Education by Radio (1933)

on a fishing expedition and see the size of the fish you catch! And when you come to the 19th hole, see if a bottle of good champagne won’t make you start another round. Some people, I am told, are said to wash golf balls in champagne, always hoping to get the longest drive. And when the weather is very hot, drink it, at least, with ice water. You will find it very much more refreshing than any ginger ale. I might say every time seems good to me, apart from break¬ fast; and even then, I must say, that there are times when we go out on shooting parties, and we have very early lunch, almost breakfast, and when I see the way my friends gulp it down, it looks to me as if that time suits them as well as any other. Question: Do you think that champagne is the only good drink? Prince Ghimay: My goodness, no! The Bordeaux wines are grand. All the French wines are good — so are the Bur¬ gundy’s; they can’t be beaten. For a men’s club dinner [and this is no secret] champagne will always be the prize favorite, because it is the only wine that makes the girls laugh. As for a bottle of Bordeaux or Burgundy, which has been sunk in your cellar for thirty or forty years, or more, the custom was that only the master of the house could handle it and pop the cork. He would go and spend hours with his oldest son among the old bottles, transmitting to him the secret of the cellar. Champagne is more like a “Jack-of-all-trades.” You can drink it, even the oldest vintages, without notice. In moving it about, to picnics, and such, there is only one important thing to remember, it must be thoroly chilled. Question: Is the question of age very important with cham¬ pagne? Prince Ghimay: That depends on personal opinion. It is very difficult to say, but I think myself that champagne is at its best when it is about six years of age, and it remains at its best for 20 years. Of course, bear in mind, it takes four or five years to get a bottle of champagne ready for the market. Question: Perhaps you would he good enough to give us some more reasons for drinking? Prince Ghimay: Does it really need any excuse? There are few, if any, reasons why we should not drink wine; cer¬ tainly, there are very few champagne drunkards or Bordeaux drunkards in the world. I have never seen one. When they talk in America of “light wines” they mean champagne, Bor¬ deaux, and other French wines; they do not mean heavy wines like port and sherry and the sweet wines. Champagne and claret are both in the light wine category. This means that they can be used with impunity as well as with pleasure. The fact that good clear wine promotes good cheer seems to me good enough reason to have a bottle of wine at the table every day. Most everyone in France, and I hope the French have the good reputation for being sober, industrious, and intelli¬ gent people, thinks that food without wine is like meat with¬ out bread. In the country, they even put wine in their soup. They call it wine soup. Many of our dishes are flavored with wine. Prunes are cooked in claret, and they are best cooked in good red wine. The children have wine with their meals almost from the time they leave off mother’s milk. They serve it to scholars from age 7 and up with the meals in the public schools. Of course, children take their wine well diluted with water, and so do some grown-ups. But no one is called a drunkard who uses wine. We call drunkards people who over-drink, and especially those who abuse spirits. Spirits have their value, too, but we won’t go into that now. Question: What is the result of all this, what we Americans call drinking? Prince Ghimay: The inhabitants of the wine-growing re¬ gions, like our vineyards in Champaigne, are invariably pleas¬ ant people. They are of kindly inclination, good nature, thoro, and very witty, and their wines cost them little or nothing, indeed so little that they can have all they want. But it is rare to find anyone among the vineyard people who over-drinks. I don’t think I have seen a drunkard in my place for the past ten years. Question: Their attitude is different from ours at home, no doubt. Prince Ghimay: Yes, perhaps, but even they look upon champagne as the wine to cheer, make life more happy. When¬ ever we feel the need for it, we can be sure there will not be | any unpleasantness afterwards. All around the world cham¬ pagne is chosen to cheer. It is essential at every formal dinner, and at very informal parties, too, for its promotion of joy. At every wedding, there must be champagne. When the baby is born, there must be champagne at the christening. At Christ 1 mas Eve, after the midnight mass, champagne is best with j pancakes and Bock sausages. At New Year’s Eve, champagne , again, bottles and bottles and bottles of it, until the popping i of corks resembles machine gun fire. It is easy enough to find excellent excuses to celebrate everything with champagne. When you stick to champagne and take nothing else with it, the after effects of even a good bit too much are not awful. Question: That sounds very American. Prince Ghimay: You mean the joy of good wine? There are a good many ways of indulging one’s self. Do you know e the pleasant feeling your palate has when it is flavored with t< sparkling nectar? It is light and so easily digested. Why, even to look at it, it is good for the eyes — clear, sparkling, pure. I wish i had language emphatic enough to express just how much I do not want my home invaded by liquor advertising over the radio. I have four children, three of whom are boys, ranging in age from sixteen to five years. I will junk my radio before I will allow them to listen to the seductive lies the liquor interests have always used to entice young people. [I My husband is not at home at the present time, but I know he would heartily second my note of “no” on this subject, In the name of the young people of Amer¬ ica, do all you can to keep John Barleycorn off of the air. My father joins me in this. — Mrs. Henrietta C. Mumford, Glendale, California. [6]