1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. This episode was originally 4 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,639 Speaker 1: recorded live at the AC Hotel, Los Angeles, South Bay, 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,280 Speaker 1: which was a really really fun night with some really 6 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: really amazing listeners. We had a wonderful time. We did 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: have a little bit of a wild night in that 8 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: while we were right in the middle of a sentence, 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: there was a little blackout the whole neighborhood, not just 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 1: our room. Yeah, that shifted things around a little bit. 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 1: LA had rained that day and they lost power. Whether 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: or not those two things are related unclear, But after 13 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: a little break where we figured out a plan, we 14 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: did pick up. So you may be experiencing a little 15 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: splice in the middle here where we have studio recorded 16 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: segment of the show and then it will go back 17 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: to live. The audience was really, really lovely and rolled 18 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: with that whole madness completely, So thanks to everyone who 19 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: came that night. We haven't done this since before COVID. 20 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: I know, this is our first live show since pre COVID. Yeah, 21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: it's pretty thrilling. Yeah, Well, hope we remember how to 22 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: do any of this. Yeah, it'll be good. Should we 23 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 1: just kick right in? Yeah? Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 24 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and you 25 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: guys are here and you're amazing. Yeah. Correct. So we're 26 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: here tonight to talk a little bit about cocktail history, which, 27 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,759 Speaker 1: as you may imagine, is a little difficult to pin 28 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: down because a lot of times, I mean, you've probably 29 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: done this at home. You're making recipes in your kind 30 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: of messing with them on the fly, and it's not 31 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: like someone standing there documenting. So how do we know 32 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: when something started or got changed? But it's a little 33 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: bit difficult, right. We're gonna try, though, tonight to delve 34 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: into the histories of two very well known gin cocktails. 35 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: They both have conflicting origin stories. There's not one accepted 36 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: background for them. We're also going to talk about a 37 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: man who is considered a pioneer in cocktail history and 38 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: in bartending specifically. And we are starting out Listen, I 39 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: loaded the deck because I picked one of my favorite 40 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: drinks and one of Tracy's favorite drinks to talk about. 41 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: So we're going to talk about my one of my 42 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: personal favorites. First, this is not a cool drink, y'all. 43 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: This is like that drink that when you order it, 44 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: bartender's go old school, and it is. But it's a 45 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: classic for a reason because it is very simple and 46 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: well balanced. So now we're going to talk first about 47 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: the Tom Collins. Yes, so Tom Collins fans in that. 48 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,799 Speaker 1: As Holly just said, Tom Collins is a classic gin drink. 49 00:02:56,040 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: It's spirits, lemon juice, simple syrup or sugar and club sota. 50 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: So very simple, balanced and refreshing. But maybe you have 51 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: actually heard of a John Collins or a Vodka Collins, 52 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: maybe even a Pierre Collins. Holly told me some other Collins' backstage. 53 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: There are a lot of them, and those are names 54 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: for variations on this classic drink. It's highly possible, though, 55 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: that the original one was not Tom Collins, it was 56 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: John Collins. That was not the drink that's John Collins today. 57 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: Though today the John Collins is this version that uses 58 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: bourbon instead of gin, and the John Collins origin story, 59 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: which is not the bourbon one, involves a bartender named 60 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: John Collins. This version puts the origin of the drink 61 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: in London at Limmer's Hotel. That's where Collins was employed 62 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: as a bartender. And the idea here was that it 63 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: was a single serving version of gin punch, which was 64 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: made in large matches that they could ladle out. But 65 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: sometimes they weren't making that, and people still wanted a 66 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: gin punch, so they came up with the single serving version. 67 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: Makes all the sense in the world. Gin punch is 68 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: made with gin, lemon juice, sugar, and water. There are 69 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: some variations, like if you look up a recipe today 70 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,040 Speaker 1: that will include bitters or some other ingredients, but it's 71 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: basically the same stuff that's in a Collins. But the 72 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: version called a John Collins had a little bit of 73 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: a twist on it because it was made with Yenavor 74 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: or Holland gin. If you've ever had yinavor, you know 75 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,840 Speaker 1: it's not quite the same as gin. It's a close relative, 76 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: but it's also pretty distinctly different if you compare them 77 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: side by side, right, Yenavor has this multi year flavor. 78 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: It's got less of that juniper note that you probably 79 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 1: associate with gin. It's kind of got its own identity. Yeah, 80 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 1: if you've only read the word jenavor on paper and 81 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: no one has ever said it. You might think it's 82 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: pronounced Jennifer, because that is so if you're confused right now, 83 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: that's what that is. Some bartenders started making this drink 84 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: with Old Tom gin and that's drier than your neighbor is, 85 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: but not as dry as London dry gin is today. 86 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: Because of the difference in taste between you neighbor and 87 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 1: Old Tom drinks that are made with a spirit, they 88 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 1: tasted different enough that it seemed like we needed to 89 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: have two different names. So the Old Tom version, according 90 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: to this whole version of the story, became the Tom Collins. 