Harvey 1950 - Martini Glasses

[Ethan Bentley]

I was watching Harvey with James Stewart and when he and Harvey go into the bar at the beginning he order two Martinis.

These seem to come in very small, maybe 1oz. Does anyone know if this was the general style in the 1950s?

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Pretty much, (Though bigger than 1oz) it wasn't until the modern era, that the inverted road cone sized cocktail glass became the norm.

The bright side is, you can hunt down vintage cocktail glasses, which I find to be more enjoyable to use.

 

[Fletch]

Three words: "three martini lunch." How big can they have been?

Have three modern-sized martinis at lunch sometime. Just don't plan to go back to the office. Or drive. Or walk. Or think.

 

[Guttersnipe]

The only one ounce-sized glass I can think about would be a cordial or aperitif glass; they are usually between 3/4 - 1 1/2oz. When it comes to vintage, cocktail glasses are usually 2 1/2 - 3 1/2oz, rocks and old fashioned glasses are 4 - 6oz, and colins/highball glasses are about 6 - 8oz.

Modern cocktail glasses are usually in the 6oz ball park. As a former bartender (e.g. at a bar, not a FL mod), it scares the bejesus out of me that modern stemware/bar-glass keeps getting more and more super sized; if you serve someone three extra dry martinis, in modern-sized glasses, it mean they've just consumed more than an entire pint of straight gin! I always used to worry about the possible mayhem people might unleash on the roads after that . . .