Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

“Why don’t you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?” (Robert Benchley to Ginger Rogers in “The Major and the Minor,” a 1942 movie)

Ah, it’s Friday again. It’s been extremely hectic around the Schmidt office and casa of late, as you may have inferred from lack of blog posts. But, whatever happens – good or bad – Friday always arrives, doesn’t it?

So, in the spirit of TGIF – and for ‘tooni drinkers everywhere – a few classics re “our” favorite drink.

The Thin Man movie (first one, the sequels got progressively worse). I get woozy just watching them pound down the ‘toonis (“Will you bring me five more martinis, Leo?”), but Myrna Loy is sheer delight. Alcoholism never looked so glam.

Martini time with W.H. Auden (Lovely article about a relationship with the poet.)

M.F.K. Fisher: Martini-Zheen, Anyone? (Gourmet archives, 1957; I’m happy to say I own an original issue with article.)

Mental Floss: 10 Famous Martini Preferences

#5:Alfred Hitchcock and Winston Churchill had the same idea – Hitch said the closest he wanted to get to a bottle of vermouth was looking at it from across the room. That quote is often attributed to Churchill, actually, but the Washington Post says otherwise… Churchill is misquoted all of the time, so I’m inclined to believe them. (I gaze fondly at the vermouth and then gently shut the fridge door…(yes, I do occasionally use it, but hardly ever in my Friday evening martinis.)

Happy Friday to all.