Gothamist: Happy Bloody Mary Day!

r1b2

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:48:25 -0500

Gin, with a twist, thank you.

r1b2

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:47:59 -0500

Wake me when it's time to celebrate a dry martini.

Barry Popik

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:57:10 -0500

The 75th anniversary of the Bloody Mary was celebrated in Times Square in New York City on Monday, December 1st. New York state and local officials (politicians have nothing better to do these days?) will declared it "Bloody Mary Day." ... It's all bloody wrong, of course. ... For those of you familiar with my incredibly thankless research work on the Big Apple, the Windy City, the hot dog, the hamburger...you know the drill. ... The old myth was that French bartender Ferdinand "Pete" Petiot invented the "Bloody Mary" (or a similar drink with a different name) at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in the 1920s, and that he brought the recipe over with him to New York City and the King Cole Bar of the St. Regis Hotel (where it was called the "Red Snapper"). One problem here is that Harry's New York Bar published drink books in the 1920s and nothing like the "Bloody Mary" was printed in them. Also, tomato juice wasn't produced in cans until about 1928. ... I spent hundreds of hours reading the New York Herald Tribune in the New York Public Library. I read all of food and culture maven Lucius Beebe's columns, and I found the first citations of "Bloody Mary" there in 1939 and 1940. Both citations attributed the new drink to New York City entertainer George Jessel; if Beebe had anything else to add to his knowledge of the cocktail, he surely would have. ... The Wikipedia "Bloody Mary" page originally cited my work and linked to my web page, but now it no longer links to me. (Although I am mentioned briefly on the Talk page and linked to the Wikitender "Bloody Mary" entry.) Wikipedia uses my work without any credit or compensation. About a year ago, a Balderdash & Piffle (UK) OED Word Search resulted in about a dozen people getting credit for my "Bloody Mary" work that OED already had in its files for about ten years! ... Ferdinand Petiot admitted -- much later, in The New Yorker of 1964 -- that Jessel invented the "Bloody Mary" drink of vodka and tomato juice, but that he added to it the essential ingredients of Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, lemon juice, celery salt, etc. Such ingredients appeared in oyster cocktails at least as early as 1922. (http://books.google.com/books?id=FMpnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA299&dq=%22oyster+cocktail%22+celery+stalk) ... The Bloody Mary Day announcement and the Wikipedia "Bloody Mary" page state that the celery stalk garnish was invented at Chicago's Ambassador East Hotel in the 1960s, but this also appears to be an urban myth, as celery stalks were frequently served with tomato juice in the 1950s. ... I guess we can all use a cocktail these days! If TGI Fridays is going to serve Bloody Marys at 1933 prices (before the drink was invented) and other companies are giving out the drinks for free, perhaps that isn't too bad. If foolish politicians want to celebrate a "Bloody Mary Day," perhaps that's better than a bailout u sing taxpayer money. ... It sure would have been nice if folks had consulted me, though. ... Barry Popik http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/bloody_mary/ http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/bloody_mary_cocktail_celery_stalk_celery_stick/ http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/texas_bloody_mary_cocktail/ http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/cowboy_bloody_mary/ http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/bloody_maria_cocktail/

Nyctini11

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:07:27 -0500

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Why aren't we told these sort of things in enough advance that we can actually go out and enjoy them??

dglass

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:42:48 -0500

they should have kept red snapper. i would order that drink repeatedly just to say it.

SP

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:14:54 -0500

Try as I might, I hate bloody maries. All my friends who went to harvard love them, i think they had some sort of stupid club that involved drinking them a lot.

NannyState

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:52:27 -0500

Might be the only celery some of us have had in the last three years...

Katelyn

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:20:02 -0500

I had no idea there was an official Bloody Mary day! Awesome.

thelexiphane

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:18:07 -0500

No good news shall go uncriticized. Just drink up and relax people.

ides_of_march

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:13:08 -0500

I believe the celery was added because the ancient Romans used it as a hangover cure; either by eating it or wearing it, I'm not sure which.

smacky

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:49:20 -0500

And Jen is wrong.... Bloody Mary was originally developed in Paris at Harry's NY bar. Petiot was brought to NYC after Prohibition was repealed, by the Astor family, who owned the St. Regis hotel. The name "bloody mary" was considered distasteful and the name and alcohol (gin instead of vodka, remember, Vodka was not prominent in America until the late 60's) and renamed the "Red Snapper". BAM!

ck

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:31:21 -0500

that's great news. Now i don't feel like a drunk for drinking a bloody mary as we speak. Rather, i feel celebratory.

spiritross

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:29:59 -0500

Yeah where is the most important reporting here? WHERE EXACTLY ARE THEY GIVING OUT THE FREE BOOZE!!!

matty

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:44:08 -0500

That was some amazing wikipedia research jen carlson. It must have taken you literally minutes to look that up, copy and paste it here.