Described as “a gentleman all ablaze with diamonds,” Jeremiah P. “Jerry” Thomas during his lifetime was a gold miner, (minor) Broadway impresario, art collector, inventor, gambler, reigning monarch of American bartenders, and the author of the nation’s first drinks recipe book. Thomas’ “Bar-Tender’s Guide” published in 1862 during the Civil War, is still in print, available from multiple sources.
Thomas was born about 1830 in Sackets Harbor, New York, a town on Lake Ontario, not far from the Canadian border, the son of Jeremiah and Mary Morris Thomas. Of his early life and education little is known. At some point in the late 1830s or early 1840s, the family moved to New Haven, Connecticut. By the age of 16, Thomas had quit school and, according to his obituary in the New York Herald “he began life as a New Haven barkeeper.” As an apprentice in the craft, his duties would have included polishing the barware and sweeping the floor as he learn the craft of mixing cocktails.
Soon Thomas’ lifelong longed to see a wider world than New Haven. He was hired on as an apprentice seaman on a ship to Cuba. From there other maritime adventures beckoned including a wintry trip around Cape Horn to California. There he jumped ship to join the throngs prospecting for gold. His success as a miner has gone unrecorded but having been left some money by his father, he was briefly involved as an impresario of minstrel shows in San Francisco before resuming his career in bartending.
Now in his early 20s but still restless, Thomas moved back to the East Coast in 1851 and opened a saloon below P.T. Barnum’s American Museum, shown here. It was the first of four he would run in New York City during his peripatetic lifetime He wore flashy jewelry and his solid silver bar tools and cups were embellished with gem stones. Thomas began to display the showmanship as a bartender for which he became famous. He developed elaborate and flashy techniques of mixing cocktails, sometimes while juggling bottles, cups and mixers.. His signature drink, depicted here, was the “Blue Blazer,” a fiery concoction thrown from glass to glass. Thomas also has been credited with inventing the martini.
And he continued to travel. After closing up his Big Apple establishment, during the next few years Thomas would preside as head bartender at posh hotels in Charleston S.C., Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, and San Francisco. Those included The Planters House in St. Louis, below left, and the Occidental Hotel in Frisco, where he was paid $100 a week, at the time more than the salary of the U.S. Vice President.
While in San Francisco, during the onset of the Civil War, Thomas finished his “Bar-Tender’s Guide,” alternatively called “How to Mix Drinks” and “The Bon-Vivant’s Companion.” Shown here, it was the first drinks book ever published in the United States. In it Thomas put into print what heretofore had been an oral tradition of drink recipes as well as instructions on making cocktails of his own devising. He recruited a good San Francisco artist to provide illustrations.
Thomas updated the guide twice to add drinks or refine existing ones, the last time 14 years later. That edition included a recipe for the Tom and Jerry, a drink Thomas seemed to claim as his own:
“5 lbs sugar.”
“12 eggs”
“1/2 small glass of Jamaica rum”
“1/2 teaspoon cloves”
“1/2 teaspoon allspice”
“Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and the yolks until they are thin as water, then mix together and add the spice and rum, thicken with sugar until the mixture attains the consistency of a light batter.”
“To deal out to customers:”
“Take a small bar glass, and to one tablespoonful of the above mixture, add one wine-glass of brandy, and fill the glass with boiling water, and grate a little nutmeg on top.”
“This drink is sometimes called Copenhagen and sometimes “Jerry Thomas.””
Since its publication, the book seemingly never has been out of print. The covers of copies issued over ensuing years are on display throughout this post, including, shown here, the Guide as issued by Dover Publishing and currently available from Amazon Books.
The story might have ended in San Francisco with Thomas holding forth nightly to mesmerized fans while collecting his big weekly paycheck, but that would be underestimating Jerry. Instead he was drawn to the boom town of Virginia City, Nevada, where the discovery of the Comstock Load had spawned some 30,000 gold-hungry adventurers. Perhaps drawn there by memories of his own early days “moiling for gold,” in 1863 Thomas went to work as bartender at the Delta Saloon. Mark Twain, working for the local newspaper, commented that Thomas’ presence did much to elevate the tastes and drinking habits of the Comstock.
Before long, Thomas pulled up stakes once again and returned to New York City initially working as the head bartender at the Metropolitan Hotel, shown here. In 1866 he opened his own drinking establishment in Manhattan, on Broadway between 21st and 22nd streets. Showing signs of settling down, Thomas married, had two daughters, and aggressively began to collect art. This did not dim his flashy persona as a bon vivant, wearing kid gloves and sporting a gold watch.
Always the gambler, in his later years Thomas began playing the stock market but made a series of disastrous investments. To avoid bankruptcy he was forced to sell his successful saloon and auction off his considerable art collection. Later recouping financially, Thomas opened another Manhattan bar that failed to be as popular as his previous location.
While still its proprietor, Thomas died of a stroke at his home at 63th Street and 9th Avenue on December 15, 1885. He was 55. His death occasioned obituaries around the country, particularly in the many cities in which he had worked. The New York Times opined that he was the Big Apple’s best known barkeep and “was very popular among all classes.” Thomas was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. His gravestone is shown here.
In March 2003, a tribute was held for Jerry Thomas at the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, where bartenders gathered to make many of the cocktails published in his ground-breaking books. In a lifetime of travel and adventure Thomas had set a standard for his occupation to which many have aspired, but few have approached.
Note: Although this vignette was derived from multiple sources, much of what we know about Jerry Thomas is derived from the book by David Wonderich entitled, “Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to Professor” Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar.”
