Hot, Hot, Hot was one of the History in a Glass events held at the Orange County Regional History Center. On display were items from Orlando’s fiery past. On the table was a melted telephone recovered from a fire. Sparky the fire dog stood proud in his red suspenders. Pam Schwartz, the History Center chief curator introduced some of the history before the drinks started getting mixed.

Mainly historic photos and documents showcased Orlando’s history with fires. Back before fire trucks, Orlando Residents had good reason to complain that the fire department always showed up late to a blaze. The firemen responded that they had a stubborn horse who refused to pull the wagon, so if citizens got them a new and more energetic horse, then they could get to a blaze on time.

In the History in a Glass series, local craft bartenders competed for
bragging rights by creating libations inspired by historical themes and
artifacts. In the summer Central Florida gets blazing hot, so we cooled
off at this event with some hot-hot-hot history with
artifacts and stories of fires blazing, fireworks poppin’, and even a
fire insurance company with some risqué sales tactics!

As depicted in a historic photo from the museum’s collection, the American Fire and Casualty Insurance company had a sales meeting in which they had women come out only in a cardboard box. The sales slogan was, “We cover it all.”  Lady Jaimz of Corsets and Cuties recreated the risque sales dance. The drinks were indeed hot. Several were too hot for my palette. Domu won the bragging rights for the evening.