“Whip me up a Cocktail, Harry!”
At the beginning of the 20th century, American tourism took off. Wherever they were, the American tourists wanted to find a cocktail. Because of this, many ‘American bars’ began to spring up around the world, often based in the big hotels. It’s a good thing they did, because in 1920, American legislators passed Prohibition into law. Those foreign bars went from being tourist watering holes to the homes in exile of the cocktail itself.
The world-traveling guests had high standards for their accommodations and for their refreshments too. As a result, the bars and the bartenders that satisfied their liquid needs grew in reputation. This tale is of two of those bars and two guys named Harry that created and served drinks from behind them.
The American Bar
The American Bar was in one of those big hotels. Opened in London’s Savoy Hotel in 1893, it soon became a haven for the wealthy global tourists. It has always attracted the rich and famous. Past visitors include Winston Churchill, Charles Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and, of course, Ernest Hemingway. As you walk up the steps to the bar from within the main foyer of the hotel, you pass framed photos of the many celebrities who over the years have savored the drinks within.
The American Bar has maintained its fame throughout a 128-year history. In recent years it has been awarded the World’s Best Bar several times. The bar has found a way to maintain its old world glamour and simultaneously embrace the modern world of mixology. With its history and classic Art Deco decor, the American Bar was, and still is, a special place to drink.
Over all those years, the bar at the Savoy has had its share of world famous bartenders. There was the recent Slovakian bartender, Eric Lorincz, who received his offer from The Savoy after winning a global cocktail competition in 2010. There was Joe Gilmore (1955-1976), known for his creation of cocktails to mark special events or important guests. He created a Moonwalk cocktail in honor of the moon landing, which the astronauts enjoyed upon their return to Earth. There was Ada “Coley” Coleman (1903-1924), a rare woman behind the bar in those days. Ada was every bit as famous as all the guys. She left a legacy all her own with the Hanky Panky cocktail. She also helped train another famous bartender who was to be her successor, Harry Craddock (Harry Number One).
Harry’s New York Bar
At the time of those initial operating years of the Savoy American Bar, a jockey named Tod Sloan achieved great fame on the racetracks of the US and England. Sloan’s racing success, combined with his flamboyant lifestyle and love of beautiful women, made him an international celebrity. However, Sloan’s racing career was cut short in 1901. Racing officials suspected him of betting on races in which he rode.
And so, Sloan headed in another direction. In 1911, he purchased a bistro in Paris, France, and named it The New York Bar. He hoped to capitalize on his fame, and make it a place where the growing numbers of American tourists and members of the artistic and literary communities would feel at home. However, in 1923, financial problems from Sloan’s lavish personal lifestyle forced him to sell the establishment. His bartender, Harry MacElhone (Harry Number Two), bought it and renamed it Harry’s New York Bar.
Harry’s is still being run by the MacElhone family today, and has much wonderful trivia attached to it. In 1925, it was the first place to serve a hot dog in France, and you can still get a good one at the bar. George Gershwin composed “An American in Paris” on the very piano that still resides in Harry’s downstairs piano bar. The actual bar itself dates to 1849, having done over 60 years of service in New York before Sloan shipped it to Paris.
Harry’s eventually became the go-to night spot envisioned by Sloan. Over the years, the bar was frequented by many famous American and international celebrities such as Knute Rockne, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, Coco Chanel, Jack Dempsey, Primo Carnera, Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart, and, occasionally, the Duke of Windsor. In a 1960 short story, Ian Fleming even wrote about James Bond reminiscing of his visit to Harry’s Bar in Paris when Bond was 16 years old.
Harry Number One
Probably the most famous Savoy barman was Harry Craddock, who was at the top of the bartending profession during the 1920s and 30s. But although he was known as an ‘authentic’ American barman, Craddock was actually English. He was born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, emigrated to America at age 21, and became a US citizen in 1916. He worked his way up the bartending ranks in the bars of America’s finest hotels, including The Hollenden in Cleveland, The Palmer House in Chicago, and The Knickerbocker, Holland House and Hoffman House in New York.
When Prohibition began in 1920, he is said to have served the last legal drink in America at the old Holland House on Fifth Avenue. Craddock then hopped a ship the next morning, returned home to England to ply his trade, and never looked back. His American cocktail-pouring experience was in high demand in London and he soon became head barman at the Savoy. Craddock’s dedication to his profession was such that he went on to establish the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild, an organization that introduced England to the concept of bartender training.
Harry Craddock was known as “The Dean of Shakers.” He served drinks to a long list of the rich and famous, including Ava Gardner, Errol Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, Vivien Leigh, Dwight Eisenhower, and Winston Churchill. He was, at one time, so famous that he even had his wax likeness in Madame Tussauds. A man of quick wit, Craddock was always entertaining behind the bar. When once asked what the best way was to drink a cocktail, he replied, “Quickly, while it’s laughing at you.”
