Two social column mentions connecting DeCasseres to booze, natch…

One of the natty drinks of the moment is a pink concoction, served in small tumblers and of a melon pink coloration with trimmings of sliced fruit. It is called a “Ward Eight” and is simply a whiskey sour–Ben deCasseres’ favorite tipple–with a pony of grenadine instead of the customary powdered sugar. It is said to have gotten its name from the point of origination–the 8th Ward in Boston, Mass.

-from “New York Day by Day” column, by O.O. McIntyre.
Published in The Poughkeepsie Star-Enterprise, Friday, Sept. 25, 1936

Another high-powered concoction was Joel’s Blue Moon cocktail, the ingredients of which no one seemed to know bu Joel and Ben DeCasseres, and they would never tell. when mixed it was a Prussian blue and had a velvety chestnut taste.

-from “New York Day by Day” column, by O.O. McIntyre.
Published in Daily Sentinel, Rome, NY, Wednesday Evening, April 14, 1937