Not by Bread Alone: America's Culinary Heritage
illustration

Americans & Alcohol:
Decadence and Restraint

horizontal rule
The paradoxical hallmarks of American culture–puritanical restraint and excessive consumption–are evident in this nation’s long and historically conflicted relationship with alcohol. The crusades of 19th century temperance leaders to make alcohol illegal; the underground drinking clubs generated by Prohibition (1920—1933); the free and celebratory cocktail culture that dominated in the United States through the 1970s; the more serious view of drinking and alcoholism beginning in the 1980s; the culture of binge drinking on college campuses today–all reflect our national ambivalence toward this most common of drugs.

continue to Food Nutrition & Science

home
introduction
early cookbooks
american taste
gastronomy
the elegant table
temperance and prohibition
food nutrition and science
corpulency, leanes, and dietary reform
kitchen technology
food processing and manufacture
credits

 

Cornell University Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Cornell University Library

Copyright © 2002 Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853
Phone Number: (607) 255-3530. Fax Number: (607) 255-9524

For reference questions, send mail to: rareref@cornell.edu
If you have questions or comments about the site, send mail to: webmaster.