At a time when rail travel was still the preferred and most decent mode of transportation, the Twentieth Century Limited enjoyed a 65-year run between Chicago and New York. During its track tenure, which began in 1902, the rail line provided passengers with a library, a barbershop, in-house maids and private sleeping berths. Ticket holders would tread across a crimson carpet to board the train, introducing the phrase “red carpet treatment” to the American lexicon. The line was such an institution that a Brit, not an American, dreamed up a cocktail to honor its name. It first appeared in the Café Royal Cocktail Book in 1937 and is similar to a Corpse Reviver #2, with crème de cacao subbing in for orange liqueur.
Twentieth Century
Adapted from the Café Royal Cocktail Book (1937) by William J. Tarling
