Gin triumphed in the 1920s - the first 'Cocktail Age' - after having been scarce during the 1914-18 World War. Now recognised as a cosmopolitan and refreshing drink, gin became the darling of the famous Cunard cruises. During the 1920s and 1930s the newly popular idea of the 'Cocktail-Party' crossed the Atlantic from the USA to Britain via an American hostess who wanted to fill in for her friends the blank time between teatime and dinner. London dry gin, with its subtle flavour made it easy to mix and it quickly became the staple ingredient in a host of fashionable drinks - including the world famous and enduring Martini. Over the next twenty or thirty years many other cocktails with improbable names came to reflect the dizzy and sophisticated society which created them. By 1951 the Bartenders' Guild had registered 7000 cocktails on its files! At the same time gin had become one of the three essential drinks for home entertainment. Gin and tonic has remained one of the most popular and refreshing drinks right up to the modern day. And the latest fashion for cocktails - with even a hit American film of the same name - has resulted in a new career for likely young men who want to be seen hobnobbing with the rich and famous. 'Mixologists' are the new breed of bartenders who invent and serve the newest cocktails - often including fresh fruit juices from all manner of exotic sources. Seen at a glitzy, modern, chrome and mirrored venue near you - gin has come a long way from the 'palaces' of the early nineteenth century.