Harry Number Two
Harry MacElhone was born in Dundee, Scotland. Like the other Harry, he emigrated to America and became a well-known bartender. He worked at the Plaza Hotel in New York until prohibition hit America. And, like the other Harry and most bartenders across America he was suddenly out of work and relocated to Europe to find a job and continue his craft. After working several other bars in Europe, he landed the job as head bartender at Tod Sloan’s New York Bar in Paris. In 1923, he bought the establishment from the struggling Sloan and changed its name to Harry’s New York Bar.
In 1924, with his friend, newspaper columnist O. O. McIntyre, MacElhone founded the fanciful International Bar Flies (IBF) Club. Rule 1 of the club rules described it as “a secret and sacred fraternal organization devoted to the uplift and downfall of serious drinkers.” Other rules read that “members bumping their chins on the bar in the act of falling are suspended for 10 days,” and that “nothing is on the house but the roof.” Members had their own secret handshake and decorated their narrow silk ties with a tie clip featuring two well-dressed flies. Some 66 bars around the world were designated as Fly Traps where members might gather.
MacElhone was a marketing genius, catering to his mostly American customers. He hung American sports memorabilia on the walls of the bar and conducted political polls focused on US elections. He placed advertisements in newspapers with the phonetically-written address of his bar. So, American tourists just needed to tell their cab driver, “Sank Roo Doe Noo.” To all his guests, he handed out luggage tags inscribed, “Return me to Harry’s Bar, 5 Daunou.”
Craddock’s Book
In 1930, while at The Savoy, Harry Craddock published the classic Savoy Cocktail Book, compiling decades of historic recipes from the bar. It is a collection of over 700 drink recipes from both sides of the Atlantic, including some 250 created by Craddock himself.
The original 1930 editions feature a captivating Art Deco cover. A green figure sips a cocktail as a zig zag lightning bolt streaks across his heart. A band of angular art runs down the edge of the cover. Craddock’s book has whimsical cartoonish illustrations by Gilbert Rumbold scattered throughout its pages. Emblematic of the Savoy and the era, there are characters smoking, drinking, eating, dancing, and just looking posh as they travel the world.
Harry sprinkled little comments on his recipes throughout his book. For example, regarding his Rattlesnake Cocktail, he quipped, “So called, it will either cure a rattlesnake bite, or kill rattlesnakes.” And, for the Sunset Cocktail he said, “Next thing you know about is sunrise.”
His lethal concoction called the Bunny Hug, which is equal parts whisky, gin and absinthe came with the warning: “This cocktail should immediately be poured down the sink before it is too late.”
In many ways, The Savoy Cocktail Book is far more than a simple recipe book. With its dry observations on the culture of drinking and art-deco cartoons, it is a glimpse into mixological history. Today, almost every cocktail bar in the world has a well-used copy of the book for reference. This collection remains, 91 years after its publication, a huge influence on bartenders everywhere.
MacElhone’s Book
In 1927, while operating behind the bar at Harry’s, MacElhone published his book, Barflies and Cocktails, fancifully illustrated by Holcomb Wynn and presenting 300 recipes for cocktails. MacElhone begins the book with an essay on tending bar in which he writes:
“Bar-tending may, to the man who knows nothing about it, seem a very simple matter; but like everything, study is required to become an expert. Of course, this is leaving the mixing of drinks entirely out of consideration; what is referred to now is the act of waiting on a customer so that there will be no hitch of any kind, nor any misunderstanding. The successful barman of to-day is alert, bright, cheerful, courteous, speaks when spoken to, or only so far as a query concerning the drink, is clean and neat in dress and makes no unnecessary display of jewellery. To be abrupt, insolent, to talk too much, or to be slovenly in appearance is a positive detriment, and is inexcusable.”
Sadly, for many modern-day bartenders, that sage advice from a bygone era would fall on deaf ears.
Barflies and Cocktails also includes a “Cocktails Round Town” gossipy epilogue written by his friend, publisher Arthur Moss, that highlighted recipes from some of the bar’s well known patrons. Moss wrote, “The variety of tastes exhibited by any group of Men-About-Town has driven many a good bartender to drink. Not only do they clamor for every possible liquid combination; they even invent their own.”
