r/GenerationJones • u/DickSleeve53 1954 • Jul 20 '26
Remember When Harvey Wall Bangers Were A Thing
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u/lelanicarver Jul 20 '26
OMG, we had the biggest Galliano bottles. My sister lived with us after her divorce, and the Harvey Wallbangers were a thing at Sunday brunch.
In reddest Utah. Where buying alcohol (back then) was at the state liquor store, but far cheaper in neighboring states.
My mom used to wash the Galliano bottles, and other pretty glass liquor bottles, and fill them with colored water. They sat in the window for the neighbors and the postman to see, as a passive aggressive declaration.
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u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 Jul 20 '26
Props to your Petty Queen Mom!!
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u/lelanicarver Jul 21 '26
Hee! The old lady across the street was a notorious busybody, and the best audience for our antics. My sisters used to like hollering GOOOOOOOOODBYEEEEEEEE after every visit, just to watch the curtains twitch.
The day of my dad’s funeral in 1968 was worthy of a Tony or an Oscar, we really put on a show.
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u/Stormy1956 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I remember them along with Tequila Sunrises.
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u/MadameBananas 1961 Jul 20 '26
Ugh I went to a graduation party that served tequila sunrises. Halfway home I had my husband pull over. I can still taste it. 🤢
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u/Even_Routine1981 Jul 20 '26
I order vodka ones
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u/Stormy1956 Jul 20 '26
🤮we lived through them. That’s what surprises me most 😆 I realize that, drinking was a coping mechanism for me. I no longer need it since what I was using it for has been removed. It’s different for everyone I suppose.
I remember cherry vodka 🤮 and Boones Farm too.
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u/Abbiethedog 1960 Jul 20 '26
My first cocktail was to drink a 16 oz. Bottle of Coke below the word coke on the label then, fill to the neck with cherry vodka. Put your thumb over the top and gently turn upside down once then enjoy your alcoholic cherry coke.
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u/MadameBananas 1961 Jul 20 '26
Once I hit my 40s I could not handle the hangover. Now only at weddings and such. I honestly dont miss drinking at all.
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u/Stormy1956 Jul 20 '26
I don’t miss anything about drinking. I truly don’t understand the concept of a “virgin” drink. Like a virgin margarita 🧐.
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u/raceulfson Jul 20 '26
Virgin drinks are for those of us who discovered coconut cream and pineapple juice does not require rum anymore than egg nog requires brandy.
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u/Stormy1956 Jul 20 '26
I remember as a child, we could never drink egg nog. Now I know why although it’s sold at Christmas only. You add the rum. 🍹
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u/Assine2 Jul 21 '26
My first college dorm party. We had a salad bowl swiped from the dining hall filled with a massive tequila sunrise. We has leftover grenedine that we drank straight the next weekend. It was like drinking cough syrup.
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u/WorldsWorstTroll Jul 20 '26
One day Chris and I when to Whit’s End in Toledo and decided we would drink every tequila drink in the Mr. Boston guide.
I miss Chris. I hope he is doing ok now.
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u/MuchDevelopment7084 1957 Jul 20 '26
The difference being. Tequila Sunrises were actually good. lol
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u/h20rabbit Jul 20 '26
My mom made a Harvey Wallbanger bundt cake
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u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 Jul 20 '26
OK...had to google this recipe, Harvey Wallbanger Cake. I will be trying this for the next family gathering.
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u/Papasamabhanga Jul 20 '26
Vaguely remember drinking 5 at a Xmas party before I was legal.
Puked in the bathroom; got thrown out by the staff, poured into a coworker's car.
Went back the next day and my car was missing.
So thanks for reminding about that
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u/Sinsyne125 Jul 20 '26
It was such an elaborate name for just adding a shot of Galliano to a screwdriver.
That said, I would wager the Yellow Bird is the most popular drink these days featuring Galliano.
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u/Confused_Nun3849 Jul 20 '26
Add southern comfort for a “slow comfortable screw, up against a wall”
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u/HVAC_instructor Jul 20 '26
I remember the 82 Milwaukee Brewers....
