Table Guide’ by E. Ricket and C. Thomas. [17-36]
In the 1902 edition, a new illustration is shown: it is a cobbler-mixer by Farrow & Jackson. [16-15] Here we can see the similarities with the double cask mug particularly clearly: the staves have disappeared, but the hoops that hold a cask together are still visible.
However, Charlie Paul also knows of a three-part cobbler mixer. He calls it “a new pattern”, a new model. [16-21] It has an integrated sieve and is therefore what we understand today as a ‘cobbler shaker’.
This first two-part and then three-part cobbler Doppelfassbecher. [1]
The road to America
It is easy to explain why the shaker made its way to the USA. On the one hand, of course, because there were connections with England; after all, the eastern United States was once a British colony.
But a German influence may also have been important. Anistatia and Jared point out that Germans worked in American bars more than other ethnic groups. Statistics prove this: from 1860 to 1900, the number of bartenders and saloon keepers had increased from just under 4,000 to almost 50,000. Of these, about 40 percent were newcomers from Germany, 25 percent were of German descent. Germans were thus disproportionately represented. These must have been familiar with the Doppelfassbecher, they think.[1]
Älteste britische Hinweise
One of the oldest British references to a cocktail shaker dates from 1869. In ‘Meloria: A Quarterly Review of Social Science’ we read: [1] “This endeavour to get up a system of stimulation has given rise in America to the manufacture of ‘cocktail’ (a compound of whiskey, brandy, or champagne, bitters, and ice), dexterously mixed in tall silver mugs made for the purpose, called ‘cocktail shakers.’” [19-48]
In ‘Notes and Queries’ from 1868, i.e. a year earlier and published in London, the subject is new English words and the opposition they provoke. The author G[eorge] A[ugustus] Sala [11-178] writes: “These complaints against the prevalence of new or seemingly new words and phrases may sometimes appear querulous and meticulous, but to my mind they are very useful. They serve to show the amazing elasticity and eruptiveness of the English language: for instance, in the very next column to that in which Mr. Redmond laments over the vulgar phraseology of the day, your correspondent W. T. M. mentions, in connection with a capital pun from Ovid, “a pair of cocktail-shakers to be found in a house in Hong Kong.” Now I can imagine the inmate of some quiet country rectory, brimful of the Diversions of Purley, Harris’s Hermes, and Stoddart’s Universal Grammar, looking up in horror and amazement from his “N. & Q.” and crying, “Shades of Minsheu, Junius, and Skinner! what is a cocktail-shaker?” I never possessed a pair of ‘cocktail-shakers’ myself, but a young officer in the Blues [the Union army during the American Civil War] a fellow-passenger in a Cunard steamer in which I crossed the Atlantic in 1865, did possess, and was very proud of, a brace of tall silver mugs in which the ingredients of the beverage known as a ‘cocktail’ (whiskey, brandy or champagne, bitters and ice) are mixed, shaken together, and then scientifically discharged—the ‘shakers’ being held at arm’s length, and sometimes above the operator’s head—from goblet to goblet, backwards and forwards, over and over again, till the requisite perfection of homogeneousness has been attained. These are the ‘cocktail shakers’ and our friend in the Blues was so great a proficient in the difficult art of goblet-throwing, and the compounds he made were so delicious, that ladies on board, who in the earlier stages of the voyage had been dreadfully sea-sick, were often heard to inquire, towards two p.m., whether Captain ——— was going to make any ‘cocktails’ that day.” [20-401]
According to this description, the American mixed the ingredients, shook them, then loosened the cups and poured them back and forth a few more times. [1]
In America
These two quotes may give us a clue: Both times, the shaker is integrated into an American background. Even though the shaker may not have originated in the USA, it became popular there and was used in many different ways, because it was there that American bar culture developed as something new, starting with cocktails. In England and Germany, on the other hand, people initially remained more traditional and drank punch and similar drinks that did not require a shaker.
Similarly, it can be seen that the cocktail shaker as a term only developed around 1850 or shortly before, otherwise it would not have been discussed as a new, ‘unheard of’ word in 1868. This is not surprising, because it was only with the arrival of ice in bars and saloons that people everywhere could shake on ice and had a need for appropriate tools.
