Barware in Popular Culture

This article forms part of the Decorative and Applied Arts Encyclopedia, a master reference hub providing a structured overview of design history, materials, movements, and practitioners.

Barware, with its gleaming surfaces, intricate designs, and the rituals surrounding its use, occupies a special place in popular culture. Its representation in films, television shows, and literature reflects societal attitudes towards drinking and socialization and enhances storytelling by adding layers of symbolism, character development, and historical context. Let’s explore some iconic instances where barware has played a pivotal role in popular culture.

Films

Different Bonds different glasses — Different Bonds, different glasses

James Bond Series: The James Bond franchise is synonymous with the martini, “shaken, not stirred.” This simple yet iconic line, often delivered as Bond orders his preferred Vesper martini, has immortalized popular culture’s cocktail shaker and martini glass, epitomizing sophistication, danger, and seduction.

The Great Gatsby (2013): The opulence of the Roaring Twenties is captured through lavish party scenes, where elegant stemware and decanters abound. Crystal glasses filled with champagne and cocktails symbolize the excess and ebullience of the era, as well as the underlying fragility of the American Dream.

Casablanca Bar Scene — Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, Warner Bros., 1942)

Casablanca (1942): Rick’s Café Américain, with its array of barware, from cocktail glasses to decanters, is central to the film’s ambience. The famous scene of Rick drinking alone after hours, contemplating his past with Ilsa, uses the bar setting and its accoutrements to delve into themes of love, loss, and nostalgia.

Television Shows

Don Draper and Roger H. Sterling prepare for a swig from these Mid Century glasses

Mad Men: The series, set in the 1960s, showcases a variety of mid-century modern barware, reflecting the era’s design aesthetics and the importance of social drinking in the advertising industry. The frequent scenes of characters pouring and sipping whiskey from elegantly designed glasses and decanters reveal character traits and comment on the social and professional norms of the time.

Cheers: Taking place almost entirely within a bar, “Cheers” uses its setting to explore the social significance of the bar in American culture. The glasses, taps, and other barware are more than just props; they symbolise community, friendship, and the comforting rituals of daily life.

Literature

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway: Hemingway’s novel is filled with scenes set in cafes and bars across Paris and Spain, where the characters’ interactions with barware—ranging from wine bottles to absinthe glasses—reflect their wanderlust, existential angst, and the post-war disillusionment of the Lost Generation.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: Holden Caulfield’s foray into a New York bar, where he attempts to order a cocktail, only to be refused due to his age, is a pivotal moment. It reflects his struggle with the phony adult world and his liminal state between adolescence and adulthood.

Popular culture often serves as a mirror to society, reflecting the complexities of human emotion, social interaction, and cultural norms. Through its representation in films, television, and literature, barware transcends its functional role, becoming a potent symbol of identity, status, and the human condition. Whether the solitary whiskey glass speaks to a character’s inner turmoil or the clinking of champagne flutes in a celebratory toast, barware enriches storytelling by adding depth, texture, and resonance to the narrative tapestry.