Harry Johnson was an American

bartender A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but a ...

who owned and operated saloons across the US in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. He is best known for the ''New and Improved Bartenders' Manual'', an influential book that contained many original

cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...

recipes, as well as the first written recipes of such cocktails as the marguerite and a version of the

martini Martini may refer to: * Martini (cocktail) * Martini (vermouth), a brand of vermouth * Martini (surname), an Italian surname * Martini (automobile company), a Swiss automobile company * Automobiles Martini, a French manufacturer of racing cars * M ...

. Perhaps even more importantly, it was the first book to offer bar management instructions. Johnson opened the first ever consulting agency for bar management. ''

Imbibe ''Imbibe'' is a magazine published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is published six times a year. The magazine covers beverages of all kinds, including spirits, wine, beer, coffee, and tea. History The first issue of ''Imbibe'' was rele ...

'' magazine has called him one of the most influential cocktail personalities of the last 100 years, and he has been called "the father of professional bartending".

Life and work

Johnson was born in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

. A sailor, he was left by his ship in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1861 to recover from a broken arm and hip. Starting as a kitchen-boy in the Union Hotel, he worked his way up to bartender and then manager. It was in San Francisco that he first met Jerry Thomas, his rival, whose work he would continue. After eight years, Johnson moved to Chicago and opened a bar of his own, which became very successful. Now a celebrity, Johnson gave lectures and wrote articles and recipes for local newspapers. In 1869, he claimed that he had challenged the five best American bartenders in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and won, becoming "the champion of the United States." No other source confirms this, though. When his bar burned in the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

in 1871, Johnson went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1877, he bought Little Jumbo, a bar where Thomas used to work. Upon hearing that, Thomas publicly renounced any association with the bar. Their rivalry peaked in 1880, when Thomas threw a bowl of

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

on the floor of Johnson's bar, calling him an amateur because that drink should only be served when the temperature drops below zero. In 1890, Johnson decided to retire from bartending and opened a bar management consulting agency, thereby becoming the first bar consultant in history.

''New and Improved Bartender's Manual''

His ''New and Improved Bartender's Manual, or How to Mix Drinks in the Present Style'' was published in 1882. The manual provided hundreds of cocktail recipes. However, what made it seminal were its detailed instructions on how to become a proper bartender, such as: "The opening of a new place", "How ale and porter should be drawn", "Hints about training a boy to the business", "Handing bar-spoons to customers", "To keep ants and other insects out of mixing bottles" etc. The book contained the first written recipes of such cocktails as the

bijou Bijou is a French word meaning ''jewel'', often loosely applied to buildings to mean small and elegant. It may also refer to: Buildings * Bijou Palace, also known as the Al-Gawhara Palace, a palace in Cairo, Egypt * Bijou Theatre (Manhattan), two ...

(invented by Johnson), the marguerite (in the 1900 edition), and a version of the

(in the 1888 edition). The invention of the martini was sometimes wrongly attributed to him – or to Thomas. Johnson claimed to have written and published an earlier edition, in 1860. If true, it would be the first cocktail guide ever published, pre-dating Thomas's ''The Bar-Tender's Guide'' by two years. However, no copies of the book have been found.

References

External links

Harry Johnson's New and Improved Bartender's Manual (1882)
from archive.org

Sandit libri {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Harry American bartenders American people of German descent