Last night we had a guest for dinner and when Claire was planning what to serve, she mentioned that maybe she’d make a Harvey Wallbanger cake. Those of you old enough to have been drinking in the late 1960s and early 70s will remember a once popular drink known as a Harvey Wallbanger. The ingredient that made the concoction a Harvey Wallbanger, and not just a Screwdriver, was an Italian liqueur known as Galliano. If you have a bottle of Galliano sitting around from the 70s or you want to make the liquor store clerks look at you funny, go buy a bottle; here’s how to make a Harvey Wallbanger:
1.25 oz vodka
3 oz orange juice
0.5 oz Galliano
Add the vodka and the orange juice to a tall glass filled with ice. Stir, and then float the Galliano on top. The Galliano is heavier and will drift down through the mixture. If you ordered this in a fancy restaurant, it was usually garnished with an orange slice.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, lets get back to that big towering yellow bottle that wouldn’t fit on any bar shelf and really wasn’t particularly good in any drink — the exception being the Harvey Wallbanger.
At the turn of the century, thousands and thousands of Southern Italians were immigrating to California to seek their fortune in the gold fields. Arturo Vaccari, a young Italian distiller, created a new spirit for his countrymen to take with them on their journey as a souvenir of Italy. The original blend was made from local Italian ingredients (anise, lavender and mint) and some foreign spices (vanilla, cinnamon, and coriander.) Vaccari named the liqueur after Major Giuseppe Galliano, a supposedly handsome Italian hero of the First Italo-Ethiopian War. His final touch was to color the beverage gold, as a symbol of the gold rush that had inspired its creation.
As I said, I remember it being most popular in the early 70s — after being around since the late 1800s, it rose to prominence in the 70s primarily due to clever marketing by a Galliano sales manager based in California. The drink was supposedly named after a California surfer who liked it and one day after losing a surfing contest, walked into his usual watering hole, ordered his drink and banged his head against the wall, displaying the agony of defeat. His name was Harvey — there you have it. Anyhow, the drink became popular almost strictly due to some crafty marketing. An advertising man named Bill Yound came up with a goofy cartoon character to represent Harvey. Harvey had a famous phrase, “My name is Harvey, and I can be made.” The Harvey Wallbanger was even a featured cocktail on TWA flights. Some of the flights had a plastic blow-up doll of Harvey on board as a promotional gimmick.
Now you’re probably wondering why I’m providing you all this information… to provide you with adequate background information and allow you plenty of time to prepare for the big day. November 8 — National Harvey Wallbanger Day. Mark your calendars.
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