In the US you either had unlimited SMS or no SMS plan at all, in which case you got charged for every single message, sent or received. But I remember having unlimited SMS as early as 2003.
If you had no SMS at all then you certainly didn’t have a data plan, which ruled out WhatsApp entirely.
That’s easy: unlimited SMS was common on most mobile plans in the US as early as the mid-2000s. Unlike the rest of the world, Americans had no financial incentive to use WhatsApp.
I dunno about favorite, but my go-tos are an Old Fashioned in the fall and winter, and a Tom Collins in spring and summer.
Those become a Manhattan or an Aviation if I’m feeling fancy or just want to mix it up.
It’s extremely easy, you just install AdGuard.