Intoxicating Pleasures

"Full of fascinating and little-known stories that complement and complicate our understanding of twentieth-century culinary culture as a joint product of business, government, and consumers. Lisa Jacobson is one of the best writers on the history of consumer culture."—Megan Elias, author of Food on the Page: Cookbooks and American Culture

"Jacobson's exhaustive research provides a compelling window into the evolution of American drinking culture."—Vicki Howard, author of From Main Street to Mall: The Rise and Fall of the American Department Store

"Intoxicating Pleasures provides the most in-depth and well-researched account of the alcoholic beverage industries in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. It persuasively argues that Americans' demand for access to alcoholic beverages was in fact a demand for the right to have pleasure."—Pamela Pennock, author of Advertising Sin and Sickness: The Politics of Alcohol and Tobacco Marketing, 1950–1990

"Surprises abound in Jacobson's eagerly awaited Intoxicating Pleasures! Creative research supports an erudite and groundbreaking analysis of alcohol’s still-contested reentry into American culture following Prohibition. A remarkable array of illustrations enhances the elegantly crafted narrative, showing how advocates reinvented moderate consumption as a patriotic and socially suitable source of respectable pleasures."—Pamela Laird, author of Advertising Progress: American Business and the Rise of Consumer Marketing