Moscow Mule; Molotov Cocktail; Manhattan Cocktail

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MOSCOW MULE

   OED has 1963 for "Moscow Mule," but Jesse probably has something a little
better.
   From BUCKEYE TAVERN, "Patrick Murphy's The Barman's Corner," 11 May 1944,
pg. 4, col. 2:

   Since the primary purpose of this column is to keep the trade informed of
mixtro news in particular and beverage lore in general, we hasten to report
that a drink is being promoted in the Southwest.  It's a brand promotion, but
undoubtedly will click since it has a snappy name and its number one
ingredient, vodka, is bought more easily in many areas than is gin or
whiskey.  The drink is a cooler built along Tom Collins lines, and here is
the recipe as advertised:
   _MOSCOW MULE_
   1 oz. vodka, 10 oz. glass and chipped ice, a twist of lemon peel.

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MOLOTOV COCKTAIL

   From BUCKEYE TAVERN, "Patrick Murphy's The Barman's Corner," 2 March 1944,
pg. 4, col. 2:

   Mixology items of a kind not usually encountered in the better bars now
appear regularly in some of America's leading industrial advertising.  For
instance, here's the recipe for a Molotov Cocktail as noted in an
advertisement in a recent Saturday Evening Post:

   _MOLOTOVE COCKTAIL_
   "RECIPE:  To one empty wine bottle, add gasoline and oil--fifty-fifty.
Plug in a strip of shirt-tail--or what have you?  Leave a short "fuse"
hanging out and ignite it.  Heave quickly toward the midriff of any
approaching Axis tank.  The oil slows the fire just right...And then
woof!...the tank looks like a big flaming Christmas pudding!"

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MANHATTAN COCKTAIL

   From the BUCKEYE TAVERN, "Patrick Murphy's The Barman's Corner," 15 March
1945, pg. 6, col. 2:

   From out of Manhattan last week came data from Ed Gibbs, one of the
trade's 'way-back-when columnist and now a publisher and newsletter writer
(Gibbs once wrote for the BUCKEYE TAVERN--ed.), to the effect that the
Manhattan Cocktail has a definite date of origin.  If so, this will be one of
the very few cocktails which can be nailed down as to time and place of
birth.  The Gibbs' version, which in turn is from sources he labels as his
"research department," declares that on a memorable December 29, 1874,
evening at the Manhattan Club, "in the old A. T. Stewart Mansion--now the
Empire State Blg.," a testimonial dinner was held in honor of Samuel J.
Tilden.  This is the Tilden, history-wise readers will recall, who received a
majority vote of the U. S. A. when Presidential candidate, but was defeated
by the electoral college set-up.  Official notes on the banquet alluded to
declare that the dinner was preceded by a drink made of "American Whiskey,
Italian Vermouth and Angostura Bitters."  It proved so popul
ar that club members asked for it again and again, hence became known as the
Manhattan Cocktail.
   This reads well but we must remain a bit dubious.  For instance, it is
quite probable that the drink was served before that December 29th evening in
the Manhattan clubrooms--it may have been the house drink of several years.
And old bar guides, one that we have being originally printed in 1860, list
many a Manhattan Cocktail, so the name antedates the event Mr. Gibbs speaks
of.  (What bar guide is this?--ed.)
   Many early Manhattans called for a dash of this or that--absinthe, or
orange bitters or even curacao.  Harry Johnson stipulated a twist of lemon
peel as the garnish, back in the 1870's, in contrast to today's maraschino
cherry garnish.  The drink was evidently a vermouth and whiskey combination,
but had local variations.