The Resurrection before the Resurrection

QUINCY — Bloody Mary…Bloody Mary… Bloody Mary.

No, I am not talking about the seance ritual that is usually performed by elementary girls to call on the spirit of Mary Worth through a mirror. Or Mary Whales, Mary Jane, Mary Etc. …it’s folklore, folks. 

I am referring to a different kind of Bloody Mary… it’s the glorifying drink and all its resurrecting powers; it raises the dead and absolves us of the sins from the night before. A breakfast twist on the hair of the dog that bit you.  

What’s in the drink? A Bloody Mary is a vodka-based cocktail with mixtures of tomato juices and spices. It’s known for its versatility with ingredients and its near inability to be messed up by your bartender. 

Its restorative powers are found in the ingredients. The powers of those ingredients are based on dietary science. No smoke, mirrors, or seances here. The tomato juice has a high concentration of the antioxidant lycopene, which helps fight toxins found in your liver. Worcestershire is loaded with B vitamins. Lemon juice soothes the stomach. Salt replenishes lost electrolytes. Alcohol eases the pain (for the time being). 

Who concocted such witchery in a glass? The origin of the Bloody Mary is as hazy as last night’s bender.  After straining out the excess from history’s shaker, it boils down to two contenders. One is a bartender, named Fernand “Pete” Petoit from France who came to America and was head bartender at the King Cole Bar in the St. Regis Hotel. The other was a famous comedian, American actor, and purported garbage human named George Jessel, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Both contender’s claims are murky but collectively this is what I understood:

Team Pete

Popular theory pins Pete to being the original creator of the drink in the 1920s, mixing Russian vodka with tomato juices at Harry’s New York Bar in France. However, it wasn’t until his career at the King Cole Bar of the St. Regis Hotel in 1934, that anything about it was written down. He wanted to name the drink Bloody Mary, but the hotel’s owner deemed it too vulgar a name, thus the drink’s alias of the Red Snapper was born. This was pre urban dictionary. The drink became a smash and was eventually published in a cocktail guide in the year 1941. 

Team Georgie

Jessel claims to have created the drink in 1927 after a long night at Palm Beach restaurant La Maze with friends. He mentioned the drink, calling it the latest “pick-me-up” in Lucius Beebe’s column in the New York Herald Tribune in 1939. He claimed creation to the drink all together in his autobiography, The World We Live In. In 1956, Jessel was featured in a Sminoff Vodka ad claiming, “I think I invented the Bloody Mary…”.

There is a lesson within this argument. And that lesson is to write it down, record it, document, and copyright.  You never know who is going to steal your idea.

Pete was later quoted in 1964 when asked about his legacy as a heralded New York bartender: 

“I initiated the Bloody Mary of today. George Jessel said he created it, but it was really nothing but vodka and tomato juice when I took it over.”

So, who is the Father of the Bloody Mary? 

The question really cannot be answered without the powers of Maury (Parkman or Povich, whatever works for you), and only having anecdotal evidence, my bet is on the bartender. Drinks were his forte.  And Jessel…well he wasn’t exactly a stand-up kind of guy. (He’s a comedian – get it?)  But seriously, he did shows in black face, he (allegedly) tried to kill his ex-wife who divorced him for “cruelty,” he (allegedly) was a dead-beat dad, and he once (allegedly) groped a 35-year-old Shirley Temple.  So, I guess his name is tied to two cocktails? 

What’s in a name?

The history behind the name that was once too vulgar for the hotel menu is as murky as it’s creator story.  According to some Pete theories, The Bloody Mary was named after a patron’s girlfriend, a waitress named Mary at a Chicago Bar called the Bucket of Blood. Some Jessel theories state that after that long night of partying, Jessel was ransacking the wiped out bar for provisions for a final cocktail.  Mary Brown Warburton, a socialite with a penchant for dating comics and smoking opium was given the first sip and promptly spilled the concoction down the entirety of her expensive white gown. 

There are theories that the drink was named after Mary Tudor, the Queen of England. 

