In 1863, Jerry Thomas, managing the bar at San Francisco's Western Hotel, had a weekly salary of $400, which was more than the salary of the Vice President of the United States.
Jerry Thomas's career began during the gold rush, when there was money, but there wasn't much to spend it on. So the enterprising young man decided to open his own bar, where he began mixing alcoholic drinks (at that time bartenders were called mixologists).
In our time, Jerry Thomas, nicknamed "The Professor", is considered the progenitor of all bartenders in the world. He was the first to introduce cocktails into the modern era. Any ordinary person from a manager to a famous football player - at the bar in anticipation of a cocktail, we all transform into the children of Jerry Thomas. He is known as the world's first mixologist.
The life of Jerry Thomas deserves the pen of Jack London and Alexander Pushkin combined. He was born in 1830, served as a simple ordinary sailor, sailed around the globe, then in 1849, landing in San Francisco, tried his luck in the gold mines. He was blessed with incredible luck! The funds he obtained helped him open a bar for wealthy citizens. This bar was located in the building where the editorial office of the New York Herald Tribune now resides.
Jerry Thomas passed away in 1885, at only 55 years old, but he made a huge contribution to the development of mixology on a global scale.
