This emphasis on relaxed glamour is mirrored in the 1950s drinking culture and the birth of the Cocktail Hour. The Cocktail Hour wasn’t so much a time, but more of a mood – the time of day when you kick back and relax with a Martini or a Manhattan after a hard day at the office. Cocktail parties became popular ways to entertain friends as cocktails themselves became fashion accessories. It was all about the difference between a glass of gin with an olive in it, and a Martini – it’s all about style, darling! The fun of shaking, stirring and garnishing a drink in a posh glass added to the glitz and glamour. Cocktails were also quite daring – interesting colours and fruity flavours disguised the high alcohol content of the liquid - it was all about the appearance of innocence.

Cocktail parties and cocktail drinking in general suited the mood of the 1950s so well, that a new kind of music was associated with the scene – Lounge music. Although Jazz had always been a part of the whole cocktails culture, especially during the 1920s in Prohibition America, Lounge music was born out of the relaxed mood of the Cocktail Hour. It was more laid back and muted than other types of Jazz, and it tended to be more instrumental with an emphasis on percussion and rhythm.