She executed so many Protestants (280ish according to Wikipedia) she became known by her adversaries as “Bloody Mary.” 

There is even an outlandish claim that the name may have arisen from a failure to pronounce the Slavic syllables of a drink called Vladimir in English. And Petiot served it to Vladimir Smirnov, of the Smirnoff vodka family. Conspiracy? Never!

Garden or No? 

The garnishment addition is like most of my history findings…bloody speculation. Chicago gave it the celery in the 70s. The story goes that the bartender was looking for a straw and grabbed a celery stick instead. The bartender in me was curious as to why a celery stick would be more accessible than a straw. Apparently, celery gin cocktails were a thing. I suspect the pickle made its way to popularity most likely around the time that Buckwheat had two. 

The New York Times reported in 1997 that many establishments added the “do it yourself” set ups. It was in the early 2000s that the Bloody Mary garnish game arrived at its prime, becoming a brunch craze that symbolizes the American fondness for maximalism. Eventually, the Bloody Mary became a menu item for some hot spots as an entire meal in a glass.  

Now where can you get your hands on one of these hearty drinks with resurrecting powers?

Legend has it that if you spin around three times, take a selfie with a friend, and pay your bartender for the drink at Revelry, they are likely to conjure one up for you.  

Revelry Bar is located at 121 N. 4^th Street in Quincy right across from Washington Park. It is an upscale bar, known for its namesake – revelry. It is owned by the father of lively festivities himself, Rusty Williams and his lovely wife, Paula. 

When people think of a night out in Quincy, Revelry is often at the top of the list. I asked Rusty what set his bar apart from the rest and he said he thinks it’s the vibe.  Revelry is split into two sides. One side being the upscale, swanky home for live music and a great glass of wine. The other side is a sports bar, laid back lounge area that is really bringing back the arcade game scene. It really allows you to decide the mood.

Williams said that after having to close the Park Bench side in June of 2020 because of COVID, they decided to bring a gaming and sporting venue downtown (on the square). Williams gave credit where it was due by stating that there are other great places downtown outside of the square such as the Joker’s Lounge located at 614 Maine Street, which was the first bar in the area to bring games back and the more recent addition of The Pinball Joint located at 610 Maine Street, which is the first pinball lounge in the area.  

Together, Rusty and Paula sought out inspiration from different hot spots in St. Louis and South Carolina to provide the best possible Bloody Mary Bar experience here in the Qmunity. The Bloody Mary Bar is held every third Saturday of the month.  This month the event is Saturday (AKA Holy Saturday), April 16 from 11am to 3pm. So if you’re bad on Good Friday, and you need your own resurrection before the resurrection, a prayer to Mary may be just the thing.  

It also happens to be Rusty’s day of birth. 

Happy Birthday Cheers, Rusty!

What to expect? 

Well, anyone that knows Rusty, knows that he likes to do things BIG. The Bloody Mary bar will include an assortment of garnishments, including his favorite Wisconsin Beef Sticks. They are sparing no expense when it comes to this spread. And if Bloody Mary’s are not your flavor, there will also be a mimosa special that is well worth the price. And while I would never break city ordinance, the BOTTOM line is that we need LESS government involvement in our lives. 😉  The bar will be open from 11am to 1am with a performance by The Silver Bullets that evening, but the Bloody Mary bar ends at 3pm.

If you can’t make it to Revelry this weekend, and still want to experience the Bloody Mary in its purist form I’ll leave you with this original recipe…

“…but it was really nothing but vodka and tomato juice when I took it over. I cover the bottom of the shaker with four large dashes of salt, two dashes of pepper, two dashes of cayenne pepper, and a layer of Worcestershire sauce; I then add a dash of lemon juice and some cracked ice, put in two ounces of vodka and two ounces of thick tomato juice, shake, strain, and pour.” – Fernand “Pete” Petiot. 

Following a hiatus where she was off exploring her spirituality in the Himalayan Mountains, Brittany Boll is back to provide regular content for Muddy River Vibe. This award-winning mixologist can also be found slinging drinks at her beloved Spring Street Bar and, occasionally, at other locales.