91 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: But in addition to this London origin story, there are 92 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: a lot of other contenders because according to Difford's guide, 93 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: creation credit could be given to another bartender named Collins 94 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: who was working at White House Tavern in New York. 95 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: Or it might have been a bartender in New Jersey 96 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: or yeah, or it might have been a bartender on 97 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: the West Coast, or it might have been a bartender 98 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: in Australia. I mean, I read like so many different 99 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: countries this thing could have come from. And it's partially 100 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: because the name Collins isn't really rare, so any bartender 101 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: with that name could go, yeah, I totally made that 102 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: drink up, and we don't know. This is again that 103 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: hazy problem. And when the John Collins that we know 104 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: today came to mean a Collins made with bourbon or 105 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: whiskey instead of gin or you neighbor, we don't know 106 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: when that happened. It just kind of evolved. It makes 107 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: a little sense when you consider the multier flavor of 108 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,239 Speaker 1: you neighbor, that that may have been the transition point 109 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: or someone's like, oh, we try bourbon in this John Collins, 110 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: then there you go. But we don't know, don't know. 111 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,480 Speaker 1: Maybe the oddest twist on the Tom Collins, which is 112 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: a twist that's so odd that earlier today I asked, Collie, 113 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 1: are we sure this is real? It's a prank that 114 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: this became associated with. So in eighteen seventy four, the 115 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: hoax of a sort started in New York and so 116 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,599 Speaker 1: in one paper that Holly found, which was the Yorkville 117 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: Enquirer of York South Carolina, claimed that this joke had 118 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: been started by a minstrel named Harrigan, and Harrigan had 119 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: enough connections all around town in the service industry, like 120 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: hotel clerks and bartenders and barbers and all of these 121 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: kinds of people that he could really sell this hoax. 122 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: So the prank went like this. The person pulling the 123 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: prank would tell the pranky that he heard something very 124 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: bad about him, like maybe his wife left him for 125 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: another man. And then the pranking would be like, whoa, 126 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: where did you hear this information? That's terrible, And so 127 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: this person pulling the prank would be like, oh, Tom 128 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: Collins told me I just saw Tom Collins down at 129 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: the bar or the hotel, or the shop or wherever. 130 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: So there, of course was no Tom Collins, and this 131 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: person who had just been told this horrible thing would 132 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: run off to try to find somebody who did not 133 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: really exist, and so he would get to the bar 134 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: and the bartender would be like, Nope, no Tom Collins here, 135 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: but I saw him down at the hotel, So go 136 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: to the hotel. Repeat this whole cycle. Every place the 137 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: fictional Tom was supposed to be No, no, you just 138 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: missed him. He went down to this other place. Yes, wow, 139 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: goose Chase. And so this poor person would be led 140 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: all over town by this this joke. Don't play this, 141 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: don't do that, that's mean. This prank was so popular 142 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy four that it was super easy to 143 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 1: find a lot of newspaper articles about it all over 144 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: the United States. Some of these articles were kind of 145 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: written with a wink, like they were like, let's keep 146 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: this Tom Collins thing going, and they would write it 147 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: up like Tom Collins is in town this week and 148 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,959 Speaker 1: there was no Tom Collins, and they were kind of 149 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: perpetuating the myth. But others, when you read them, are 150 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,200 Speaker 1: kind of like the print version of a massive eye roll, 151 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: where they're just like, oh, go the Tom Collins thing. 152 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: That same newspaper Tracy just mentioned the Yorkville in choir 153 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: that write up about it opens with quote. For the 154 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: last two weeks, people have been talking about Tom Collins. 155 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:05,679 Speaker 1: Newspapers have published mysterious hints about Tom Collins, the brick 156 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: piles have been placarded with allusion to Tom Collins, and 157 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: peripatetic vendors of card photographs have offered to sell correct 158 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: likenesses of Tom Collins to the uninitiated. It was very 159 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: provoking to hear one man say to another, have you 160 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: seen Tom Collins, and then for both of them to 161 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: explode with laughter. It seemed very stupid, and upon the whole. 162 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: I think that it was so that reporter maybe got 163 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: duped in the Tom Collins thing and was feeling a 164 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: little salty about it. Definitely had feelings. So what does 165 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: all this have to do with the cocktail? Right? One 166 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: origin story of this drink is that there was a 167 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: bartender who came up with the idea of, like, when 168 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: somebody comes in demanding to seek Tom Collins, making him 169 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 1: a drink and making him pay for it, and that drink, 170 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: of course, would be the Tom Collins. This doesn't really 171 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: work out though, because we know the Tom Collins existed 172 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: before eighteen seventy four, when this frank suddenly became a 173 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: fun thing, a fun, fun thing for people to do. Yeah, 174 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: doesn't sound fun at all, But if you are a 175 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: cocktail person, you may look at what's in a Tom 176 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: Collins and be like, Hey, isn't this a gin Ricky? 177 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: They are very very similar. In an article for Feast 178 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: magazine in twenty fifteen, Matt Seider wrote, quote the Ricky 179 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: and the Collins. I can't seem to write about one 180 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: of these cocktails without including the other. They are too 181 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: similar to warrant individual attention to sort of sound for them. Both. 182 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 1: They are a lot alike, right. Both of them have gin, 183 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: they have citrus, the Ricky usually has lime instead of 184 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:46,320 Speaker 1: lemon juice. They have syrup or sugar, and they have 185 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,320 Speaker 1: club soda. And they both have variations that have whiskey. 