David Wondrich’s ‘Type 1‘ shaker consists of a glass and a metal cup, and he says it was standard in most American bars. There, it was simply called a “cocktail shaker”. Elsewhere it was called “American Shaker”, later “Boston Shaker American Style” and then simply “Boston Shaker”. [11-178]
Originally, however, Boston Shaker referred exclusively to ‘Type 2‘, which we will discuss later. Why the name Boston Shaker was chosen, nobody knows. This original Boston Shaker is advertised in two important British books of the 1920s by the W. R. Loftus company: in 1922 in Robert Vermeire’s book ‘Cocktails’ and in 1923 in Harry McElhone’s ‘ABC of Mixing Cocktails’. [7-88] [8] [11-179]
David Wondrich explains: in later times ‘Type 2’ became uncommon, and in the 1960s and 1970s the term ‘Boston Shaker’ passed to ‘Type 1’ in the UK. This change of meaning was then naturalised in the US by Dale DeGroff in the late 1990s as part of the cocktail renaissance. David Wondrich says that in the course of this renaissance, the glass was also largely replaced by a metal cup. [11-179]
Let us dwell a little on ‘Type 1’. Sometimes it is stated that shaking was initially done using glasses. Metal shakers, especially the two-part metal shaker, only came into being later. We would like to contradict this. The findings of Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown paint a different picture. Nevertheless, glass was used in the vastness of America, this is not to be disputed. Numerous sources report on this.
In ‘The Upper Ten Thousand: Sketches of American society’ by Charles Astor Bristead, published in 1852 [22] as a reprint of a text from 1850, [6] here is a detailed description of how a cobbler is prepared. [12-2] This explanation is important: “When Aston returned to his sitting-room, after arranging his bag, he found Benson in all his glory, surrounded by the sutorial prerequisites. Four large tumblers, two wine-glasses, a couple of lemons, ditto of knives, a decanter of sherry (not Manzanilla, but dark in colour and high in flavour), a saucer of powdered sugar, and another of finely-pounded ice, were paraded on the table, and among them sat Benson, on the table also, examining a bundle of fresh straws. … ‘Now fill your tumbler half-way with pounded ice. Good. And now pour in two wineglasses of sherry. … Don’t be impatient; we have to mix yet.’ He took up one of the spare glasses, covered with it the mouth of the tumbler which contained the magic compound, and shook the cobbler back and forwards from one glass to the other a dozen times -without spilling a drop.” [6-261] [6-262]
We are now faced with a puzzle. The tumbler is closed here by an upturned glass. Unfortunately, we are not told more about this tumbler. The ‘Oxford English Dictionary’ defines a tumbler with the words: “A drinking cup. originally having a rounded or pointed bottom, so that it could not be set down until emptied; often of silver or gold; now, a tapering cylindrical, or barrel-shaped, glass cup without a handle or foot, having a flat bottom.” [3-459] [3-460]
So it may well have been a metal tumbler. In view of its size – after all, two wine glasses of sherry and ice were poured into it – a metal tumbler seems more likely than a large glass tumbler. Nevertheless, glass tumblers were already known in the 17th century, as the ‘Oxford English Dictionary’ proves by passages.
But one did not only shake, one also threw. In ‘Quadroon’, a story by Mayne Reid from 1856, the preparation of a julep on a boat in the Mississippi is described: [12-3] “The gentleman now placed side by side two glasses — tumblers of large size. Into one he put, first, a spoonful of crushed white sugar — then a slice of lemon — ditto of orange — next a few sprigs of green mint — after that a handful of broken ice, a gill of water, and, lastly, a large glass measure of cognac. This done, he lifted the glasses one in each hand, and poured the contents from one to the other, so rapidly that ice, brandy, lemons, and all, seemed to be constantly suspended in the air, and oscillating between the glasses. The tumblers themselves at no time approached nearer than two feet from each other! This adroitness, peculiar to his craft, and only obtained after long practice, was evidently a source of professional pride. After some half-score of these revolutions the drink was permitted to rest in one glass, and was then set down upon the counter.” [23-232]
Here it is easier for us: by ‘tumbler’ the author meant large glass cups. Some authors therefore argue that sometime between 1783 and 1830 the cocktail shaker as we know it today came into being, invented by some innkeeper who – when pouring drinks from one glass into the other – had the idea that the containers could be put into each other if they had a different diameter, in order to then shake the drink back and forth without spilling anything,[12-3] and that a metal cup could also be used for this purpose.
