Shirley Temple Cocktail (1946)

[Frank Abate]

Barry's posting of an antedating for this takes it back quite a few years
from what was known.  But the surmise that he mentions that it goes back to
the 30s makes so much sense that I would expect searching for evidence of
that is worth the effort.

Shirley Temple was a phenom in the 30s, and though her popularity continued,
it was nothing like the early years, when no one could believe that such a
young kid could sing and dance and be so cute.  So my scenario for the
cocktail is, she was in Hollywood, at some sort of fancy restaurant (the
Brown Derby will do) with a bunch of adults, movie execs and other stars and
the like, and the time came to order drinks.  Naturally, the little kid
couldn't have an alcoholic drink, so some smart bartender made her a drink
that looked like a cocktail, tasted good to Shirley, and solved the problem
of what she could order from the bar.  Of course it was dubbed a Shirley
Temple.  I'd bet a small amount that that HAD to happen in the 30s.  Maybe
Barry or others can prove that.

Later (I suspect) there was the version for little boys, the Roy Rogers.  It
is the same idea, if not the same thing, just a bit different concoction
(both are mostly ginger ale), and named so that boys can order it without
embarrassment.  Young boys generally do not want to order a Shirley Temple.
So someone came up with something more "manly", even though the connection
is different.  Since there were no young male stars like Shirley, someone
(in the 50s?) used the name of the cowboy star icon of those days.

That's my guess.  Maybe we'll see what the facts say.

Frank Abate
(quondam bartender)