What’s With Wine & Vodka Today?
Growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s in Arlington, VA, the Baby Boomer was a bit of a “goody two-shoes”. Reflecting, I was somewhat of an anomaly as most of my friends and acquaintances from “back in the day” experienced doing certain things which I just refused to participate in. Let’s face it, I was the ultimate conformist, an introvert, very boring, and a complete nerd.
I didn’t partake in any alcohol until my eighteenth birthday which was the legal age in 1970. My first drink was with my father at a hotel bar in Knoxville, TN where we stopped over before heading to Nashville the next day to begin my freshman year at Vanderbilt University. Sipping my first bourbon and water I quickly came to the realization that it didn’t taste very good–I didn’t like it! I also wondered what the draw was to lure those friends and acquaintances to drink to drunkenness back in high school drinking something that tasted so terrible. My father, seeing I wasn’t enjoying my first cocktail, summed it all up by merely saying enjoying alcohol was an “acquired taste” and, like everything else, should be used in moderation.
Well, the Baby Boomer did indeed begin to acquire the taste for alcohol during the second semester of his freshman year after becoming a pledge to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. Weekend “frat” parties on campus were the “rage of the day” where the larger fraternities packed them in featuring live bands. Having a reputation for throwing a “whale of a party” was extremely important to a fraternity as it was a lure to attract potential members during second semester “rush” and to keep alumni coming back who helped support the fraternity through their contributions.
The most successful fraternities on campus, like our chapter, were really small businesses. Sure, we had officers, but we also had a number of committees whose chairmen were responsible for the financial success of the chapter. Vanderbilt tolerated their fraternity and sorority system–if they had their “druthers” they would’ve eliminated them–and could be difficult to deal with invoking a number of rules and regulations on the system through the Interfraternity Council (IFC). Some college campuses allowed the entire brotherhood to live in the fraternity house and strongly supported the system. At Vanderbilt, only the six elected officers were allowed to live in the house, where the house should expect a number of annual unannounced inspections, the IFC required community involvement and fundraising, GPA goals had to be met and maintained, and the campus police were very visible Saturday evenings monitoring all the “frat” parties looking for a reason to be able to shut the parties down.
Vanderbilt was an academic campus and the student body lived for the weekend in order to cope with the stresses of scholarly academia throughout the week. You might try to get off campus on a Friday evening just to get away from it all and do your best to relax, but Saturday night was “party night” knowing you had Sunday to recover. “Back in the day”, folks would drink mainly beer and bourbon. For beer it was Bud tall necks and for bourbon it was Jack Daniels Black Label. Nobody and I mean nobody drank wine or vodka. Huh? What the hell was that stuff? The young ladies of the South seemed to enjoy Jack Black and Coke while us boys normally drank ours “straight” over ice.
It was up to us boys to provide the liquor for the weekend and so it was off to see Mrs. Mize, the owner of The Southerner Liquors, which was located close to campus. Mrs. Mize was an attractive woman who was always well-dressed and was probably in her early forties with a very friendly outgoing personality. It was rumored that her husband may have been associated with the Nashville Mafia–just a rumor. It didn’t take long for Mrs. Mize to know you by name and immediately head to the shelf retrieving your bottle of choice. She also acted as a bank providing you with any amount of cash back you desired from your written check.
Fortunately or unfortunately, I became somewhat of a Mrs. Mize favorite. I’ll let you ponder as to why that may have been the case. I asked her for all the checks she cashed for the Vandy Boys were any of them ever returned? She said, “Oh, yes! But that’s a small price to pay for my business. Most of the boys do eventually make them good possibly due to knowing about my husband”. Hmm! Next to the cash register was a large drawer which she opened for me to take a “peek” and I was astonished at the number of returned checks filling that drawer. She just looked at me and smiled that captivating smile. Mrs. Mize had an open invitation to visit our chapter house and enjoy the “going-ons” at any of our “frat” parties and she usually made it to a couple each year always bringing us a complimentary case of Jack Daniels Black Label. What a lady!
To be a successful chapter you needed to maintain your membership. Our goal at Phi Psi was to have 100 active dues-paying members. It wasn’t only the number of brothers in your chapter, but the quality of the membership which was a year-round priority preparing for “rush” in the second semester while also providing the proper pledge education meaning our Rush Chairman and Pledge Educator needed to be in top form. Our VP was responsible for the kitchen (hiring cooks, creating menus, ordering food, and maintaining proper cleanliness and sanitation) which served both lunch and dinner to the brotherhood and needed to be properly managed in order to turn a profit. Maintaining the chapter house was of great importance and required the proper investment with this responsibility falling on the shoulders of the House Manager. The chairman of the Social Committee was in charge of putting together all the “frat” parties, special events like Initiation and the following prom, Founder’s Day, and all of the other social gatherings throughout the year managing a rather substantial budget. The treasurer had to create the annual budget, collect all the dues, pay all the debts, and manage our cash flow so we’d always have a bit more money than we needed. The president of the fraternity was its campus face and represented the chapter at the IFC and the national fraternity, as well as, overseeing its overall operation.
Still, today, not knowing why, this introverted Baby Boomer was asked if he’d be interested in being the Social Chairman his sophomore year. I came to the conclusion it would be an interesting challenge and so I accepted having no idea what the hell I was getting into. Certainly, the key to any successful “frat” party is the band and so I began interviewing booking agents for local bands. Tony Moon was a session guitarist on Music Row providing his talent to an array of country music’s recording artists. He also had a side business booking local bands at his agency Crescent Moon Talent. The bottom line is we “hit it off” and came to a “handshake” agreement where he’d exclusively provide us with our entertainment allowing us the opportunity for “first dibs” on bands and at a 20% discount due to the exclusive arrangement. Tony was awesome and we worked very well together. His bands were the best and we always booked “the best of the best” making our parties nothing but the best on campus. To keep things in order and the campus cops from bothering us, I hired two Nashville cops for security who, in uniform, provided crowd and noise control while ensuring everyone had a safe and memorable time at our “frat” parties. These parties were so very important and a time for the Rush Committee to be prospecting for potential new members–the lifeblood of our fraternity.
