1933 Jack's Manual by J A Grohusko

History of the Coc1{tail

!M!ost of the people one meets where cocktails grow have an idea that they know the origin of the word"cocktail." No two of them, however, agree as to what that origin is, and in any case they are all wrong, as they always put that origin some where between sixty and seventy years ago, whereas in The Balance, an American periodical, under date of May 13, 1806, we read:"Cocktail is a stimulating liquor,composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters — it is vulgarly called ' bittered sling' and is supposed to be an excellent electioneer ing potion." This is the earliest reference to the cocktail that we have been able to find in print. Linguists have been misled by the word'"cocktail" into imaginipg that it was once in some way connected with the plumage of the domestic rooster. But this is not so. The true and incontrovertible story of the origin of the cocktail is as follows: Somewhere about the beginning of the last century, there had been for some time very considerable friction between the American Army of the Southern States and King Axolotl VJII of Mexico. Several skirmishes and one or two battles'Tiad taken place, but eventually a truce was called and the King agreed to meet the American general and to discuss terms of peace with him. The place chosen for the meeting was the King's pavilion, and thither the American general repaired, and was accom modated with a seat on the bench, as it were, next to King A, himself. Before opening negotiations, however. His Majesty