186 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: We've talked about the John Collins. The John Collins the 187 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: Joe Ricky is the version of the Jinriky that has 188 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 1: bourbon or whiskey. But the main difference, according to Cider, 189 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: is that the Jinriky is made in the glass that 190 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: the beverage will be served in, whereas the Collins is 191 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: mixed in a shaker and then strained over ice and 192 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: then topped with club soda. The subtleties of cocktails. The 193 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,319 Speaker 1: Town Collins is also really similar to a gin fizz. 194 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,439 Speaker 1: The fizz may or may not contain egg white, depending 195 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 1: on where you get it. That's not the main difference, though. 196 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: The key differentiator is that the Fizz is shaken with 197 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,559 Speaker 1: ice and then double strained into a glass without ice 198 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: before being topped with club soda, but the Colins is 199 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: shaken and then strained over fresh ice before the club 200 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: soda is included. Similarly, very nuanced difference in the two 201 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:45,959 Speaker 1: of them If that sounds like a lot of drinks 202 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 1: are very similar, Yes, that's true. Yeah, it's one of 203 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: those things. If you start mixing drinks or looking up 204 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,680 Speaker 1: drinks on your own, you're like, isn't this They're often 205 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,080 Speaker 1: so similar. It's like those tiny subtleties are what changed things. 206 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 1: So at this point we're gonna pause for a sponsor break. 207 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,559 Speaker 1: All right, So the Tom Collins, as we've said, has 208 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: a number of possible origin points. But so does another 209 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,079 Speaker 1: long lived and popular gin cocktail, Tracy's favorite or one 210 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: of them, the Besneys. Look, everyone loves it. There's a gas, 211 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 1: there's a happy gas for the Besneys. This too, is 212 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: a classic. It has a lot of crossover ingredients with 213 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: the Tom Collins. So there's gin, of course, there's lemon juice, 214 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: and instead of simple syrup or sugar, there is honey syrup. 215 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: Just is my own personal aside. If you're making this 216 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: at home, honey syrup and honey are not the same thing. 217 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:48,959 Speaker 1: You have to dilute your honey with water to get 218 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: honey syrup or it won't flow properly in your drink. Anyway, 219 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: that's just my own personal psa. The Besneys is a 220 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: stronger cocktail than the Collins because it does not get 221 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,079 Speaker 1: topped with like a club soda, which dilutes the the 222 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,559 Speaker 1: alcohol by volume of it. And you just make those 223 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: three basic ingredients, usually shaken with ice, and then it 224 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: streams into a chilled coop. Please chill your coops. It's 225 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: my other, my other psa Holly as a number. I've 226 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 1: learned so many things about cocktails from Hollywood, just as weekend, 227 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: not even from this, just from like random side conversations 228 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: Frank Meyer. When the Ritz Hotel opened in Paris in 229 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty one, Frank was working as head bartender at 230 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: the Cafe Parisian there and as part of that job 231 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 1: worked up a cocktail menu for the bar. And in 232 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,239 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty nine there was a man named George Gabrielle 233 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: Finnell writing under the pen name RIP, and he published 234 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,319 Speaker 1: this book titles Cocktail the Three. I'm guessing that was 235 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: how you would want it to be said, and frank 236 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: Meyer's b's knees was included on page seventy two. And 237 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: this recipe is written pretty charmingly, not with like measurements 238 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: in terms of ounces or any other actual measurements. It's 239 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,520 Speaker 1: fractions of the drink. And this is not even like 240 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: one part this and one part this. It is like 241 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: one sixth of the drink is ju de citrent that 242 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: is lemon juice. A sixth of it is miel. I 243 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: forgot how to say that, even though Duo Lingo has 244 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: told me a lot of times how to say honey 245 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: and French. Two thirds of the volume is Gordon's dry gent. 246 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: And then this comes with the direction frappe latout or 247 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: hit it all that means, of course shaking it. Frank 248 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: Meyer merits a short aside. He's a pretty interesting character 249 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: in addition to elevating the role of head bartender to 250 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: really being a guest services and hospitality manager, because he would, 251 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: according to various accounts, come out from behind the bar, 252 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,640 Speaker 1: talk with customers, do things like table touches that are 253 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: very common today but weren't necessarily then. In addition to 254 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: all of that, he was also an accidental spy, according 255 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: to writer to lar J Mozeo, who wrote The Hotel 256 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: on Place Vendome Life, Death and Betrayal at the Hotel 257 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: Ritz in Paris. So, according to that book, when Paris 258 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: was occupied by the Germans in World War II, Meyer 259 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: stayed and he kept the bar open, and a lot 260 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: of Nazis started to frequent the place, and Meyer is 261 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: said to have used his position to eavesdrop on his 262 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: German clientele and then use that information to aid the 263 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: French resistance and British forces. He is also believed to 264 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: have assisted Jewish hotel guests who needed papers to get 265 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: out of the city to safety. So kind of a hero, 266 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: h but don't get too excited. He also may have 267 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: made some dodgy financial deals with people, like saying, hey, 268 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 1: if you give me your money, I will pay all 269 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: your debts while you're gone, and then when the occupation 270 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: is ended and you come back, everything will be taken 271 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: care of. He didn't do that. He pocketed the money 272 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: in a lot of cases that ultimately got him in 273 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: hot water. He got fired from his job, and he 274 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: kind of vanishes from the historical record after that. So 275 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: sort of a hero, sort of a cheat, total mixed bag. 276 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: Another story of where the bees knees comes from is 277 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 1: tied to a well known historical figure, and that's Molly Brown, 278 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: as in the Unsinkable Molly Brown, survivor of the Titanic disaster. 