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The Irvington
Mix two tablespoonfuls of vanilla syrup, two tablespoonfuls of orange syrup; add one egg and a spoonful of ice cream. Shake well and strain into a glass adding milk to nearly fill the glass, and finish with soda water.
A soda-fountain formula of the type dispensed over a marble counter, written for someone with syrup pumps, a shaker and a soda draught arm within reach. The raw egg is the sticking point; the rest is a matter of translating fountain shorthand.
- The raw eggThe egg goes in uncooked and stays uncooked — nothing in the drink is ever heated. Shell eggs carry a risk of Salmonella, which a shaker does nothing to address, and this style of drink was routinely served to children and invalids. Use a current recipe if you want an egg cream or flip.
- Fountain measuresTaking a tablespoonful as the usual half ounce, two spoonfuls of each syrup is about 1 oz vanilla and 1 oz orange. "A spoonful of ice cream" is unquantified; it appears to be a small amount used for body rather than a full scoop.
- The syrupsVanilla and orange syrup here are fountain syrups: heavy sugar syrups, considerably sweeter than modern coffee-bar syrups, flavoured with extract or with orange. Substituting a modern syrup one for one will read as thin and watery.
- Soda waterFountain soda was drawn hard and cold under pressure, which is what "finish with soda water" assumes. Bottled seltzer poured over milk and egg gives far less lift and will curdle-look if the syrup is acidic.
- The glass"Nearly fill the glass" with milk means most of the drink is milk, with the soda water only topping it off. The size of glass is not specified.
- YieldOne drink.
History: On Uncle Sam's Water Wagon belongs to the wave of non-alcoholic drink books published in the United States around the time of national Prohibition, when the demand for drinks the saloons could no longer supply was met at soda fountains and at home. Formulas were commonly named for hotels, streets and neighbourhoods — an Irvington here — the way bar books named cocktails, without attaching to any documented original. Egg drinks were a fixture of the fountain trade: egg phosphates, egg lemonades and egg creams were sold as nourishment as much as refreshment, and eggs were often recommended for thin children and convalescents. That dietary confidence is the period detail worth noticing.