palatable. By the mid-19th century, the cocktail shaker as we now know it was in wide use, invented by an innkeeper who, while using two containers to pour drinks back and forth between, noticed that one container's mouth was smaller than the other's and held the two together and shook them "for a bit of a show". Rapid design advancement occurred during the late 19th century, with several patent improvements occurring during the 1870s and 1880s (see Patent history below), including the addition of integral strainer mechanisms to shakers. During the 1920s prohibition era in the United States, cocktail shakers were produced in many different shapes and designs, including shakers that looked like penguins, zeppelins, lighthouses and airplanes. Cocktail shaker skills and drink rituals became as important in the Jazz Age lifestyle as knowing the latest dance step. It was after prohibition, however, that cocktail shakers really reached their zenith of popularity. They appeared in movies, and were associated with the glamorous lives of movie stars. Cocktail shakers became de rigueur symbols of sophistication and symbols of the good life. In 1941, the era of the cocktail shaker faltered seriously, as the United States entered World War II and all non-essential uses of metal were redirected towards the war effort. The same companies and equipment formerly used to manufacture cocktail shakers were used to make artillery shells and other war materials. In the early 1950s, cocktail shakers enjoyed a brief resurgence as soldiers familiar with them returned and became part of the housing boom featuring rec rooms with bars. By the later part of the decade, though, shakers were quickly giving way to modern electric appliances that either added a mixing unit to the shaker's lid or did away with the shaker entirely, with the introduction of the electric blender. By the mid-1860s, the use of a pair of tumblers to mix drinks was common practice. The patent history involves improvements on this practice: See also Shaken, not stirred Mixed drink References Bergman, Andrew We're In The Money. Depression America and Its Films. New York University Press, 1971 Gaylesworth, Thomas & Laylesworth, Virginia New York, The Glamour Years 1919 – 1945 NY Gallery Books, 1987 Grimes, William Straight Up or On The Rocks, A Cultural History of American Drink NY Simon & Schuster, 1993 Lifshey, Earl Housewares Story, The, A History of the American Housewares Industry National Manufactures Association, 1973