279 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: She was also an activist two championed women's rights and workers' rights, 280 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: and a very wealthy woman who was active in philanthropy. 281 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:38,200 Speaker 1: She may have invented the Bee's Knees cocktail. Historians Jared 282 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: Brow and Anastasia Miller turned up a nineteen twenty nine 283 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,600 Speaker 1: newspaper mention of the bees Knees that gave Brown the 284 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: credit for creating it in Paris while she was in 285 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: one of the city's drinking establishments that catered exclusively to women. 286 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:57,359 Speaker 1: So because this mentioned as the same year that cocktails 287 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: the parih came out, doesn't really answer the question of 288 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,880 Speaker 1: who invented the drink. It does place its origin, though, 289 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: pretty squarely in Paris in the nineteen twenties. So there 290 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,399 Speaker 1: is also another common origin story for the Besnies that 291 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: I bet sad on you have heard, which is that 292 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,400 Speaker 1: it was a prohibition era drink that came about because 293 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: the lower quality gin that was what hello. The lower 294 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 1: quality gin that was available at the time, like the 295 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:30,120 Speaker 1: honey serrut, covered some of that and smoothed out the flavor. Look, 296 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,560 Speaker 1: we have the other two origin stories that are actually 297 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: in print. This one seems pretty trophy. It existed already, 298 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,959 Speaker 1: It wasn't that. That's like a cute way to describe it. 299 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,080 Speaker 1: But there's a lot of stuff that ties cocktail history 300 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: to like prohibition doings that doesn't really have legs. Yeah, 301 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: the expression of the bees knees was pretty popular during 302 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,160 Speaker 1: the jazz Age. It makes sense that the cocktails creator 303 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,400 Speaker 1: would invoke a saying that meant something that was great 304 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:02,879 Speaker 1: and then reference bees because of having honey in it. 305 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 1: So now we had to transition because we cannot talk 306 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 1: about cocktail history, particularly in the US, without discussing Jerry Thomas. 307 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 1: He was born Jerry or Jeremiah. We're not sure pee 308 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: Thomas on October thirty at eighteen thirty in Second's Harbor, 309 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: New York. Some sources actually say it was eighteen thirty two. 310 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 1: Who knows. If you're wondering what that pee stands for 311 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: me too, we don't know. Never never was ever disclosed 312 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: in any sort of way. It's not certain. As I 313 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: said it, his given name was Jerry or Jeremiah. He 314 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: said both at different times when he got interviewed. His 315 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: parents were Jeremiah and Mary, and he had three brothers 316 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: that we know of, George, John, and David. And when 317 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: Jerry was still a kid, although once again exact dates 318 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: I don't know. The family moved to new Haven, Connecticut 319 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: when Jerry was sixteen. I keep trying to speak into 320 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:02,800 Speaker 1: the microphone, like I know, I gotta know. I fear 321 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 1: it will cut on and feel like an event. Horizon 322 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,960 Speaker 1: will open up so much. It's like with the puff 323 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:10,679 Speaker 1: out at your house, and every time you walk into 324 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: a room, you flip the lights went back the back 325 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 1: and there's a blazing sun. Yeah. So, when Jerry was sixteen, 326 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,199 Speaker 1: he started working as a barkeep in New Haven, but 327 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: just the following year switch trajectories completely and went to sea. 328 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: He told a reporter years later that he went to Cuba. 329 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: That may or may not have been true. Uh. He 330 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,320 Speaker 1: did end up though, on a ship called the Ann Smith. 331 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: The Ann Smith was based out of New Haven, and 332 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: on the Ann Smith he went to California via the 333 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:49,440 Speaker 1: very lengthy route that ran down the North American and 334 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,959 Speaker 1: South America. Comments around Cape Horn and then up north 335 00:19:54,200 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: on the West coast window from a passenger's account that 336 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: there was a lot of alcohol flowy very on this shit. 337 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: We don't really know whether Jerry Thomas was pouring any 338 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,439 Speaker 1: of that alcohol though, but the Ann Smith got to 339 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: know got to San Francisco on November fourth, eighteen forty nine. That, 340 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: of course, was not long after the start of the 341 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,960 Speaker 1: California gold Rush. Thomas really wanted to get in on 342 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: that action, so he jumps ship. Didn't work out for 343 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 1: him though, I mean the gold rush didn't work out 344 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: for most people who were trying to get gold. It 345 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 1: worked out for people who ran bars and ruffles himself 346 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: and sell things to people trying to get gold. Associate 347 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 1: he was working as a bartender. So at last his 348 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:51,400 Speaker 1: bartending career has begun. No, not really, because he left 349 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:53,400 Speaker 1: that job. He was very fickle at seems. He left 350 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 1: that job less than a year in to start a 351 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:01,360 Speaker 1: musical group. And this music group toured up and down 352 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 1: the state of California and apparently did pretty well. But 353 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,360 Speaker 1: he didn't stick with that either. He left that enterprise. 