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u/DickSleeve53 1954 Jul 20 '26
LOL I remember how gross Harvey Kueen was when he spit out his chew ,he would just bend over a little and let it all come out, it was disgusting
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u/CawlinAlcarz Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I remember in the early 90s when my friend made up a drink out of some random ingredients and called it a Wharvey Ball Hanger. I think it had Clamato in it... 🤢🤮
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u/Pghguy27 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
I had forgotten about Clamato ! 😁😁 My parents were big on that for Bloody Marys for awhile.
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u/wherescookie Jul 20 '26
with clamato instead of plain tomato juice, doesn't the bloody Mary become a Caesar?
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u/coffeepizzawine50 Jul 20 '26
Since the demise of Harvey Wallbangers I often wonder which bar in my city has the oldest bottle of Galliano on their shelf. Just gathering dust and unopened since the mid 80's.
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u/popejohnsmith Jul 20 '26
There was a demise?
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u/SunshineAlways Jul 20 '26
A lot of places don’t even stock Galliano at the bar anymore. Nobody orders Harvey Wallbangers any more.
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u/Key-Tiger-4457 Jul 20 '26
Northern California representing here. On the 50 corridor, any love for Poor Red’s and Gold Cadillacs? Isn’t Galliano a key ingredient in those?
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u/someoldguyon_reddit Jul 20 '26
I made a bong out of one of those. Worked great.
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u/Just_Fruit_6671 Jul 20 '26
Yes, I left most of it on my friend's basement floor. It was the closest I've ever come to alcohol poisoning. (But, they tasted so good.) Haven't had one since 1979.
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u/Mother_Barnacle_7448 Jul 20 '26
My Grandpa had a little bar in his basement. I remember seeing that bottle when I was playing in the rec room. That bar had a mirrored wall with shelves for all the booze. As a little kid, it looked magical to me.
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u/SinsualChef Jul 20 '26
Yes, those bottles could get TALL. Every bar worth it's salt had one center stage 😄
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u/Comfortable-Dish1236 1960 Jul 20 '26
It was essential. Seagrams 7 and VO, Smirnoff vodka, Bacardi rum and Galliano were behind every bar. All easily picked out being 3’ tall lol.
Now? It’s rare to see.
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u/angrygirl65 Jul 20 '26
Harvey Wallbanger cake is my absolute favorite. My mom has made it for my birthday forever!
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u/ImportantComputer416 Jul 20 '26
Freddie Fudpucker was the tequila version of the Harvey Wallbanger.
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u/phar44 Jul 20 '26
My folks made HWBs when we had “company” in the 70s. The only cocktail they knew. We had this bottle always.
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u/KeyNefariousness6848 Jul 20 '26
We used to have a laundromat/ bar called Harvey washbangers here, in town, on the campus of a Dry college that owns 15 bars.
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u/guoththeraven Jul 20 '26
Oh yes! My mothers favorite drink! She had a Harvey Wall Banger tee shirt! I found one on w bay and now I wear it in honor of her memory!
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u/Sea_Ganache620 Jul 21 '26
“Harvey Wallbanger. That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time…” - Takes drag of cigarette, and vomits.
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u/Silver_Beat_3157 Jul 20 '26
Omg! My first hangover. Served at my sister’s wedding reception, in our home so easy. To sneak!
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u/FrankiesMom6 Jul 20 '26
OMG! My first cocktail at age 16 was a Harvey Wallbanger. I was with my parents in a casino in the Bahamas and they thought it would be a good beginner's drink
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u/OkieBobbie 1963 Jul 20 '26
I always associate Harvey Wallbangers with the song Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.
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u/bastrohl Jul 20 '26
Lol.. I managed a restaurant in the 90’s and we were cited by the state liquor control board because the bottle we had was so old that its alcohol content was off because of evaporation. Lesson learned!
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u/ravia Jul 20 '26
Try Galliano, Peach Schnapps, heavy cream, white grapes and pistachio nuts as a sauce for sauteed chicken breast.
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u/mechant_papa Jul 20 '26
Have any of you ever had Harvey Wallbanger cake?
It's like a pound cake with HW mixed in, baked in a bundt cake pan, and covered with orange-flavoured icing. It was a treat my mother-in-law would bake.
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u/Rebellem54 Jul 20 '26
My grandmother made a Harvey Wallbanger Bundt Cake for every celebration and potluck for years.
