Golden Cadillac and Harvey Wallbanger: Back to School in vintage style

Golden Cadillac and Harvey Wallbanger: Vintage drinks to celebrate the bittersweet day! The end of summer has arrived and the children are back in school. Another year! Relish the memory of their first day back, their excitement and the anxiety, reconnecting with friends and meeting a new teacher. Then once you’ve dropped them off, gather with other moms and replace those mimosas with these vintage drinks below. Here are a couple recipes from the 1960s and 70s.

Golden Cadillac, Helen F., 1975

• 1 oz. liquor Galliano
• 2 oz. white crème de cocoa
• 1 oz. cream
• 3 oz. crushed ice

Mix in blender.

This drink was supposedly named after a beach surfer who ran into walls after drinking too many of these.

Harvey Wallbanger,1960s

• 1 ounce vodka
• ½ ounce Galliano
• 4 ounces orange juice

Fill a frosty highball glass with ice, then pour the vodka and orange juice over it. Float the Galliano on top. Serve with sliced oranges

Trivia: The 1982 Milwaukee Brewers were nicknamed the Harvey’s Wallbangers because of their power hitting or banging the wall.

Oranges: Select firm, heavy fruit. Surface blemishes do not affect fruit. Avoid light, puffy fruit with badly creased skins. 2,000 Useful Facts about Food, 1941

If you prefer coffee, here are some rules for making coffee from the pamphlet: 2,000 Useful Facts about Food, 1941

Have all equipment perfectly clean.

If a cloth filter is used, boil after each use or keep filter in water.

Use freshly drawn water.

Measure coffee and water with standard measuring cup and spoon.

Remove grounds as soon as coffee is made.

Serve at once.

Do not reheat coffee or reuse grounds.

Unless coffee is ground at home, purchase only 1 week’s supply at a time. Coffee begins to deteriorate somewhat after it is roasted and loses flavor rapidly after it is ground.

Flavor is best preserved by storing coffee in a covered container.

AND:

Iced Coffee or Tea: Make regular brew for coffee or tea and freeze in cube form (probably metal ice-cube trays). Pour normal brew over cubes.

The First Day of School

Here is a paraphrase on a conversation I overheard at a coffee shop this summer:

“Are you looking forward to starting the new school year?”

“No, actually I resigned this summer.”

“What! Didn’t you have five years in?”

“Yep, I did. Five years in special education.”

“I’m stunned. Why?”

“It wasn’t the kids. I love the kids. It was the testing. At the beginning of the last school year, I had several students who couldn’t read, but by the end of the year, they were able to read a few basic words and simple sentences. About a month before testing, two other students were placed in my class. They couldn’t read a word. It was like starting all over again. All my students took the test and an amazing thing happened. Those two students scored almost perfect reading scores and, get this, the scores were identical. The students who were with me all year, scored much lower, which was expected, but even their scores were questionable.”

“Ops.”

“Right. I got out of there as fast as I could. I didn’t want to be involved with whatever was going on. So now I’m working with a private agency. I really like it; I still work with kids, preschoolers, but the first day of school is unique. I’ll miss those fresh, anxious faces putting their trust in me, and ready to begin a new year. Yes, I’ll miss that.”

“When the agency assigns you a new student, isn’t that like beginning a new year?”  Her friend held up her coffee cup. “Let’s drink to a new school year, all year long.” And they did!