What to drink

Bertha E. L. Stockbridge's What to Drink: The Blue Book of Beverages is a practical yet culturally revealing guide to non-alcoholic refreshment, offering recipes and serving directions for drinks suited to "all occasions." Situated within the early twentieth-century domestic manual tradition, the book combines culinary instruction with social etiquette, reflecting a period when temperance ideals, hospitality, and household management converged. Its style is clear, methodical, and serviceable, yet it also preserves a fascinating record of contemporary tastes, ingredients, and modes of entertaining. Though less widely remembered than major literary figures, Stockbridge belongs to a cohort of women writers whose expertise in domestic science shaped everyday life and reading culture. Her attention to preparation, presentation, and variety suggests familiarity with both the practical demands of the household and the broader reformist climate that encouraged appealing alternatives to alcoholic drink. In this sense, the book speaks to the era's moral, social, and culinary aspirations. This volume will reward readers interested in food history, temperance culture, and the literature of domestic instruction. It is especially recommended for culinary historians, collectors of household manuals, and anyone seeking a thoughtful window into how beverage-making expressed refinement, order, and sociability.