Tales of Harry Cocktails
The Boulevardier and The Old Pal
Two men of minor note were among the regulars at Harry’s New York Bar in the mid-to-late 1920’s. Erskine Gwynne was a wealthy young American descendant of the Vanderbilt family who partied in Paris among the literary community. He and his rich friends spent their evenings dashing about the Parisian bars, restaurants, and night clubs, Harry’s included. To immortalize their wild times, he started a magazine called The Boulevardier, which ran for five years without much of a legacy. And then, perhaps rubbing elbows at the bar with Erskine, there was William “Sparrow” Robinson, a sports writer for the New York Herald-Tribune’s Paris office. Robinson was a heavy-drinking frequent customer of the Parisian cafes and night spots, and a man who called even the most casual of acquaintances “Old Pal.”
But could a perfect storm of cocktail creation, possibly have occurred one fateful night in Paris? Imagination and 1926 history blend once more to produce a short chapter from the Chronicles of Cocktail Connections.
The sounds of revelry that spilled out into the fragrant spring evening air beckoned to strollers on the Rue Daunou, like the alluring song of beautiful Sirens to passing ships. Harry’s was packed with all the rowdy regulars lined elbow to elbow at the long glistening mahogany bar, and the cocktails were flowing freely.
At that moment, George Gershwin, having spent his day working on his ‘American in Paris’ at the downstairs piano, commanded a central seat as he sipped another of his favorite Black Velvets (Guinness and Champagne). Sinclair Lewis, a charter member of the International Bar Flies Club, sat close by, staring into his Martini as he pondered his next chapter of Elmer Gantry.
Young bon vivant, Erskine Gwynne, lips loosened by the several bar-hopping drinks already in him, leaned across the counter and said, “Harry, my good man, forget the gin in my next Negroni. I’m feeling a little frisky for some whiskey.”
Nearly simultaneously from the other end of the bar, sports writer Sparrow Robinson yelled, “Hey, Harry! I gotta tell ya, Old Pal, I’m strikin’ out with this Manhattan. It needs a little spicin’ up. Bring in some of that Campari from the bullpen, will ya!”
Harry rolled his eyes and murmured quietly, “Amateurs.” Nevertheless, he turned and yelled to them both, “Coming right up. One for young Mr. Boulevardier, and one for my Old Pal!”
History is somewhat murky regarding who invented these two cocktails, the bartender (MacElhone) or the bar patrons (Gwynne and Robinson). In the epilogue of Barflies and Cocktails, MacElhone appears to give a nod to the patrons. Gwynn is attributed to a cocktail called the Boulevardier (his magazine), with equal parts bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth. Robinson is credited with the Old Pal (his frequent expression), with equal parts Canadian or rye whisky, Campari, and dry vermouth. Regardless of their originators, those Negroni cousins, the Boulevardier and the Old Pal, are inextricably linked to Harry’s Bar and to Paris.
Corpse Reviver No. 2
There is one family of named cocktails historically touted as hangover cures. They are called Corpse Revivers, because of their supposed potency or characteristics to be able to revive even a dead person. Some Corpse Reviver cocktail recipes have been lost to time, but several variations with ties to the American Bar and Harry Craddock remain.
One of the most enduring Craddock recipes is the Corpse Reviver No. 2, a zesty mixture of gin, Lillet Blanc, lemon juice, triple sec and a dash of absinthe. Technically simple, but complex in flavor, this is a recipe that lends itself readily to reinvention, which is no doubt why it remains a favorite of bartenders throughout London. The mists of imagined history begin to swirl over Old London, and reveal another story from the chronicles of cocktail connections…
Harry Craddock was where he felt most comfortable, behind the bar at the Savoy Hotel in London. Today, he had arrived well before the bar opened, and was rifling through the 2000 index cards of cocktail recipes he had collected over the years. Liam Kelly, looked up from his job mopping the barroom floor, and said, “What’re ye doin’ here so early, Mr. Craddock?”
“Morning, Liam,” Harry replied. “I’m working on the final touches of my book of cocktails. The big bosses of the hotel wanted me to write The Savoy Cocktail Book. But to be specific, I’m adding my last two cocktails to finish the book. They are my cures for our early arriving customers that have a hangover.”
“Oh, you mean something to bring them back from the dead!” laughed Liam.
Harry laughed along with him, and replied, “Strange that you say that, because this family of cocktails has traditionally been called Corpse Revivers for the last 70 years. I will simply be calling them Corpse Reviver No. 1 and Corpse Reviver No. 2. Number 1 is a cocktail I have been making since I was in New York, a mix of cognac, apple brandy, and sweet Vermouth. Would you like a sample?”
“Sure would!” Liam said eagerly. And as he tasted the cocktail, he added, “That should give me a little steam for the rest of the day!”
Craddock smiled as he wrote a comment next to the No. 1 recipe…To be taken before 11a.m., or whenever steam and energy are needed. “Let’s not stop now. Want to try my No. 2? It has gin, lemon juice, Cointreau, and Lillet Blanc, but it might need one more item for perfection.”
