"Bottoms Up: Ryan’s Guide to Pleasant Drinking" [Ryan’s Liquor Shop, n.d.]/c1940s

Bottoms Up: Ryan’s Guide to Pleasant Drinking

New York: Ryan’s Liquor Shop, n.d./c1940s. 7.5" x 5.25". 46pp. Illustrated throughout in red and black with whimsical bar graphics, cocktail diagrams, and decorative advertisements for Ryan’s Liquor Shop, 873 Third Avenue, New York City. Original bright yellow pictorial  boards printed in red and black. Light rubbing and a bit of wear at spine ends and corners, a few faint marks to boards, internally clean and bright with strong color and no significant handling wear. A lively, very presentable copy. Very Good.

A visually striking mid-century cocktail guide issued as a promotional house recipe book for Ryan’s Liquor Shop, featuring recipes for cocktails, punches, fizzes, juleps, collins, holiday drinks, wine cookery, and “Tempting Appetizers,” along with playful illustrations including the memorable “Giraffe Ryan.” Titles such as Devil’s Cocktail, Elk’s Own Cocktail, Highland Fling, and Broken Spur Cocktail give it real period charm. These ephemeral liquor-store guides were heavily used and often discarded, making attractive surviving copies increasingly uncommon.