On Friday evening I saw the play "20,000 Streets under the Sky", @swkplay.bsky.social, followed by a brilliant Q&A by @terripaddock.bsky.social. As a drink's historian, I was struck by how much alcohol felt like an actual character in the play, with more agency than some of the characters! 🗃️🍸
![This image shows a black sketch on yellowish paper. It shows a court room, with the defendant (who has dark hair and a moustache and is wearing a coat) in the front. We see him half from the back. He is holding up his right arm. In the background are two men in dark-clothes, staring at the defendant. Below the sketch, it says, in French: "Swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. - I swear. - Tell us what you know. - What I know? That the one, the only, the best [drink], is Oxygénée Cusenier. Is that the truth?"
This image was published in "Le Sourire" on the 09.12.1905, p.11.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gv3zltrq5kwet2qrmzlowwyi/bafkreifjuo7tahe6tvom3dyp4wzcvbdcld5pakvlp2arctygjase4asjvu)
![This image shows a black sketch on yellowish paper. It shows a scene in a court room. On the right hand side is a group of three men. The one in the middle is the defendant, who is standing up and talking to the judges in the background. He is dark-haired and has a moustache. He wears striped trousers and a dark coat. Behind him is a man in a uniform. In front of him, on a bench, there is another man, perhaps his lawyer? In the background, on the left is a second set of three men, all judges. While two of them smile at the defendant, the one in the middle ("Le Président", older and with a white beard) looks very serious and his hand is raised, in refusal.
Below the image it says in French: "Le Président. - So you were drinking before you killed your victim... What did you drink? Absinthe? - The accused. - Yes, mon Président. Unfortunately for me it wasn't Oxygénée Cusenier... The resident [sic]. - No advertising here! Say rather why you wanted to make the corpse disappear. The accused. - Why, mon Président, the cloak was in the way [a pun, because this phrase "l'occis gênait" sounds like l'Oxygénée]... The President. - Once again, I repeat, no advertising here!"
This sketch was published in "Le Sourire" on the 16.01.1909, p.9.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gv3zltrq5kwet2qrmzlowwyi/bafkreie7jcwwhrb2zhxqubp7wrrjhshzloc3k32yzqegqvenbpoyrhklyu)
![This image shows a sketch, black on yellowish paper. It shows a scene in a mountain, during the day. A man is shown as having fallen from a mountain, his fall stopped by a branch through parts of his clothing. He is hanging, currently, from this branch. Above him is another man, at the top of that ravine, on his hands and knees, looking over the edge and shouting down to the man. Behind them, one can see a bird in the sky and mountains.
Below this image it says, in French: "Be brave! ... I'm going down to the village to get some ropes! ... - Don't forget to bring up a good [glass or bottle of] Oxygénée Cusenier at the same time."
This sketch was published in "Le Sourire" on the 08.12.1906, p. 10.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gv3zltrq5kwet2qrmzlowwyi/bafkreiht6nxk2fnlbsicbhb2q5q27ey2ewkinyvsil2zld5kpf5hrj775a)
![This image shows a sketch, black on yellowish paper. It shows a scene in the mountains, during the day. It shows two figures, behind them trees and the mountains. The figure at the top of the image shows a young woman in elegant clothes, with a hat and a walking stick in her left hand, looking down and smiling at the other figure, a man. She is holding her hat with her right hand and wearing dainty boots. The man is wearing outdoorsy clothes and a hat. He has a mustache and carries a walking stick in his right hand. He is looking up at the woman, smiling.
Below this image, it says in French: "Him. - Sapristi, what strength! You can see that before leaving you drank a green Oxygénée Cusenier. - Her. - Sorry, my dear, I took two [glasses]..., one to take me up [the mountain] and the other to take me down."
This image is published in "Le Sourire" on the 29.06.1907, p. 10.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gv3zltrq5kwet2qrmzlowwyi/bafkreib7wb47r372baxf7jcabyao43m64rrdrvwdwhwk5yn3lxh5xzux2e)
![This image shows a sketch, black on yellowish paper. It shows a scene in the mountains, during the day. On the left hand side is a cliff face with a man (with a mustache) currently falling from it, feet first. His hat and walking stick and a couple of small rocks are falling, currently, above him. He is looking down, towards a waiter, who is looking up to him. We see the waiter from the back. Next to the waiter and below the falling men are tables. In the back, a couple is sitting at the table. In the very back, another couple is enjoying the view of the mountains.
Below the image, it says in French: "Quick, waiter, quick! ... A [glass of] Oxygénée Cusenier."
This sketch was published in "Le Sourire" on the 17.08.1907, p. 10.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gv3zltrq5kwet2qrmzlowwyi/bafkreiewozgxtnfv5fx6y7q3g7mv7gz2foihum67gm4gcc5bpjpo73hfha)
![This image shows a sketch, black on yellowish paper. It depicts two elegant dark-haired women, standing outside, during the day, in a city. Both are wearing hats.
Below the image it says, in French: "- Listen, my dear, I envy you, you should tell me the secret of your cheerfulness and freshness. - [It is] Simply my good stomach. I eat well and digest well: drink Oxygénée Cusenier, like me."
This image was published in "Le Sourire" on the 13.01.1906, p. 10.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gv3zltrq5kwet2qrmzlowwyi/bafkreifbcam7obnpx5ohbjgfeaxj6yeqtxwfqnhjgylpl7o7iqan5uumf4)
![This image shows a sketch, black on yellowish paper. It shows the rough outline of a plane, with a couple in it, in the open air. Behind them is the outline of Paris and the sun, but in the centre of the sun is a bottle of Oxygénée Cusenier. The man is at a steering wheel, while the woman stands half behind him, smiling at him. Both are wearing elegant clothes.
Below the image, it says, in French: "To please the ladies. Him. - I'm sure what attracted you to me was that I'm an aviator? Her. - But no, you big silly [man]! It's that you're a great drinker of Oxygénée Cusenier!"
This sketch was published in "Le Sourire" on the 06.11.1909, p. 10.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gv3zltrq5kwet2qrmzlowwyi/bafkreiev3jk3pjjel7bfpl7r5fnd2skp3tg42d24htlf2yuugjaowpn5fy)