354 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: There was one story I read that suggested that while 355 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 1: they were traveling, a bunch of the other this is 356 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: dark so get ready, a bunch of the other musicians 357 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: got cholera and died and he had to bury them. 358 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:21,199 Speaker 1: I don't know if that's true or not, because he 359 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: told a lot of lies, but he he did leave 360 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: his musician life. He was back on the East Coast 361 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:32,919 Speaker 1: in New York by eighteen fifty two, and when he 362 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: got there he was really flush with cash. He had 363 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,440 Speaker 1: sixteen thousand dollars in his pocket, not adjusted for today's 364 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 1: money sixteen eighteen fifty two, so he was rolling hot. 365 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: We don't know how he got that money. Mysteries about, 366 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,360 Speaker 1: but it doesn't matter because he spent it all nealy fast. 367 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: He is said to have been a sporting gentleman, meaning 368 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:58,679 Speaker 1: that he gambled like crazy. His New York Times obituary 369 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 1: indicated that his money came from an inheritance. That doesn't 370 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: quite seem right, but according to that when his father died, 371 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: he got a small sum and that was what enabled 372 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,679 Speaker 1: him to travel. And the New York Times included this 373 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: really cute description of him that as he traveled, quote, 374 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: he developed quite a taste for pictures and brick the brack. 375 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,920 Speaker 1: Not quite what you would expect of a man who 376 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: was traveling the seas, but yeah, he did like stuff. 377 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: His whole story is wild, because the next thing that 378 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 1: may have happened is opening a bar in eighteen fifty 379 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 1: two under the Barna Museum of All places. That too, 380 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,359 Speaker 1: is difficult to verify, though before long he was back 381 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: in New Haven at the City Hotel. He might have 382 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,200 Speaker 1: traveled around the country for a little bit, kind of 383 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: working in bars and saloons wherever he went. As he 384 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,199 Speaker 1: made this little journey, he definitely claimed that was what 385 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: was happening. I was not in New Haven for very 386 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: long though, and was working at the Metropolitan Hotel in 387 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 1: New York in eighteen fifty eight. He was the principal 388 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: bartender there. This was a good job at a well 389 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: established location, and Thomas did well enough that he could 390 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,719 Speaker 1: travel to Europe and see prize fights, maybe do some 391 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,640 Speaker 1: guest bartending there. Yeah, it's one of those things where 392 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,400 Speaker 1: if you look up, Jerry Thomas says he bartended. So 393 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,119 Speaker 1: how much of that is we don't know. But his 394 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,120 Speaker 1: really big move in terms of like becoming a figure 395 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: in this scene, happened in eighteen sixty when he and 396 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,159 Speaker 1: his brother George opened up a drinking establishment at six 397 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: twenty two Broadway, and this became an incredibly popular spot. 398 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 1: Like it is written up in all of the newspapers. 399 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: It attracted all of the actors of Broadway. It attracted 400 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: very famous people, including Royalty. It said that Prince Edward 401 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: stopped there when he was visiting New York. But while 402 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,120 Speaker 1: Thomas was really good at making drinks and really good 403 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: at engaging with guests, he really really sucked at managing business, 404 00:23:55,480 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: and that business ultimately tanks. So not long after Jerry 405 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,880 Speaker 1: Thomas's bar at six twenty two Broadway closed, he published 406 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,360 Speaker 1: a book. And that book is The Bartender's Guide, how 407 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 1: to Mix Drinks or The bon Vivant's Companion. And each 408 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,919 Speaker 1: of those title segments gets used as the title of 409 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: this book when people talk or write about it, and 410 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: that is because the cover of the book reads Jerry 411 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: Thomas's Bartender's Guide, how to Mix Drinks, Receipts for mixing 412 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: all kinds of punch, eggnog, july smashes, Powper's cock Fails, 413 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: and its seguris, Maul's Toddy slings, sours, flips Flip, and 414 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: two hundred other fancy drinks. Uh you know, we leve 415 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: alone title. The title page of this book is even wordier. 416 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: It doesn't match what Ali just said. The words are 417 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: all completely different. This reads how to Mix Drinks or 418 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:54,120 Speaker 1: The Bonvivant's Companion, containing clear and reliable directions for mixing 419 00:24:54,280 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: all the beverages in the United States, together with the 420 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:06,240 Speaker 1: most popular British, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish recipes 421 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:14,879 Speaker 1: embracing punches, juliets, coddlers, etc. Etc. Etc. In endless variety. 422 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 1: There's more that I have to say. There's an equally 423 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,920 Speaker 1: long subhead that we're not reading regarding all of the 424 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 1: appended manual for manufacturing cordials, liquors, fancy syrups, etc. Et cetera. 425 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: That section, though, was written by Professor Christian Schultzho's title 426 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: is Practical Chemist and Distillery print against title. To be 427 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,400 Speaker 1: very very clear, Jerry Thomas did not invent those recipes. 428 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:46,160 Speaker 1: He basically, during all of his travel, was collecting them. 429 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: It was the first book of its kind in North America, though, 430 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,919 Speaker 1: and he had learned bartending the way I mentioned earlier 431 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,399 Speaker 1: that people learn it all the time by going and 432 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:56,879 Speaker 1: working in bars, often as like a junior bartender or 433 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: a barback, and you know, picking up all of the 434 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 1: various tricks the other bartenders and master printenders were teaching him. 435 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: The recipes were known to barkeepers, but at this point 436 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,040 Speaker 1: they hadn't been written down anywhere and I kind of 437 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: feel like this might have been like the magician who 438 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:18,439 Speaker 1: tells the tricks where they're like Jerry. But because he 439 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 1: had traveled so much, he had been exposed to a 440 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,480 Speaker 1: lot of different drinks. And this was a very successful book, 441 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,800 Speaker 1: although like his other business deals, he made a really 442 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: really lopsided deal with the publisher. He didn't get any 443 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:33,720 Speaker 1: residuals off of it. He got paid the one time 444 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:35,439 Speaker 1: for the book and that was it, even though it 445 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: went to printing after printing, after printing. The year after 446 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:41,919 Speaker 1: the book came out, Jerry moved to San Francisco and 447 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,679 Speaker 1: worked at the Occidental Hotel. He wrote a second book, 448 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: which sadly is now lost. This was titled Portrait Gallery 449 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: of Distinguished Bartenders. He was really on the move all 450 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: the time. He did not stay in San Francisco long either, 451 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: and he had it to Nevada. I almost said it 452 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: the way I say it in my head, which is 453 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: the way people will yell at me for saying when 454 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: the US Civil War. And then he had it right 455 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: back to the East Coast and got a job at 456 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,919 Speaker 1: the Metropolitan until he opened up a new establishment of 457 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,360 Speaker 1: his own with his brother near Madison Square. And there 458 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 1: the art that he had collected over the years, which 459 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: included a series of prints by previous podcast subject William Hogarth. 