This is another installment of weird things Bonnie is obsessed over, I give you party punches. I have never been to a party that included one. By the time I was old enough to go to dances, sadly there were no punches. Actually my middle school dances just sold Pizza Hut personal pan pizzas and soda for refreshments. Though every teen movie with a prom from the 1940s to now features a punch. Oh I’m sure that there still schools and events that serve them but never to anything I have gone too. Anyways now that I whined enough about my problems with punches, I did feel that I could not go through the holiday season with a blog about vintage food without featuring punches.

The one problem with featuring punches on this old blog or any blog really is that they are kind of hard to test out. Not because they are hard to make by any stretch of the imagination, it is more the quantity that one is left with. These punches usually have about 50 to 60 serving. I could do math to scale it down but what is the fun of that!  For this post I did test out one, the Quick Holiday Punch, and then I am including a few extra variations on the same concept from other sources. These obviously I have not tested. That would be waaaaayyyyy too much punch for one person to go through! Last thought, these are not exclusive to Christmas and can be used for any time of the year.

So without further ado here is the recipe for Quick Holiday punch from a 1950s Reynolds Wrap booklet called Recipes for Happy Holiday and “Goodies for Giving”:

You need two cups of light corn syrup, 6 cups of cranberry juice, 3 cups of orange juice, 1 cup of lemon juice, 3 cups of carbonated water such as club soda or plain seltzer and ice cubes. In the punch bowl mix together the corn syrup, cranberry juice, orange juice and lemon juice. Chill until ready use. Just before serving add the carbonated water and add ice cubes. Garnish with orange and lemon slices in you desire. If you want it boozy add a quart of rum or bourbon when adding the carbonated water.

Here is one from the 1961 7-Up Goes to a Party! and it is called Sparkling Punch:

The ingredients are as follows 2/3 cup sugar, 2 cups water, 4 cups grape juice, 2 cups orange juice, 1 cup lemon juice and 5 cups of 7-Up (or any lemon-lime soda can be used) plus enough to make two trays of 7-Up ice cubes (you can use regular ice cubes as well). Several hours before the party, simmer sugar and water in a saucepan on low or until the sugar is dissolved. Chill along with all the other juices. Then if using, pour extra 7-Up into ice cubes and freeze. At serving time, mix sugar syrup and fruit juices into a punch bowl. Then slowly pour in the soda. Add the ice cubes.

Next one is from the 1964 Fabulous Foods for Four Seasons put out by the Washington Gas Light Company. This one is named Christmas Punch:

You need 3 cans (6 ounces each) of frozen concentrated lemonade, 1 package (10 ounce) frozen strawberries, 4 cups of ginger ale and ice cubes. To begin, make the lemonade concentrate according to the directions on the package. Pour into a punch bowl with the strawberries. Chill until ready to serve. When ready to use, pour in the ginger ale and gently stir. Add ice. Again you can add gin, rum or bourbon to this punch to suit your taste.

This last one comes from a 1969 charity cookbook called Wonders of Cooking and it is named 7-Up Satin Punch.

The ingredients are 4 cups of apple juice that has been chilled, 4 cups of cranberry juice that has been chilled, 1 2 liter bottle of 7-Up (or any lemon-lime soda) and yes, you guessed it, chilled and ice cubes. When ready to serve mix both of the juices together in a punch bowl and then slowly power over the soda. Add ice and serve. The recipe also suggests making ice cubes with extra soda to place in the punch versus regular ice.