The Art Deco movie set
aesthetic was perfect for the Depression-driven
martini shaker. To meet popular demand,
machine age factories, geared for mass
production, began turning them out in
droves. Fashioned from the high-tech materials
of the day, chrome-plated stainless steel
martini shakers with Bakelite trim
replaced those of sterling silver and were
advertised as "non-tarnishing, no polishing
needed." The great glass companies, such as
Cambridge, Heisey, and
Imperial, leaped into action. Stunning etched
and silk-screened designs were created, often in
brilliant hues of ruby or cobalt.
Industrial design
was at the height of popularity and superstar
designers such as Russel Wright, Kem Weber, and
Lurelle Guild created streamlined modern
masterpiece martini shakers, many in the shape of the new deity
of architecture, the skyscraper. If there is a
definitive martini shaker classic it would have to be the sleek
1936 chrome-plated "Manhattan Skyscraper serving
set" by master industrial designer Norman Bel
Geddes, sought by collectors of today as the
perfect mix of form and function.
By the end of the
decade, martini shakers had become standard household
objects, affordable to all. Every family had at
least one cocktail shaker on the shelf. There were now
cocktail shakers in the shape of bowling pins,
dumbbells, town criers bells, and even in the
shape of a lady's leg. The cocktail party had
influenced fashion, furniture, and interior
design. Coffee tables were now cocktail tables,
and the little black dress, designed by Coco Chanel, went from fad to fashion, and is now an
institution.
At the beginning
of the 1940s, the Depression ended, but not in
the way most had hoped. It ended on December 7,
1941. The golden era of the martini shaker was
over, and America's involvement in World War II
began. All metal went to the war effort.
Companies that once made cocktail shakers, now
made artillery shells. After the war, few
thought of the shakers. We were in the atomic
age, thinking of jet-propelled airplanes, a
thing called television, and new cars with lots
of chrome.
In the early
1950s, a brief renewal of interest in cocktail
shakers occurred when new homes featuring
finished basements, called "roc rooms," were
equipped with bars. But the push-button age had
taken the fun out of mixing drinks. Shakers came
with battery-powered stirring devices. Worse
yet, electric blenders became popular; drop in
some ice, add the alcohol of your choice, a
package of "redi-mix," flick a switch and....
Gone were the rites and rituals, the
showmanship, the reward for effort. Small
wonder, then, that these elegant stars of the
1930s were forced into retirement.
And there they sat
- in attics and closets nationwide - waiting to
be recalled to life. Over 50 years have passed
now, and one can faintly hear the clink of ice
cubes as martini shakers are, once again, a symbol of
elegance.
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At the turn of the
century, New York City hotels were serving the
English custom of 5 o'clock tea and it was a
short leap to the 5 o'clock cocktail hour with
martini shakers manufactured for home use
looking very much like teapots. 
