Victor Vaughen Morris (August 5, 1873 – June 11, 1929) was an American immigrant to Peru and businessman and bar owner best known for inventing the

Pisco Sour A pisco sour is an alcoholic cocktail of Peruvian origin that is typical of Peruvian cuisine. The drink's name comes from ''pisco'', which is its base liquor, and the cocktail term ''sour'', about sour citrus juice and sweetener components. The ...

, the national drink of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Origins

Morris was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. Descending from a pioneer family, his father was a businessman and a polygamist having served there as a

Mormon bishop In the Latter Day Saint movement, a bishop is the highest office of the Aaronic priesthood. It is almost always held by one who holds the office of high priest in the Melchizedek priesthood. The Latter Day Saint concept of the office differs signi ...

and his grandfather and great-grandfather had played a prominent role in the founding of the city. He was for several years manager for the B.C. Morris Floral Company but later assumed the direction of the retail stores of Salt Lake Floral Company. He was both popular and energetic and a success as President of the American Florist society. Victor was a leading spirit in Lodge No. 85 of the Elks.

Morris' Bar, Lima, Peru

In 1903, he traveled to Peru to work as a cashier for the

Cerro de Pasco Cerro de Pasco is a city in central Peru, located at the top of the Andean mountains. It is the capital of the Pasco region, and an important mining center. At elevation, it is one of the highest cities in the world, and the highest or the sec ...

Railway Company. Then, in 1915, he moved to Lima and, on April 1, 1916, founded Morris' Bar. Located in 847 Calle Boza (close to the

Plaza Mayor of Lima The Plaza Mayor de Lima, or Plaza de Armas de Lima, is considered one of the birthplaces of the city of Lima, as well as the core of the city. Located in the Historic Centre of Lima, it is surrounded by the Government Palace, Lima Metropolitan Ca ...

), Morris' Bar served as a gathering spot for the Peruvian upper class and English-speaking foreigners. According to Peruvian researcher Guillermo Toro-Lira, among the notable individuals who attended Morris' Bar were Elmer Faucett (founder of the

Faucett Perú Compañía de Aviación Faucett, colloquially known simply as Faucett Perú or Faucett, was a Peruvian airline. It was headquartered on the grounds of Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima. History Elmer J. Faucett had been sent to Peru ...

airline), José Lindley (founder of the Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. and Inca Kola), Alfred L. Kroeber (the cultural anthropologist), and

Richard Halliburton Richard Halliburton (January 9, 1900 – Declared death in absentia, presumed dead after March 24, 1939) was an American travel writing, travel writer and adventurer who swam the length of the Panama Canal and paid the lowest toll in its hi ...

(an adventurer and

cultural ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to Peru). The saloon was also a center of drink experimentation for Morris. Nicknamed ''

Gringo ''Gringo'' (, , ) (masculine) (or ''gringa'' (feminine)) is a term in Spanish and Portuguese for a foreigner, usually an English-speaking Anglo-American. There are differences in meaning depending on region and country. In Latin America, it is ge ...

'', Victor Morris created the Pisco Sour as a variety of the whiskey sour.

Visitor Register

M.I.T. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

mining superintendent, John Tinker Glidden, was "perhaps" the first non-employee and unaffiliated registrant to sign the Morris' Bar Visitor Register. Glidden petitioned for permission "to import 500 Japanese laborers into Peru" in order to supplement (what he deemed as) recalcitrant "natives."

Augusto B. Leguía Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo (February 19, 1863 – February 6, 1932) was a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru from 1908 to 1912 and from 1919 to 1930, the latter term known as ''El Oncenio de Leguía'' (Leguía's E ...

, a xenophobic President against all Japanese immigration, denied the request. In 1942, when his body was found at the bottom of a mine shaft (only months after organizing, participating, and photographing his eldest daughter's wedding), he worked for the J.P. Morgan & Co.-backed Anglo American plc in the

Lucanas Province Lucanas is the largest province in the Ayacucho Region in Peru. Its seat is Puquio. Geography Some of the highest mountains of the province are Rasuwillka and Qarwarasu. Other mountains are listed below: Some of the largest lakes of the p ...

. His widow, daughters, and their children later immigrated into California and the Pacific Northwest. Glidden's signature, along with a handwritten comment, appeared in the Register on Wednesday, October 4, 1922. That date marked almost twenty months since Morris' introduction of the

, or a variant thereof, to Euramerican drinking culture---without Angostura bitters and egg whites, later added by bartender Mario Bruiget. Glidden reflected on the bar's most excellent libations and services, commenting that "perfection is made of attention to trifles and yet perfection is no trifle."

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Victor Vaughen 1873 births 1929 deaths American bartenders People from Salt Lake City Pisco American expatriates in Peru

Origins

Morris' Bar, Lima, Peru

Visitor Register

See also

References

External links