This is how it is illustrated in Harry Johnson’s ‘New and improved illustrated bartenders manual’ from 1888: a metal cup is put over a glass. [12-3] [24-73]
Einer der erste Hinweis auf einen metallenen Becher zur Herstellung von Mischgetränken in den USA stammt aus dem Jahr 1850. George Foster beschrieb die Arbeit eines Bartenders mit den Worten: [11-177] er »scheint lange Bänder aus Julep aus einem Blechbecher zu ziehen«. [10-9]
– “seems to be pulling long ribbons of julep out of a tin cup.” [10-9]
For David Wondrich, this is an important find. He thinks that the simplest form of a shaker was a simple glass that was closed with a metal cup by putting it over the glass. It is not known when this method was invented, but David Wondrich thinks that George Foster describes exactly this method.[11-177] According to David Wondrich, the usual method of the time was to prepare mixed drinks by pouring them back and forth between two glasses. George Foster, on the other hand, probably described how the bartender prepared the julep by shaking it. [11-177] Critically we would like to interject here: this is speculation. It is not written that way, but only that the bartender poured the julep from a metal vessel. The only thing we can deduce from this source is: at least a metal cup was used in the preparation of the julep.
In the following year, 1851, according to David Wondrich, such a metal cup was called a ‘cobbler mixer.’ [11-177] Perhaps he is referring to a newspaper advertisement of June 19, 1851 in the Evening Post from New York. Cobbler mixers are advertised there, but without giving more details about their nature. [9] Nevertheless, it must be noted that in later sources cobbler mixers were always made of metal, and a glass was never referred to as a cobbler mixer. One may therefore assume with a high degree of certainty that metal cups are meant here.
Another early reference to a metal shaker in the U.S. dates from April 19, 1856. A newspaper article appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that day stating: “The barkeeper and his assistants possess the agility of acrobats and the prestidigitative skill of magicians. They are all bottle conjurors.—They toss the drinks about; they throw brimful glasses over their heads; they shake the saccharine, glacial and alcoholic ingredients in their long tin tubes;” [18]
Since it says here that it is shaken in tin tubes, one can assume that either a Tin-Tin or David Wondrich’s ‘Type 2’ was used here.
Now we have to come back to the contribution of George Augustus Sala and his travel description from 1865. [20-401] Let’s remember: according to his description, when preparing a cocktail, the ingredients were mixed, shaken, the metal cups were then loosened and the liquid was poured back and forth a few more times.
This is for David Wondrich the first description of the ‘type 2’ of a cocktail shaker, where two metal vessels are inserted into each other. [11-178] Somewhat confusing we find related to this quotation his remark about the silver cups used: “These … were designed so that the rim of one cup fit snugly into the other, resting just inside it (the rims were sometimes flanged, to make them more difficult to bend out of round). European silversmiths had been making similar pairs of cups, often detailed to look like a barrel when assembled, for centuries.“[11-178]
Obviously, David Wondrich is of the opinion that the silver cups used were closed in a ‘Doppelfassbecher’-like manner, since they fit exactly into each other. Then the cups would correspond to ‘Type 2’. But wouldn’t some kind of Tin-Tin have been possible, i.e. ‘Type 1’? Since the text does not further define the type of silver cups, we cannot say with certainty what type they were.
