The Toddy Lifter

“If you intend to drink much after dinner, never drink much at dinner.”  Thus begin the collection of witty musings on drink, philosophy, and life that Edinburgh’s Blackwood Magazine published in the 1820’s, The maxims of Sir Morgan O’Dohherty Baronet.  There is no doubt that William Maginn is the author as he “invented” that popular tool of temperance – the toddy lifter – a useful and amusing bit of Scottish engineering.  The toddy lifter was used to siphon his Toddy (malt whiskey, warm water, and sugar) from the bowl to his cup in a controlled and elegantly simple ration.  The purpose of the toddy lifter was not to eschew drink (as if a proper Scotsman could) but rather to limit it to a reasonable and rational rate so as not to overindulge.

Unlike the radical temperance movement of the late 19th and early 20th Century that ultimately enacted the doomed 18th Amendment 18th Century temperance acknowledged that beer and wine were a crucial part of the diet of most Americans.  Most physicians considered the consumption of liquors to be a valuable safeguard against the effects of heat or cold, or to relieve the effects of fatigue. Prohibition was not the goal of temperance, rather 18th Century temperance encouraged moderation.  By ensuring that drinking did not progress to the point of excess, the 18th Century temperance model suggested that one should measure and control your drinking rather than abstain. This “nothing in excess” is a far more practical and healthy path than the extremes of totalitarian prohibition.

So, we have the toddy lifter.  This simple device is essentially a pipette or a glass tube with openings on each end.  Allow the beverage to flow in, then place your finger over the top to seal the tube and you can “lift” a carefully measured “tot” into your glass.  Since you are only drinking one small tot at time, rather than a full mug, your rate of imbibing is limited so you are practicing temperance.

Moral behavior is the mean between two extremes – at one end is excess, at the other deficiency. Find a moderate position between those two extremes, and you will be acting morally.  — Aristotle

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Published by Michael Carver

My goal is to bring history alive through interactive portrayal of ordinary American life in the late 18th Century (1750—1799) My persona are: Journeyman Brewer; Cordwainer (leather tradesman but not cobbler), Statesman and Orator; Chandler (candle and soap maker); Gentleman Scientist; and, Soldier in either the British Regular Army, the Centennial Army, or one of the various Militia. Let me help you experience history 1st hand!