460 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:32,639 Speaker 1: Those are all hung up on the walls so the 461 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: people could come, they could have some food, they could 462 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,679 Speaker 1: look at all this art, and they could drink. And 463 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: this became really successful as an assigned I think the 464 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: hogart thing was cheeky, because if you know Hogarth's works, 465 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,680 Speaker 1: they're all like morality tales about not giving into excess 466 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: and drinking and carousing with loose humans. So I'm like, 467 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,359 Speaker 1: I'm like, Jerry, where you being a little cheeky tiky. 468 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty seven, Jerry got married. He married a 469 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:06,360 Speaker 1: widow named Henrietta Waits. Henrietta already had a daughter who 470 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:08,359 Speaker 1: became part of their family, and then she and Jerry 471 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: had a child together, a son. So he went from 472 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 1: this life on the move, I mean, he shifted careers 473 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,720 Speaker 1: so many times to this kind of sessile one in 474 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:21,919 Speaker 1: New York, complete with a business and family responsibility. And 475 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 1: I don't know why I choked on that word, with 476 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: business and family responsibility. And this was really in the 477 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 1: course of just a couple of years. He went from 478 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,160 Speaker 1: like free Meeland to sit in. Still, the bar did 479 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: move north in eighteen seventy two to a location on 480 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: Broadway near thirtieth that's because Rent went up at his 481 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: old one, and once again he created a sort of 482 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: combination bar restaurant museum to great success. Oh, Jerry, you 483 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 1: never learn how to handle money. It's so sad he 484 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: was making. I read one thing that said like they 485 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,960 Speaker 1: routinely brought in over four hundred dollars a night, which 486 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 1: today would not be amazing for a bar, but in 487 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:01,040 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty seven or I guess that was seventy two solid. 488 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,640 Speaker 1: But he spent more than he made all the time. 489 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: He bought stuff on credit, constantly thinking he's gonna jush 490 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 1: up the bar, somemore, and it all caught up to him. 491 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: He and his brother tried things like they tried to 492 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: rebrand the bar and have additional grand openings to try 493 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: to like reinvigorate the business. They also added pool tables, 494 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: and at one point they added a shooting range in 495 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: the bar, which you know, what goes together rudder is 496 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: alcohol and gun. I did not find any evidence that 497 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: anything went horribly awry, thankfully, But the thing is, none 498 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: of this worked because by eighteen seventy six he had 499 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: to not only sell the business, he had been in 500 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 1: business at this point for so long. He was literally 501 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: the most famous bartender in the city. And it was 502 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: suddenly like, but I can do it anymore because I 503 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: don't know how to run a business, which he really 504 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 1: needed a better business bar. Yeah, I'm going to travel 505 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,040 Speaker 1: back in time and I'm gonna make Jerry Tummas happen 506 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: in a new way. I feeling today maybe he could 507 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: make it go of like one of those axe throwing bars. 508 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:08,800 Speaker 1: Them seems similar to like a side range bar hoochin violence. Yeah, 509 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 1: I feel like the story we've already told about him 510 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: has had some very wild detours. There are also a 511 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: lot of stories about Jerry Thomas that are difficult to substantiate. 512 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: For example, allegedly, at one point he was planning to 513 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: cross the Atlantic Ocean in a ballot. We're not done. 514 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 1: He was going to be armed with a knife in 515 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 1: case he went down in the water and had to 516 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:43,800 Speaker 1: fight off sharks. But this plan was sported because he 517 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 1: couldn't get enough gas to fill the blue Also, he 518 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: just he bolstered some of the false information himself. At 519 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 1: one point, he told a journalist that he had invented 520 00:30:56,040 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: the popular drink known as Tom and Jerry, which includes 521 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:04,560 Speaker 1: an egg, sugar, brandy, and sometimes also rum. He said 522 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: he named this drink after his two pet mice, Tom 523 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: and Jerry, and also after himself. Had it's just like 524 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:25,240 Speaker 1: exciting light. This makes yeah, so uh yeah, he said. 525 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 1: He named this after his two pet mice, Tom and Jerry, 526 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: also after himself, using that short version of Thomas. He 527 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: said this came to him as an idea in eighteen 528 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:39,320 Speaker 1: forty seven when a patron just wanted an egg mixed 529 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:45,040 Speaker 1: with sugar, and he decided it just sounds yeah, yeah, 530 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: and he decided to improve on that. And the thing is, though, 531 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,840 Speaker 1: this is a drink that has roots in the eighteen twenties, 532 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 1: so it was not something that he thought of in 533 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 1: eighteen forty seven. Yeah, it's a brandy slip. I mean 534 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 1: it's not. He didn't. By the way, if you're not 535 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: in the flips, come alone. It's good. There are plenty 536 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:06,719 Speaker 1: of things, though, that we do actually know and are 537 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: verifiable about him. He was absolutely known every write up 538 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: to be quite a dandy. He loved like super expensive 539 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 1: slaxy jewelry, maybe this is where the money problems came up. 540 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,680 Speaker 1: But he really changed bartending forever because, in addition to 541 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: writing down and sharing all of these recipes, if he 542 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 1: had learned over the years, he is also considered the 543 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 1: father of flare bartending. If you don't know what that is, 544 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 1: that's the kind of bartending. Like if you ever saw 545 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 1: Tom cruising cocktail, it's that kind where you're flipping the 546 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: bottles and you're spinning things, and you're throwing a lemon 547 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 1: and catching it in the lemon press and all of that, 548 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: and it all goes back to Jerry. His most famous 549 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:49,320 Speaker 1: drench is a showmanship classic. It's called the Blue Blazer. 