Described as “a gentleman all ablaze with diamonds,” Jeremiah P. “Jerry” Thomas during his lifetime was a gold miner, (minor) Broadway impresario, art collector, inventor, gambler, reigning monarch of American bartenders, and the author of the nation’s first drinks recipe book. Thomas’ “Bar-Tender’s Guide” published in 1862 during the Civil War, is still in print, available from multiple sources.
Thomas was born about 1830 in Sackets Harbor, New York, a town on Lake Ontario, not far from the Canadian border, the son of Jeremiah and Mary Morris Thomas. Of his early life and education little is known. At some point in the late 1830s or early 1840s, the family moved to New Haven, Connecticut. By the age of 16, Thomas had quit school and, according to his obituary in the New York Herald “he began life as a New Haven barkeeper.” As an apprentice in the craft, his duties would have included polishing the barware and sweeping the floor as he learn the craft of mixing cocktails.
Soon Thomas’ lifelong longed to see a wider world than New Haven. He was hired on as an apprentice seaman on a ship to Cuba. From there other maritime adventures beckoned including a wintry trip around Cape Horn to California. There he jumped ship to join the throngs prospecting for gold. His success as a miner has gone unrecorded but having been left some money by his father, he was briefly involved as an impresario of minstrel shows in San Francisco before resuming his career in bartending.
Now in his early 20s but still restless, Thomas moved back to the East Coast in 1851 and opened a saloon below P.T. Barnum’s American Museum, shown here. It was the first of four he would run in New York City during his peripatetic lifetime He wore flashy jewelry and his solid silver bar tools and cups were embellished with gem stones. Thomas began to display the showmanship as a bartender for which he became famous. He developed elaborate and flashy techniques of mixing cocktails, sometimes while juggling bottles, cups and mixers.. His signature drink, depicted here, was the “Blue Blazer,” a fiery concoction thrown from glass to glass. Thomas also has been credited with inventing the martini.
And he continued to travel. After closing up his Big Apple establishment, during the next few years Thomas would preside as head bartender at posh hotels in Charleston S.C., Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, and San Francisco. Those included The Planters House in St. Louis, below left, and the Occidental Hotel in Frisco, where he was paid $100 a week, at the time more than the salary of the U.S. Vice President.
While in San Francisco, during the onset of the Civil War, Thomas finished his “Bar-Tender’s Guide,” alternatively called “How to Mix Drinks” and “The Bon-Vivant’s Companion.” Shown here, it was the first drinks book ever published in the United States. In it Thomas put into print what heretofore had been an oral tradition of drink recipes as well as instructions on making cocktails of his own devising. He recruited a good San Francisco artist to provide illustrations.
Thomas updated the guide twice to add drinks or refine existing ones, the last time 14 years later. That edition included a recipe for the Tom and Jerry, a drink Thomas seemed to claim as his own:
“5 lbs sugar.”
“12 eggs”
“1/2 small glass of Jamaica rum”
“1/2 teaspoon cloves”
“1/2 teaspoon allspice”
“Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and the yolks until they are thin as water, then mix together and add the spice and rum, thicken with sugar until the mixture attains the consistency of a light batter.”
“To deal out to customers:”
“Take a small bar glass, and to one tablespoonful of the above mixture, add one wine-glass of brandy, and fill the glass with boiling water, and grate a little nutmeg on top.”
“This drink is sometimes called Copenhagen and sometimes “Jerry Thomas.””
Since its publication, the book seemingly never has been out of print. The covers of copies issued over ensuing years are on display throughout this post, including, shown here, the Guide as issued by Dover Publishing and currently available from Amazon Books.
The story might have ended in San Francisco with Thomas holding forth nightly to mesmerized fans while collecting his big weekly paycheck, but that would be underestimating Jerry. Instead he was drawn to the boom town of Virginia City, Nevada, where the discovery of the Comstock Load had spawned some 30,000 gold-hungry adventurers. Perhaps drawn there by memories of his own early days “moiling for gold,” in 1863 Thomas went to work as bartender at the Delta Saloon. Mark Twain, working for the local newspaper, commented that Thomas’ presence did much to elevate the tastes and drinking habits of the Comstock.
Before long, Thomas pulled up stakes once again and returned to New York City initially working as the head bartender at the Metropolitan Hotel, shown here. In 1866 he opened his own drinking establishment in Manhattan, on Broadway between 21st and 22nd streets. Showing signs of settling down, Thomas married, had two daughters, and aggressively began to collect art. This did not dim his flashy persona as a bon vivant, wearing kid gloves and sporting a gold watch.
Always the gambler, in his later years Thomas began playing the stock market but made a series of disastrous investments. To avoid bankruptcy he was forced to sell his successful saloon and auction off his considerable art collection. Later recouping financially, Thomas opened another Manhattan bar that failed to be as popular as his previous location.
While still its proprietor, Thomas died of a stroke at his home at 63th Street and 9th Avenue on December 15, 1885. He was 55. His death occasioned obituaries around the country, particularly in the many cities in which he had worked. The New York Times opined that he was the Big Apple’s best known barkeep and “was very popular among all classes.” Thomas was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. His gravestone is shown here.
In March 2003, a tribute was held for Jerry Thomas at the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, where bartenders gathered to make many of the cocktails published in his ground-breaking books. In a lifetime of travel and adventure Thomas had set a standard for his occupation to which many have aspired, but few have approached.
Note: Although this vignette was derived from multiple sources, much of what we know about Jerry Thomas is derived from the book by David Wonderich entitled, “Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar.”
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