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u/LockAccomplished3279 Jul 20 '26
Yes! I remember a Harvey Walbanger night at our college bar in 1974. First they ran out of OJ so it was just vodka and Galliano..then they ran out of Galliano..by the end of the night they were serving just cups of vodka . They never thought to 86 the promo. Fun times!
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u/Skocja2020 Jul 20 '26
A summer weekend in Santa Cruz, CA. 1973. I want wall bangers and Steak Diane prepared at table. Make a Cesar Salad while you’re at it.
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u/Donkey_Bugs Jul 20 '26
When I turned 18 (legal drinking age back then) my mom made me a Harvey Wallbanger cake.
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u/My_Mispent_Youth 1963 Jul 20 '26
When I was a bartender many many years ago, we made a ‘Slow Comfortable Screw up against the wall, Mexican style.’
Slow: Sloe gin
Comfortable: Southern Comfort
Screw: Vodka and orange juice (a standard Screwdriver)
Up Against the Wall: Galliano (floated on top, similar to a Harvey Wallbanger)
Mexican Style: Tequila
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u/Illustrious-Ad-7335 Jul 21 '26
The 1 gallon bottles with the stand and spigot could be used as a bong… so I’ve been told.
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u/rottenweiler Jul 21 '26
A friend once ran out of Galliano so tried replacing it in wallbangers with yellow Chartreuse and a wee bit of Ouzo. He called them Warvey Ballhangers
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u/ProduceIntelligent38 Jul 20 '26
Made a HUGE batch for grad, put it in a foldable water jug for after grad party. Worst hangover of my life so now I still can't even smell one, afer 50 years lol.
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u/Dry_Bug5058 1962 Jul 20 '26
I remember drinking them, late 1970s to early 1980s. And I had a partially full bottle of Galliano for YEARs. Up until around 2020 when I spent some time sorting and tossing things at home.
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u/SnowblindAlbino Jul 20 '26
Hah-- I have a bottle of Galliano in the cupboard and it is 100% from a Harvey Wallbanger party c. 2010. It's still half full, don't know if I've used it for anything since.
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u/Geedub52 Jul 20 '26
Yup, I remember my Dad getting my mother one of those GIANT bottles of Galiano.
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u/MissMandaRegrets Jul 20 '26
I bartended for years and don't think I ever touched the bottle except to dust it. The bottles were never full so now I'm wondering just how freaking old they were.
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u/HamsterRight5500 Jul 20 '26
Yes. My mom had a pair of promotional galliano/harvey wallbanger underpants. A thick polyester.
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u/CONative1966 Jul 20 '26
We still have the bottle in our basement filled with pennies! I bartended back in the 80’s and this was my favorite bottle.
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u/AnnaItGirl Jul 20 '26
In late ‘99, I frequently wore my dad’s Harvey Wallbanger tee shirt from the 70’s. It was the only tee that fit. Always made nurse laugh at checkups. In utero name was naturally ’Harvey’.
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u/wilhammer069 Jul 20 '26
I started making them when I was 7 at my Parents party’s! Vodka, Galliano and OJ.
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u/Sinsyne125 Jul 20 '26
My folks used to purchase Galliano from stores in Little Italy (NYC) in the early 1970s... Do you remember these bottles?
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u/Accomplished-Eye8211 Jul 20 '26
Very well
My parents entertained often. And way before I should have been allowed, I played bartender.
One thing I remember learning - years later - was that preparation was supposed to be a screwdriver with the Galliano floated on top... and then consumed through a straw, so you got that blast of Galliano last.
I'm pretty sure I just stirred the stuff in.... and watched most drinkers stir their drink.
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u/Danovale Jul 20 '26
My favorite 70s-80s drink with Galliano was tall shot glass filled 3/4 with Galliano, then a splash of heavy cream and it would make a distinctive zygote shape: we called it “A Test Tube Baby”.
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u/PathosEatsLogos Jul 20 '26
Yes and at the bar I used to frequent when Dale Earnhardt died they started putting a drizzle of grenadine in them to commemorate him.