550 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: It's terrifying. Yeah, I'm gonna tell you about it. If 551 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: you've ever seen a woodcut of Jerry Thomas, it probably 552 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: included the illustration of him making a blue blazer. This 553 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 1: is a woodcut that was in the book. This drink, 554 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:09,719 Speaker 1: as written by Thomas, calls for one wine glass of 555 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: scounch whiskey. Plus these were smaller wine glasses, so I 556 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 1: still still glass and just when it's getting weirder's yet 557 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:25,480 Speaker 1: plus the same measure of boiling water. Okay, And then 558 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 1: here's the instructions. Quote, put the whiskey and the boiling 559 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 1: water in one mug, ignite the liquid with fire and 560 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:40,960 Speaker 1: wild blazing. Mix both ingredients by pouring them four or 561 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:45,120 Speaker 1: five times from one mug to the other, as represented 562 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 1: in the cut. If well done, this will have the 563 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: appearance of a continued stream of liquid fire, sweetened with 564 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,680 Speaker 1: one teaspoon of pulverized white sugar, and serve in a 565 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: small bar tumblert when a piece of lit evant peel. 566 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: The blue Blazer doesn't have a very phonious or classic name, 567 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: but it tastes better to the palate than it sounds 568 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 1: to the ear. Tamas also makes what maybe it's a 569 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:17,880 Speaker 1: good suggestion practicing this trick of pouring this boiling water 570 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,359 Speaker 1: and flaming stuff from one basel to another. Try that 571 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:27,239 Speaker 1: with cold water before you try it with stuff that's 572 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 1: boiling or on fire. There are also people who make 573 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:34,800 Speaker 1: the blue blazer today. You can find videos of it online. 574 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:39,480 Speaker 1: It's terrifying. It's terrifying. And since we're talking about gin 575 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,480 Speaker 1: drinks tonight, I also want to make sure we mentioned 576 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:44,960 Speaker 1: some of the gin drinks that are in Jerry's book 577 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:48,000 Speaker 1: that are not the ones we've discussed, for example, the 578 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 1: gin and pine, and this is made simply enough and 579 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,520 Speaker 1: is true to its name. Quote, split a piece of 580 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,359 Speaker 1: the heart of a green pine log and defined splints 581 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 1: about the size. Oh, just wait of a cedar lead pencil, 582 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 1: and take two ounces of the same and put into 583 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:09,200 Speaker 1: a quart decanter, and fill the decanter with gin. Let 584 00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:11,560 Speaker 1: the pine soap for two hours, and the gin will 585 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: be ready to serve. She likes some wood in your gin, delicious. 586 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:25,440 Speaker 1: There is also an entry for a gin straight that's 587 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,600 Speaker 1: exactly what it sounds like. The recipe is the same 588 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:32,000 Speaker 1: as a brandy strait, but it's gin instead. And those 589 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:35,960 Speaker 1: directions say, quote, in serving this drink, you simply put 590 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:38,799 Speaker 1: a piece of ice in a tumbler and hand it 591 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:46,240 Speaker 1: to your customer. Wish the bottle of brandy worth hurting. 592 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,920 Speaker 1: There some of Thomas's strength. They're just straight alcohol. He 593 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,440 Speaker 1: also does have a section, although it is brief that 594 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 1: our temperance drinks, and most of these are based with lemonade. Yeah, 595 00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 1: some of those actually sound pretty good. Fight his fame 596 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:04,880 Speaker 1: and his showmanship and his influence, Jerry Thomas's last years 597 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,600 Speaker 1: were pretty low key. After he closed his final bar 598 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 1: and was kind of out of money. He worked at 599 00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 1: various small bars around New York. He tried to restart 600 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:17,400 Speaker 1: his entrepreneurial efforts, including one that was also a minstrel theater, 601 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:20,960 Speaker 1: but nothing ever really got off the ground. This might 602 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,320 Speaker 1: be my favorite fact about Jerry Thomas and has nothing 603 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,840 Speaker 1: to do with cocktails. In eighteen seventy eight, he started 604 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:31,560 Speaker 1: an organization known as the Gord Club. This is exactly 605 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:34,240 Speaker 1: what it sounds like. It was a group of people 606 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:40,920 Speaker 1: who were really enthusiastic about gords and their cultivationship. Well, 607 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:43,280 Speaker 1: there's some great guards. I can see how you can't 608 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: rise if you grew the best gourd. He was really 609 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:49,239 Speaker 1: excited and he got written up in the paper for 610 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:52,399 Speaker 1: this amazing club he had started. I think we need 611 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:57,360 Speaker 1: Gord Club t shirts. But he lost so much money 612 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,000 Speaker 1: on his business efforts that went awry, gambling, and then 613 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 1: he speculated on the stock market that he lost absolutely everything. 614 00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:08,319 Speaker 1: He even had to sell off his collection of art 615 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:12,840 Speaker 1: and curios. He continued, literally to the end of his 616 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,520 Speaker 1: days to talk in the press about plans that he 617 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:17,279 Speaker 1: had where he was going to start a new bar, 618 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,520 Speaker 1: where he was going to reinvigorate an old bar, but 619 00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:23,520 Speaker 1: none of those ever really materialized. On de Zepber fourteenth, 620 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty five, Jerry had been working at the Hotel Brighton, 621 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 1: which he was hoping to reinvigorate and turn into a 622 00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:33,840 Speaker 1: proper bar. He left in the early afternoon to go home, 623 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:36,920 Speaker 1: and then shortly after he walked in the door, he 624 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:41,279 Speaker 1: died of what was officially recorded as vascular disease of 625 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:45,160 Speaker 1: the heart. