While the career of Jerry Thomas was flying high and it seemed his fanciful tales of self-aggrandisement would filter through the populace untarnished, it became abundantly clear that the inventor of the first Tom and Jerry was about to have a competitor. That man was Harry Johnson. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much to say about the relationship between these two, although their careers do seem to have a lot of parallels. For example, they both worked in California during the Gold Rush. In fact, there are rumours that Harry worked at the Union Hotel, right across the street from Jerry. But these two bars were nowhere near one another.
However, during his time in San Francisco, Harry was beginning to develop quite a reputation behind the bar. If you’ve been reading my posts, you already know that eight years following his beginnings as a vegetable peeler with a broken appendage, the Prussian immigrant entered a bartending competition in New Orleans. A competition that he had won, crowning him the “champion of the United States,” a title Jerry Thomas had yet to claim as his own. Shortly after, the emerging bartender opened a place of his own in Chicago. By that point, Harry’s reputation was spreading across the country quickly. As his career flourished, even more resemblances between the two men surfaced during his rise to flame, I mean fame.
For instance, while Jerry enjoyed the celebrity of being called the “Professor,” Harry was referred to as “The Dean.” Both also donned a pretty full moustache during their years of service. And like Jerry, Harry too had flames behind the bar. But in his case, the flames were an actual fire, which in 1871 burnt his Chicago success into the ground. To recover, Harry fled to New York, a city where his competitor already had his footing as the most charismatic man to grace the space behind the bar. There he purchased a new saloon, one the reputable Thomas used to work in. Located at 119 Bowery, (yes that was Dead Rabbit land) this bar was called Little Jumbo. And I can’t help but think that the idea of an established competitor buying a bar where he used to be employed irked Jerry Thomas beyond comprehension. So much so, that the bartender made a point of publicly stating he no longer had any connection to the place. I am not saying it gave him a stroke or anything. But I do think these two men might have been at odds with each other. Why? Because I read Harry Johnson’s Bartender’s Manual, that’s why.
Remember when I said that in 1882 Harry finally published a New and Improved edition of his book? In the preface, Harry claimed that this was not his first publication. He stated that in 1860 (two years before Jerry Thomas’s Bartender’s Manual) he published a list of cocktail recipes and sold out of the 10,000 printed copies. So far, no one has been able to find a record of this list and given the fact some question Harry’s credibility, I am not 100% sure if this is true. I am sure however that Harry’s claim probably annoyed the shit out of Jerry Thomas.
Aside from its prudent advice on cocktail service, the book also included one of the earliest printed recipes for the Martini, a recipe that some think originated from the Martinez, another drink that Jerry Thomas is thought to have invented. And, what I find extremely fascinating about the manual is the way Harry subtly criticizes an unnamed bartender’s flamboyant behaviours.
For example, Harry constantly advises against conducting oneself with any type of swagger, a behaviour Jerry was known for. He also warns against overconfidence. He states that a successful bartender who assumes their popularity is the only necessary means to a profitable business will ultimately fail. Jerry did open a business, four times. And his businesses failed, four times. Harry makes objections to a type of employer who goes out “fashionably attired, with a big diamond in his shirt front and a large roll of bills in his pockets” (sound familiar?) while caring nothing for his employees, nor paying them a decent wage. This outfit is a stark contrast to the white, pressed jacket Harry insisted on wearing. He also talks about employers stealing the work of their bartenders and calling it their own, something I imagine probably still happens today. But this all got me thinking…
Did Harry Johnson work for Jerry Thomas? That I am not sure. But I do suspect all of these criticisms are about Jerry. However, because these jabs at popular, wealthy, yet, failing businessmen were not added to Harry’s manuscript until decades after Jerry Thomas had already died, I doubt Harry was looking to pick a fight with the “Professor.” So, who was it that was looking for a fight?
A big hint surfaces in a rumour about Jerry himself. You see, it’s said that at some point during Harry’s ownership, on a warmish day in Manhattan, Jerry Thomas visited the venue of Little Jumbo. Upon entering, the barman noticed a giant bowl of Tom and Jerry punch on display. Whether or not he tasted the punch, I am not sure. What he did do though was angrily knock the punch bowl over sending the elaborate silver vessel crashing down onto the floor spilling its frothy contents with it. The “Professor” then announced to the bystanders that the temperature was way too warm to be serving his beloved Tom and Jerry recipe. Did he mean the weather, or had Jerry’s blood reached a boiling point that made this concoction unacceptable? The answer is lost to history. Regardless, I’m guessing that punch tasted pretty good.
** What do you think? Do you think Jerry Thomas and Harry Johnson disliked each other? Do you think Harry worked for Jerry during the California Gold Rush? Did Jerry hate that Harry served a better punch? I want to know! Please share your thoughts/comments below!