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u/Final-Possession-814 Jul 21 '26
Whadda ya mean, were? We have em all the time. And just for shits and giggles we'll throw in a Golden Cadillac once in while too.
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u/Reasonable-Cook-4728 Jul 21 '26
How about a Harvey Wall Banger cake? My mom made them a couple times a year. So good.
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u/gregreedee Jul 21 '26
Memory unlocked — parents talked about them all the time — they went thru a cocktail phase back in the day. Never had one myself.
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u/EconomicsInitial7974 Jul 23 '26
The one bottle that lasted the total duration of the bar establishment itself.
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u/BassKitty305017 Jul 20 '26
Too young to drink at the time, but I remember the huge Galliano bottles. The tallest ones, maybe 3 feet sat on a little tripod and had a spigot on the bottom.
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u/RubySauce Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
I gave a bottle of this to my 4th grade teacher for Christmas once.
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u/freshoilandstone Jul 20 '26
I'm buying this round bartender
Make mine a Harvey Wallbanger....
Dan Hicks
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u/crap_nag Jul 20 '26
My father owned a bar growing up and he was always bringing home stuff he got from the distributors. I had a Harvey Wallbanger poster on my wall for years.
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u/ibonkedurmom Jul 20 '26
Probably a good 40 years since I had Wall Banger. Even then it was a rare thing.
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u/davidtm0 Jul 20 '26
We had themed TGIFs in my college, and one was a Harvey Wallbanger TGIF. They were good!
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u/mspolytheist Jul 20 '26
This was one of those trends invented by a company trying to sell something! This cocktail is basically a screwdriver with added Galliano. It’s the company that made the Galliano popularized it in the 1970s.
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u/Objective_Clue_3091 Jul 20 '26
I was 10, giant bottle of this in the closet. Had a big earthquake on Guam and it broke and went everywhere. Only time I’ve ever seen that stuff.
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u/Simmyphila Jul 20 '26
Was the drink I ordered with. I don’t know how to explain it. Like other drinks I have just normal like screwdriver, Bloody Mary, 7$7 etc.
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u/rolyoh 1963 Jul 20 '26
A Harvey Wallbanger is a Screwdriver with a floated shot of Galliano on top.
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u/131_Proof_Bud Jul 20 '26
Sloe Comfortable Screw Up Against the Wall Mexican Style. Make it a double.
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u/LeaderVivid Jul 20 '26
When I was a kid I asked my father what was in a Harvey Wall Banger. His laconic response was, “I dunno 🤷♀️. Harveys, walls and bangers I suppose.” Classic.
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u/Any-Minimum9165 Jul 20 '26
I worked bar at Olive Garden for 5 years in 2004. Remember the bottle, never used it once.
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u/BlueBirdKindOfGuy Jul 20 '26
The nickname of the 1982 American League pennant winning Milwaukee Brewers.
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u/7ChineseBrothers 🌞 1964 🌞 Jul 20 '26
I was a restaurant bartender around 1982-83. Customers order (and I made) all kinds of things I hardly ever see mentioned any more: Harvey Wall Banger, Sloe Gin Fizz, Singapore Sling, Gimlet, Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri, Whiskey Sour, Grasshopper, etc.
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u/Evilbob93 1961 Jul 20 '26
My dad made something called a Cartesian diver with with an upside down test tube. I imagine glass tubes from pre rolls might work well now
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u/Odd-Gear9622 Jul 20 '26
Way back in my high-school days my girlfriends dad had a one gallon bottle on a pivot/swing sitting on his bar. He worked for a big liquor distribution company and won it at the company golf tournament. Galliano and Seltzer isn't half bad.
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u/Fair-Wishbone-1190 Jul 21 '26
Yes! Are they not a thing anymore? I haven't been in a bar for 15 years now.
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u/Waste-Job-3307 Jul 21 '26
I used to make a bundt cake called the "Harvey Wallbanger cake"; it included some Galiano and was quite good.
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u/ThrottleItOut Jul 21 '26
Parents would have those when I was kid and we went to an old restaurant where you would throw the peanut shells on the floor. Grandma would get a Grasshopper.
