On Uncle Sam's Water Wagon

Some really interesting old recipes in this book. Many of them include a quarter of a pound of sugar per cup or chemicals that would get you put on a no-fly list but it's still a fascinating read. It's worth reading just for the grand names given to the various concoctions. I'll definitely be trying a few of them.

I found this compendium so fascinating, I began to read parts aloud until my husband begged me to stop.

This Prohibition-era collection features non-alcoholic beverage recipes, ranging from soda-fountain favorites to pineappleade to dandelion tea. There are also chapters on homemade syrups, sundaes and repellent-sounding "invalid drinks." Our old friends matzoon and zoolak appear.

Often the beverages have intriguing names, unexplained by their contents: The Empire, The Montclair, The Audubon, The Calumet, The Blackstone ... Why should orgeat and cream be dubbed The Tokio? While many of the drinks seem appealing, others -- Irish-moss lemonade and toast water, for example -- make one very glad the Volstead Act was repealed.

Alas, you wouldn't think it would be possible to be racist in a recipe collection, but there it is: "Darkies' Delight," lemonade in a hollowed-out watermelon.