The Museum of the American Cocktail

It might not be part of the Smithsonian, but darn if this new museum, set to open in New Orleans on January 12, doesn’t sound like the type of cultural institution that I can get behind. Co-founded by legendary mixologist, “King Cocktail” Dale DeGroff, the MAC’s Web site explains that this non-profit history museum will offer a bevy of beverage-hound attractions:

The Museum of the American Cocktail will lead visitors through the fascinating two-hundred-year-old history of the American Cocktail. Situated in the Pharmacy Museum in New Orleans French Quarter from January through September 2005, the Museum will contain an extensive collection of rare books, Prohibition-era literature and music, vintage cocktail shakers, glassware, drink archives, tools, gadgets, cocktail memorabilia and photographs from the outstanding collections of our founders. Multimedia presentations will bring the cocktails history even more to life with film clips, interactive displays, songs, and sounds.

The American Cocktails history and lore are just two examples of the diverse subject matter that will be explored on an ongoing basis by the museums founders, guest curators, outside researchers, writers, and historians. The results of this research will be published on an annual basis in the museums journal; The Mixologist: The Journal of the Museum of the American Cocktail, in exhibition catalogues, and in original works written by the worlds top cocktail authorities.

A library of rare and out-of-print literature as well as modern titles on the subjects of cocktails, spirits, and drinking in both paper and digital form, will be made available for writers and researchers, housed in the museums permanent location. Books and films that document the cocktails influence on American and European culture will also be acquired for viewing.

Sounds like an educational field-trip is in order.