WELCOME TO BAR HISTORY!

Happy Hour City was born in Los Angeles, CA. When we began this journey in 2017 we never imagined we’d be facing a civil rights movement outside our windows. However, we are grateful because it is time to wake up, America. We’re doing our part to educate ourselves, and you, on the influence of African Americans in the world of mixology, bars, and restaurants. Enjoy!

Cocktail history may be a little muggy depending on the cocktail. Historians and bartenders alike tend to be a bit obsessed with researching the history of a cocktail (we’re guilty too!). And though nothing on the origins of the American Bar is concrete, recipes help us dig a little deeper into this country’s mixology history. Download hspa mobile phones & portable devices driver.

Tom is owner/operator of Fire/Water Films, a San Francisco based post-production service. Occasionally taking time out to direct-or perform as a character actor and voice-over talent-Tom is a longstanding member of Actors Equity, Screen Actors Guild, and the Motion Picture Editors Guild (LA local 700).

• Thomas Felix Bolack (May 18, 1918 – May 20, 1998) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 20th governor of New Mexico for 32 days in 1962–63.
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Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Tom Bullock is one of the most important figures in cocktail history, though most of the time grossly overlooked. As for Tom Bullock’s hometown, Louisville, it was an important city for the Union soldiers fighting the Confederacy. It was where many plans were developed, but that wasn’t always the case… Louisville in the 1850s was home to one of the largest slave trade markets in the U.S. As well, it was a major tobacco market post and by 1850 it was the 10th largest city in the states with a population of 43,000.

It wouldn’t be until a month into the Civil War on May 20, 1861, that the state of Kentucky would declare its neutrality. Tom’s father (name unknown) was born a slave who would come to fight for an end to slavery as a Union soldier. In 1872 Tom was brought into this world.

Little is known about Tom’s early life. Records show that he worked on railroad club cars in multiple cities, eventually landing and settling in St. Louis, Missouri. After the Civil War ended, saloon keeping was one of the few job posts available to free African Americans. In predominantly black cities and towns, saloons were the center of town. Despite not being able to step into white-owned saloons, black-owned saloons made a name for themselves for both good and infamous reasons.

In New Orleans, you had the Steamboatman Exchange where patrons partook in gambling, and knife-fights were known to happen in daylight hours. A famous joint not known for as much infamy was Bill Curtis' Elite Social Club in St. Louis. As for Tom Bullock, he began bartending at multiple venues including the Pendennis Club. During Bullock’s time at the Pendennis Club, his colleague James E Pepper invented the Old Fashioned. Bullock found himself bartending at the Kenton Club, but his most famous stint was as the bartender of the St. Louis Country Club.

Notable members of the St. Louis Country Club included George Herbert Walker Bush. Yep, that’s the grandfather and great-grandfather of the 41st and 43rd president of the United States. During his time here Bullock decided to write a cocktail book; little did he know he would be making history.

We found little else on Bullock’s life after that. He passed away in 1964, relatives survived him and in 2015 one of his nephews, Darryl Bullock, spoke greatly of his uncle to Punch Drink:

“We were servants. We used what we learned as slaves to become cooks and caterers… My uncle must have been very good at what he did for so many people to know his name. And that makes me proud.”

Tom Bullock’s The Ideal Bartender was published in 1917. He is credited with being the first African American bartender to pen a cocktail book. In the book, George Herbert Walker penned the foreword celebrating Bullock’s success behind the bar: Hitech security laptops & desktops driver download for windows.

“I have known the author for many years, and it is a privilege to be permitted to testify to his qualifications. .. In all that time I doubt that he has erred in even one of his concoctions.'

Tom’s book featured 173 pre-prohibition cocktails in alphabetical order. His most famous concoction was America’s most popular cocktail of the time the Mint Julep, but he also included everything from the classics to futuristic drinks that prove he was way ahead of his time. According to the folks over at VinePair, the book includes a recipe for a “Cohasset Punch, the Horse Thief Cocktail, the Free Love cocktail, and something called the Diarrhea Draught, page 33.” Cocktail historian David Wondrich believes Tom may have been one of the first bartenders to create a version of a Gimlet cocktail.

Tom Bullock State Farm

Excluding the names like Diarrhea Draught, Tom’s recipes were very meticulous and sophisticated, a reflection of the clientele he served during his time at the country clubs. To black people in America being a bartender wasn’t the side gig it is considered for many today, it was a position known to result in power and wealth. Tom accomplished this and more with his book. In addition to being the first known African American to write a cocktail book, he was the first to have it published by a white-owned publishing company.

Sadly for Tom, prohibition began soon after his book was published, and sadly for us, the book doesn’t reveal much about Tom himself. The only glimpse into the kind of man he was is reflected in how much pride he put into his cocktails. According to the Cocktail Times, during prohibition Bullock moved around but continued to work at the St. Louis Country Club, where for some reason people were still allowed to drink. However, the club erased all records of him working there during these times.

The book is classic and a must-have amongst cocktail and history nerds alike, we highly recommend it. You can purchase a copy on Amazon.

With 173 recipes in his ammo, Bullock contributed more than he could imagine to mixology, and for that we applaud him. Purchase a copy and give a simple recipe a try, just remember they used to make ‘em stronger back then!

Tom Bullock Brenham

Thanks for reading, and as always…

Cheers from,

Tom Bullock Lexington Ky

Happy Hour City