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery at the Bronx. 626 00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:48,360 Speaker 1: And we had just touched on some things about Jerry Thomas, 627 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,279 Speaker 1: but if you want a way more in depth look, 628 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,360 Speaker 1: as well as an examination and analysis of his work, 629 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:56,320 Speaker 1: which is pretty great. One of the best resources is 630 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:58,640 Speaker 1: a book called Imbibe. If you're into cocktails, you've probably 631 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:00,920 Speaker 1: seen it. It's written by David Wondrich, who is an 632 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:05,440 Speaker 1: amazing cocktail and spirits historian. It's such a good read 633 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:07,879 Speaker 1: whether you like drinks or not, but if you love 634 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,120 Speaker 1: cocktails and you want to know more about their history, especially, 635 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:13,759 Speaker 1: it's like the magic history book you always wanted. He 636 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: cannot recommend it to us, so it was life was 637 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:18,279 Speaker 1: really one of ups and downs. It is safe to 638 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:21,319 Speaker 1: say that Jerry, with his flare for the dramatic and 639 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:24,719 Speaker 1: dress and service style, he'd be pretty pleased with the 640 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:28,719 Speaker 1: iconic stature that his name holds today among the drink 641 00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:31,320 Speaker 1: of a shitados. There is in fact a speakeasy in 642 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:34,960 Speaker 1: Rome called Jerry Thomas. To loop back to the beginning 643 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:38,800 Speaker 1: of the show, though Jerry included recipes for the Tom 644 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:42,279 Speaker 1: Collins in an updated edition of The Bartender's Guide because 645 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:44,400 Speaker 1: it didn't exist when he first put it out. He 646 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,800 Speaker 1: actually had three versions. But he's an interesting thing because 647 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:50,480 Speaker 1: if instead of giving the drink a new name when 648 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:52,279 Speaker 1: it was made with a different spirit, he just called 649 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 1: them all Tom Collins, but he would be like Tom 650 00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,560 Speaker 1: Collins whiskey, Tom Collins Blandy, and that Tom Collins gin. 651 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:04,760 Speaker 1: So you know, full circle on gin cocktail history. Yeah, yay, 652 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:13,440 Speaker 1: thank you for that's Jerry Thomas and some of our 653 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:17,880 Speaker 1: favorite gin beverages, which you know, we had been asked 654 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:21,120 Speaker 1: when this live show initially started to do something potentially 655 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:24,480 Speaker 1: involving cocktail history, which is always fun to talk about, 656 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:28,600 Speaker 1: and so I was delighted when we got the chance 657 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:34,600 Speaker 1: to have a little little gin time. I have listener mail, listen, 658 00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:38,320 Speaker 1: I may never, ever, ever, ever stop talking about pumpkins, 659 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:42,480 Speaker 1: because to me, it's Halloween year round. But here we are. 660 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:46,440 Speaker 1: This is from our listener Kristen, who writes, Hi, Holly 661 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,800 Speaker 1: and Tracy, Happy October. I just listened to the episode 662 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,560 Speaker 1: about jack o' lanterns. I liked the episode, but when 663 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,719 Speaker 1: Holly mentioned pumpkins sprouting up randomly in the garden, I 664 00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:58,719 Speaker 1: just had to write in I love growing pumpkins and 665 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:01,439 Speaker 1: tell everyone with gardens if they want something that looks 666 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:05,160 Speaker 1: great all summer with no effort, pumpkins are your best friend. 667 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:07,440 Speaker 1: The big green leaves hide all the weeds, and then 668 00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:09,880 Speaker 1: you get pumpkins in the fall. They are the best. 669 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,640 Speaker 1: For years, we have let our kids smash our jack 670 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:16,200 Speaker 1: of lanterns in the garden after Halloween. Every spring, new 671 00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:19,279 Speaker 1: plants sprout from the random seeds left over. They bring 672 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:21,560 Speaker 1: me joy three out of four seasons of the year. 673 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:23,960 Speaker 1: Thanks for all your podcasts that bring me joy all 674 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:26,279 Speaker 1: year round. And here is a pick of our new 675 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,799 Speaker 1: family member, Mila. She is a Lab Retriever Husky mix. 676 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:32,839 Speaker 1: She is sweet, wild, and sassy. We just love her. 677 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,759 Speaker 1: She is beautiful. Oh my goodness, this dog is beautiful. 678 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:39,799 Speaker 1: I'm a little obsessed, so please kiss Mila right on 679 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:43,240 Speaker 1: the snoop for me if she's into that. I also 680 00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:46,319 Speaker 1: wanted to mention the other thing that Kristen doesn't mention, 681 00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:51,600 Speaker 1: that is great if you are growing pumpkins, you can 682 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:57,040 Speaker 1: eat those pumpkin blossoms. They're very delicious, especially the first 683 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:01,239 Speaker 1: The first series of blossom that you get are all 684 00:41:01,239 --> 00:41:03,839 Speaker 1: going to be male and so you can't get any 685 00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: fruit from them anyway, so you may as well pluck them. 686 00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:09,680 Speaker 1: You can put them in case ideas, you can deep 687 00:41:09,719 --> 00:41:13,200 Speaker 1: fry them, you can do all the yummy things. I'm 688 00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:16,640 Speaker 1: a fan. I'm telling you pumpkins year round. So thank 689 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,200 Speaker 1: you Kristin for reminding me that there was more about 690 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:22,279 Speaker 1: pumpkins to talk about, and thank you for sharing its 691 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:25,240 Speaker 1: beautiful pictures of my list. She's so pretty, and also 692 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:28,040 Speaker 1: just encouraging people to grow pumpkins because I agree they 693 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:30,400 Speaker 1: are very very fun to grow. I love them. I 694 00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:32,759 Speaker 1: love them. If you would like to write to us, 695 00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:36,080 Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 696 00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,960 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media as Missed 697 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,480 Speaker 1: in History, and if you would like to subscribe and 698 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:43,920 Speaker 1: you haven't yet, you can do that easy as pie. 699 00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:46,680 Speaker 1: You can do that on the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere 700 00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:54,360 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in 701 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:58,120 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 702 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:01,880 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 703 00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:03,840 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.