Frank Meier invents the Mimosa at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France
1924 − Harry MacElhone and O. O. McIntyre create the International Bar Flies at the New York Bar in Paris.
1927 − Harry MacElhone publishes Barflies and Cocktails in Paris.
1928 − Jerry Thomas’s book is republished (Thomas died in 1885) with the title The Bon Vivants Companion or How to Mix Drinks.
1930 − Harry Craddock publishes Savoy Cocktail Book.
−Greta Garbo stars in her first “talkie,” Anna Christie, and her first words are “Gimme a whiskey, ginger ale on the side.”
1932 − The Napier Company produces a cocktail shaker with engraved recipes called the Tells-You-How Mixer.
−Davide Campari packages Campari and soda water in cone-shaped bottles.
1934 − Walter Bergeron invents the Vieux Carré cocktail at the Carousel Bar in New Orleans.
−Don the Beachcomber invents the Zombie in Hollywood, California.
−The first Thin Man film is released starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. Cocktails seen include Martini, Bronx, and Knickerbocker. Powell says his famous line when showing the bartenders how to shake a cocktail: “The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now, a Manhattan you shake to foxtrot time; a Bronx, to two-step time; a dry Martini you always shake to waltz time.”
−Jazz Bandleader and singer Cab Calloway releases the song “The Call of the Jitterbug.” The first line of the song is “If you’d like to be a jitterbug, first thing you must do is get a jug, put whiskey, wine, and gin within and shake it all up and then begin.”
Jazz singer, songwriter, and bandleader Cab Calloway. © Photofest
1936 − The Bacardi Cocktail is the first and only cocktail to date to win a court case making it illegal to serve this cocktail without using Bacardi rum.
−Kahlúa Mexican coffee liqueur is introduced.
1937 − Constantino Ribaliagua Vert invents the Hemingway Special (Papa Dobl) at Bar la Florida (Floridita) in Havana, Cuba.
1939 − The Zombie is served at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
−Crown Royal is introduced. It was created for Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Canada.
1940s − The Moscow Mule is invented.
1942 − Pat O’Brien invents the Hurricane in New Orleans.
−Joseph Sheridan invents the Irish Coffee at Foynes Airbase in Limerick, Ireland.
−It is believed that the Rusty Nail is invented in Hawaii.
−The film Casablanca is popular and many cocktails are seen in Rick’s Bar.
1944 − Trader Vic invents the Mai Tai in Oakland, California.
1945 − The Andrews Sisters release the song “Rum and Coca-Cola” and it becomes the #1 song in America. Radio stations ban the song, which makes it even more popular.
−Giuseppe Cipriani invents the Bellini at Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, but does not name it until 1948.
−Victor Bergeron publishes Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide.
1948 − The Margarita becomes the official drink of Mexico.
−A small group of California bartenders—who were overseas members of the United Kingdom Bartenders’ Guild—start a California branch of that organization in the Los Angeles area.
−Gustave Tops invents the Black Russian at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels.
−The first known mention of a cocktail on a radio show is heard. Guests at a party order Stingers from the butler on The Whistler radio drama show, “Guilty Conscience”. Several references are made to their intoxicating strength.
1952 − Stanton Delaplane brings the Irish Coffee to the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco. Today they sell over 2,000 a day.
1953 − Ian Fleming writes about a fictional character named James Bond. In chapter seven, Bond orders a Dry Martini served in a deep champagne goblet with three measures of Gordon’s gin, one of Gordon’s vodka, and half a measure of Lillet dry vermouth, then shaken very well until ice-cold, and topped with a garnish of lemon peel. This is the first reference to combining both vodka and gin in a Martini. It is named Vesper.
1954 − The Piña Colada is invented at the Caribe Hilton’s Beachcomber Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1955 − The Rat Pack, headed by Frank Sinatra, glamorizes cocktails by holding them on stage and during TV performances.
Singer and actor Frank Sinatra on the 1950s. © Photofest
1957 − Harry Yee invents the Blue Hawaii at the Hawaiian Village on the Island of O’ahu.
1957 − The Piña Colada becomes Puerto Rico’s official drink by winning a global award.
1951 − The International Bartenders Association (IBA) is started.
1960 − The first Playboy Club opens at 116 East Walton in Chicago and becomes the busiest bar in the world, often serving 1,400 guests a day. Cocktails cost $1.50 ($13 in 2018 currency).
1962 − The first James Bond film, Dr. No, shows Sean Connery making a Smirnoff Martini in his hotel room and ordering Vodka Martinis shaken not stirred. In today’s terminology—it went viral.
1965 − Alan Stillman opens a New York City bar and grill as the first public cocktail party hang and names it TGI Friday’s (Thank God It’s Friday). Lifetime magazine credited Friday’s with ushering in the Singles Era and within six months of opening, Stillman was written up in Time, Newsweek, and the Saturday Evening Post. Before then, there was not a place for twenty- and thirty-somethings to meet except for cocktail parties held around the city in homes and apartments. Stillman painted the building blue, put up red-and-white-striped awnings, bought the staff red-and-white-striped shirts, threw sawdust on the floor, hung up some Tiffany lamps, and added brass railings. Many creative, fun, and party cocktails were birthed in TGI Friday’s.
1966 − India’s ambassador B. N. Chakravarty says, “Americans are a funny lot. They drink whiskey to keep warm; then they put some ice in to make it cool. They put sugar in to make it sweet; and then they put a slice of lemon in it to make it sour. Then they say, ‘Here’s to you’ and drink it themselves.”
1969 − Bobby Lozoff invents the Tequila Sunrise in Sausalito, California, while tending bar at The Trident.
1972 − Robert “Rosebud” Butt in Long Island, New York, invents the Long Island Iced Tea while tending bar at Oak Beach Inn.
−Stolichnaya vodka is introduced.
−The