Liam was once again happy to oblige. “What’s the best way to drink this?”
“Quickly,” Harry answered, as he always did when asked that question, “while it’s laughing at you.”
Liam, like the cocktail, laughed and added, “Maybe put in a dash of that Green Fairy. That will make a drink that might make you a corpse again if you had too many.
Harry complied, and sampled the result himself. His eyes opened in satisfaction. He immediately tweaked the recipe, and wrote in his book…Four of these taken in swift succession will un-revive the corpse again.“Liam, my helpful friend, I am very very glad we had this little conversation. My book is complete!”
The Sidecar
As the story goes, an American Army captain stationed in Paris after WWI, rode to Harry’s New York Bar almost every night. His mode of transport was his friend’s motorcycle sidecar. On this particular evening, he was craving something French before dinner. He thought a little cognac seemed an obvious choice. He turned to the bartender, Harry MacElhone himself, and requested, “How about a little cognac for starters, Harry.”
Harry smiled and politely replied, “Here in France, my good Captain, cognac is treated with some reverence, and is generally enjoyed after dinner. The French consider it in bad taste to have such a spirit by itself so early in the evening. But let me see what I can do for you.” Harry was feeling creative, and was always looking to please his customers. He figured he could satisfy the captain’s craving by using the cognac more appropriately in a lighter mixed cocktail. Harry took the cognac and combined it with some Cointreau and lemon juice. He offered it to the Captain in a chilled champagne glass. “Try this, my good Cognac Captain!”
The captain sipped his cocktail, and with a look of great satisfaction said, “Harry, I salute you as the 5-star general of all mixologists. What do you call this delicious drink?”
Harry gazed out the window at the captain’s parked vehicle and quickly replied with a chuckle, “Why, a Sidecar, of course!”
The Monkey Gland
During the time Harry MacElhone was slinging drinks, a French surgeon named Serge Voronoff hit the news. The doctor gained fame for something so strange it is laughable. Voronoff developed a technique of grafting monkey testicle tissue on to the testicles of men. He promised his clients an increase in their life expectancy. He claimed, “It pours into the stream of the blood a species of vital fluid which restores the energy of all the cells, and spreads happiness, and a feeling of well-being and the plentitude of life throughout our organism.” Most medical authorities ridiculed his claims. Thus, he became infamously known simply as the “monkey gland man.”
However, although Voronoff’s claims were obviously debunked, his outrageous ideas live on as a cocktail. MacElhone, who was at Ciro’s in London at the time, created a drink he called the Monkey Gland. He brought the recipe with him to Paris. MacElhone must have felt that his combination of gin, absinthe, orange juice, and grenadine would also “spread happiness, and a feeling of well-being and the plentitude of life throughout our organism.”
The White Lady
The White Lady is a good drink on which to end this essay. It was, in fact, a sort of collaborative effort of the two Harrys. Cocktail historians consider Harry MacElhone to be the originator of a White Lady at London’s Ciro Club in 1919. However, his first draft included a questionable amount of white crème de menthe, as well as Cointreau and lemon juice. It was far from the recipe we know today. And then, in his 1927 Barflies and Cocktails, the recipe included Brandy, crème de menthe, and Cointreau. It wasn’t until 1929 that his taste buds saw the light, and he ditched the Creme de Menthe for Gin. His drier version number three consisted now of equal parts gin, lemon juice and triple sec.
But while MacElhone fiddled with those versions, the White Lady’s evolution continued on another front. Harry Craddock entered the picture. He published a recipe for the cocktail in his 1930 book. He smartly increased the recipe’s ratio of gin to the other ingredients, Cointreau and lemon juice. Craddock claimed that he named the cocktail after F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda who would often drink at the Savoy and had bleach blonde hair.
After that, the White Lady quickly became one of the Savoy’s most popular and well-known drinks. Craddock considered it one of his signature drinks. In 1927, when the hotel was undergoing renovations, he placed a cocktail shaker full of a newly-made White Lady in the building’s walls. No one has recovered it yet.
Parallelism
And so, two Harry’s were born in the British Isles. Two Harrys emigrated to America. Two Harrys became well known bartenders before Prohibition. Two Harrys returned to Europe when Prohibition did away with their trade. Two Harrys reached the pinnacle of their profession behind the bars of two very popular major European city establishments. Two Harrys wrote classic cocktail books that bartenders still reference heavily today. And two Harrys have left an extensive legacy of classic cocktail creations in their wakes. Raise your Corpse Revivers and Monkey Glands in a salutary toast to the Harrys.