Be that as it may. In any case, David Wondrich points to the Doppelfassbecher in this context and aptly notes that the Doppelfassbecher was probably not originally intended to shake a drink with ice. [11-178]
According to David Wondrich, the ‘Type 2’ of a shaker was popular in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, until the 1960s. In America, on the other hand, it was hardly used at all. [11-178]
This was followed, according to David Wondrich, by the development of the ‘Type 3’. For him, this is a variant of the ‘Type 2’ and he thinks this may have been an American development, because this type was offered in an American silverware catalog in 1878. This elegant shaker, David says, was especially popular in France, Germany, Italy and Argentina. [11-178] This ‘Type 3’ was given the name ‘Parisian Shaker’ because of its prevalence in Paris, David enlightens us. However, its use disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s. [11-179]
One comment may be allowed to us: Why should it be an American development, just because this type was offered in an American catalog? Doesn’t the particular popularity in France, Germany, Italy and Argentina rather speak for a European development? Many Argentine immigrants came from Italy and may have brought this type of shaker with them to Argentina. Also, the Doppelfassbecher had a centuries-long tradition in Europe and was certainly a kind of predecessor to this type as well. Could it not be that the silver cup ‘French style’ was only offered in an American silverware catalog because French was just in vogue and the preferred choice for fashionable luxury items?
The ‘Type 4’ is the same shape as the ‘Type 3’ and also has a built-in strainer with a small cap over it. [11-178] The ‘Type 4’ is the same shape as the ‘Type 3’ and also has a built-in strainer with a small cap over it. [11-178] This is the three-piece shaker that we now call the cobbler shaker. It originated in the USA. Edward J. Hauck patented it in 1884. It consists of a large cup and a smaller lid, in which a strainer is integrated, and also an opening that is closed with a small cap.[4] [5] [11-178]
In the patent specification, reasons are given as to what is novel and worthy of protection about the design: “Be it known that I, EDWARD J. HAUCK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shakers for Mixing Drinks, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to a shaker for mixing drinks, which consists of a vessel, a cup constructed to fitin an inverted position closely over the mouth of the vessel, a strainer secured in the upper portion of said cup, a cap which fits closely over the strainer, and a vent for the escape of the air from the interior of the shaker. With the vent is combined a bent pipe, to prevent the liquid from the interior from escaping, and also to prevent the vent from becoming clogged. This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure I represents a vertical central section. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the cup detached. … the contents of the shaker. … I am aware that liquor-mixers consisting of two cups, the one so as to closely engage the other, have heretofore been used, and I do not claim, broadly, such a device. What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. The herein-described shaker for mixing drinks, consisting of the vessel A, the cup B, constructed to fit closely upon the vessel, the strainer C, secured in the upper portion of the cup, the cap D, fitting closely over the strainer, and the vent for the escape for the air from the interior of the shaker. 2. The combination, substantially as herein before described, of the vessel A, with its cylindrical portion a, the cup B, with its cylindrical rim b, shoulder b’, and cylindrical flange c, the strainer C, the cap D, and the vent d. 3. The combination, substantially as herein before described, of the vessel A, the cup B, constructed to fit closely upon the vessel, the strainer C, secured in the upper portion of the cup, the cap D, fitting closely over the strainer, the vent d, for the escape of the air from the interior of the shaker, and the bent pipe e.« [5]
Edward Hauck’s patent is one of at least twenty issued in the United States between 1870 and 1920 for improvements to cocktail shakers. [11-178]
David Wondrich notes: ‘Type 4’ did not have its own name until the beginning of the 21st century. Before that, this type was simply called a cocktail shaker or three-piece shaker. It was rarely used in American bars, but it was used in other countries, particularly Japan. In the late 1990s, Dale DeGroff began calling this type of shaker a cobbler shaker, drawing on a term previously used in England for various types of shakers in general, including ‘Type 1’ and ‘Type 2’. Today, however, it is used exclusively to refer to ‘Type 4’. [11-179]
The time after 1900
By 1900, shaking in the shaker was probably no longer so popular, and ‘throwing’, that is, pouring from one cup to another, was also hardly used, because at that time it was complained that these techniques had fallen into oblivion and that only stirring was done. [1]
But this soon changed again. In prohibition times, more cocktail shakers were sold than ever before, because people were now preparing mixed drinks at home. [1]
But this soon changed again. In prohibition times, more cocktail shakers were sold than ever before, because people were now preparing mixed drinks at home. [12-6]
If you would like to know more about shakers from the time after 1900, please refer to source [12] .
We hope that with this contribution we have sufficiently answered the question of the students and send our best regards.
Sources
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