Parties normally ran from 7-11PM with the band playing four 45-minute sets. Tony would make his rounds and hung out with us longer than anywhere else as we’d enjoy not only one another’s company, but a Jack Black or two or three and a fine cigar. I never really attempted to have a date at one of our “frat” parties as I felt it was my responsibility to hang back and observe making sure everything ran smoothly. We had six parties each semester with the average price for the band running around $1200. Other expenses included renting, setting up, and tearing down a stage, house decorations, refreshments for the band, security, and breakfast for the brothers the next morning assigned to the “clean-up crew”. For all this plus Initiation and prom, Founder’s Day, and all the other events throughout the year the social budget was $40,000/year. Folks, I had a blast being Social Chairman–so much so I signed on to do it all over again my junior year!
The proper protocol after a great “frat” party was to get something in your belly to help soak up all that booze. The Baby Boomer is here to tell you there’s nothing better to accomplish this mission than some really greasy bar-be-cue and we knew just the spot–Mary’s Queen of Barbecue! Three or four of us would hop in the car and head to the other side of the “tracks” to visit Mary’s. Certainly, we had pretty much sobered up by then so making the trek was safe. One Brother who always made the trip was our light-hearted and rather humorous “chapter comedian” who would comment with raised eyebrows upon our arrival that he never saw the same dog hanging around Mary’s which gave me a rather sick feeling if you know what I mean. Hey, I ain’t sayin’ Mary’s was the best bar-be-cue I’ve eaten–not by a long shot–but it did the trick for preventing the dreaded hangover. When our “chapter comedian” got to the window to place his order he’d burst out and say, “I’ll take a pound of the ground hound with extra sauce please”! Yes, he’d get a number of those looks from the folks working there as we kinda hid around the corner, embarrassed, and not really wanting to be associated with him if you know what I mean.
We’d all get a plate with slaw on the side and we’d just be given a full loaf of bread to go with the “cue”. Proving the Baby Boomer was truly a “city boy”, one night I ordered a pork chop sandwich, which was dipped in sauce and placed between two slices of white bread. Fair enough as I almost broke every tooth in my head not realizing the chop still had its bone–I assumed it would be boneless! Once we got our orders, we’d head back to the fraternity houses to enjoy our “salve” washing it down with a cold quart bottle of Bud. Now, that’s livin’ ain’t it!
“Back in the day” I can’t recall folks drinking anything other than beer, bourbon, and gin. Hey, that’s what the Baby Boomer drank and being as old-fashioned as he is that’s what he still drinks today when he imbibes. I used to enjoy a cocktail and a fine cigar, but I gave the fine cigar thing up fifteen years ago for all the obvious reasons. Now, I’ll still enjoy a cold draft beer be it a Bud, Coors Light, a craft IPA, or Brown Ale. My cocktail of choice today is a gin and tonic using Beefeater’s Gin. If I’ve enjoyed one or two gin and tonics too many La Bear and Baby Bear will accuse me of having a “gincident”!
Up until the late 1980’s, I’d drink the gin and tonics when the weather was warm and might even enjoy a gin martini with three olives either over ice or just straight up–“shaken, not stirred” of course. However, during the colder months it was strictly Jack Black. Many folks said they couldn’t taste the difference, but the Baby Boomer sure could meaning in 1987 Jack Daniels no longer aged its Black Label seven years reducing it to 4-5 years and lowered the alcoholic content from 90 proof to 86 proof. This is when I began to drink mostly “g & t’s” and switched drinking an occasional Wild Turkey 101 which I found to be a little too sweet for my “acquired” taste. As the small batch bourbons came onto the market, I’d sample them enjoying a few until Jack Daniels finally introduced a 100 proof Bonded which reminded the Baby Boomer of the Jack Black from “back in the day”.
Today, it seems everyone enjoys consuming wine and vodka. Personally, that’s not for me and I really don’t even understand why they’ve become the “rage”. Stores like Total Wine, Wegmans, and Publix carry hundreds of different wines from all over the United States and the world offering red, white, and blends. In Virginia alone there are almost 400 different wineries with more than 40 wineries in the Charlottesville area alone along what’s called the Monticello Wine Trail. In addition, everywhere you turn you seemingly see a wine store on almost every corner peddling their offerings. What the hell?
Honestly, I can’t tell the difference between a $10 bottle of wine, or a $40 dollar bottle, let alone any bottle costing significantly more than that–can you? I suppose there are some of you who consider themselves to be wine aficionados who only use stemmed wine glasses, swirl the wine, and then proceed to sniff it supposedly enjoying the “bouquet”, then finally tasting it and identifying the nuances you’ve discovered. You really gotta be kidding the Baby Boomer–aren’t you!
Today, you can find hundreds of vodkas on the market with so many of them being flavored supposing the flavor gives it taste because, folks, vodka has no taste–it’s actually tasteless! Sorry to be a “chauvinist”, but vodka isn’t a drink for men! No wonder all the martinis made with vodka have to add “this or that” in order to provide flavor. Martinis are to be made with gin and only gin–just ask James Bond–case closed!
The Baby Boomer just doesn’t get it as to why you “Winos” and those addicted to vodka or so infatuated and drink that stuff. It’s certainly way beyond me. I guess I’ll just stick to my old-fashioned ways and keep asking myself what’s with wine and vodka today?