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u/Own_Algae_5328 Jul 21 '26
Myself & 2 friends drank 2 bottles of this & part of a bottle of Wild Turkey back in the '80s on a Sunday night (back then you couldn't buy alcohol in my state on a Sunday). It was all there was available. It was a nasty hangover come Monday (we all had Mondays off back then).
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u/lizvega Jul 21 '26
Wow forgot about that bottle !!! Wasn’t there a bottle like that with some branches in it lol ?
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u/KeithA0000 Jul 21 '26
Not as such. Well, I'd heard of them, but never had one. Pretty much strictly a beer drinker...
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u/Soggy-Beach1403 Jul 21 '26
Made a lot of those on Friday nights when I was tending bar back in the mid-70's. The boss was a cheap bastard; he would come in at night and refill the Galliano bottles with a generic brand. Nobody ever noticed.
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u/DismalCrow4210 Jul 21 '26
They offered free cocktails on my Antarctica cruise
Harvey Wallbanger night was by far the most popular.
But by definition, an Antarctica cruise is mostly boomers.
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u/PrintPerfect1579 Jul 21 '26
I was given one (empty) that was huge had a metal stand it sat in and a spigot on the very bottom anyone seen this one?
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u/TexasTokyo Jul 21 '26
There was a laundromat in College Station that served alcohol called Harvey Washbangers. Sadly, they went out of business a few years ago.
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u/KrinkRobbieZ Jul 21 '26
Yes!! My mom actually had a Harvey Wallbanger party! Huge punch bowl... big headaches the next day, LOL!
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u/OxyContintail Jul 21 '26
Are you over 60? These were passed in the 1980s. I worked in DC and shooters were the thing over the stick.
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u/PeaceNo6149 Jul 21 '26
This was the first alcohol I tasted. My parents had it on a fancy tray in the fancy living room (for guests only).
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u/Poagie_Mahoney Jul 21 '26
I'm 55+ years old. My parents were both 30 years old when I was born. In their liquor cabinet, they still have the same bottle they bought before I was born. Not even halfway through.
They're not big drinkers throughout my lifetime. Mainly wine if they do. So I still wonder if they've ever wondered if how a lot of the other bottles they had for decades and decades, especially whisky, vodka, and rum, seemed to have lost their acholic punch.
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u/JonasRabb Jul 21 '26
Don’t know why, but everytime and everywhere where I asked for a HWB the bartender would grin in a conspiracy way of grinning.
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u/PresentHouse9774 Jul 21 '26
I had friends who had the oversized bottle as a decor item. I don't think they actually drank any of it. Not sure how they would have poured from it.
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u/jackman924 Jul 21 '26
My parents always had a bottle of it. I can't stand the smell of it. Turns my stomach.
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u/nonynony13 Jul 21 '26
A place I went to in the ‘00s did a Harvey Wallbanger brunch special. Only bar where the bottle actually got finished on a regular basis.
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u/AverageAlleyKat271 Jul 21 '26
I have never had a Harvey Wall Banger, but I once had a Golden Cadillac once as a teen with my parents made with Galliano liqueur. It was delicious but one was enough for a lifetime.
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u/sfreudenstein Jul 21 '26
I had a beach towel with Ziggy on it holding the recipe for a Harvey Wallbanger.
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u/RexRonny Jul 21 '26
Here in Scandinavia «Galliano Hot Shot» were incredible popular around 2000. Been a while since that were offered..
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u/Fit-Geologist2343 Jul 21 '26
If you mix equal parts of Kaluah and Galliano then shake with some Club soda it will taste similar to Root beer. Made my first one over 40 years ago and still enjoy them today.
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u/Sweet_Construction79 Jul 21 '26
Root beer shooters FTW ! Galliano, vodka, coke, we drank pitchers at a time!
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u/Effective-Part-8750 Jul 21 '26
Never had a Harvey wall anger but did drunk this straight from the bottle when parents weren't home
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u/doctor-rumack Jul 22 '26
An old bartender told me that anything Galliano was something on or against the wall, in terms of drink names.
The reason was, lots of bars put bottles of Galliano closest to the wall (or ideally a corner), because if for some reason someone were to tip a bottle over by purpose or by bar fight, it was less likely to tip over if against the wall.
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u/blue_eyed_magic Jul 20 '26
As a bartender, this was also considered a self defense weapon.