ATDDTA(11) Only To Find Gideon's Bourbon [309:23-24]

[Keith]

[309:23-24] "what I usually tend to prescribe's Old Gideon, three  
finger doses, for as long as it takes?"

This online annotation of ATD is erroneous regarding Old Gideon:

"Old Gideon is an alcoholic drink described as hooch in the novel.  
This drink does not actually exist in our world, but it is revealed  
that it is a type of bourbon. Dictionary.com states that bourbon is a  
type of whisky that is made from 51 percent or more of corn. Thus,  
the drink could have easily been Kentucky Dale, Jack Daniel's, or any  
other type of alcohol. Pynchon may have decided to call this Old  
Gideon because there is an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center in  
St. Louis Missouri that is named Gideon. Another reason that Pynchon  
may have chosen Gideon because it is the name of a branch of  
Christianity. Associating Christianity with alcohol is ironic because  
Christianity is heavily against heavy drinking for any reason."
   http://lccwest65.skiles.gatech.edu/classes/engl1102s07/index.php/ 
Old_Gideon

As is often the case, Pynchon is just using a literal historical  
reference:

"One of the early drinks was Taos Lightning, a corn or wheat based  
liquor. It was brought up from New Mexico and was popular with both  
Indians and trappers. Different varieties of bourbon were very  
popular too, such as Old Crow and Old Gideon."
   http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/old_west/102390

Shot glass with logo, plus more info:
   http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/view_glass.php?sid=RRP1801