In 1935 when infamous Louisiana politician, Huey Long, decided to hint his candidacy for President against Franklin Roosevelt, he kicked off his campaign by throwing a cocktail party in Washington, D.C. for the press. The only libation served, Long’s favorite, had been invented by a New Orleans saloon-keeper named Henry “Carl” Ramos. He named it the “Ramos Gin Fizz.” It became a cocktail of which legends are made.
Shown here, Ramos was born in Vincennes, Indiana, in August 1856. His father Charles was an immigrant from Prussia, his mother, Barbara, had originated in Bavaria. When Henry “Carl” was just a child, the family moved to New Orleans to where his father had a job as a watchman at a United States Navy base. Of Ramos early life and education there is scant information.
He appears early to have been drawn to the liquor trade, believed to have worked in saloons in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Birmingham, Alabama. By 1887, he had returned to New Orleans and was employed at a beer saloon in Exchange Alley, shown here in an artist’s version.. That same year, age 21, Ramos with his brother Charles opened the Imperial Cabinet Saloon at Gravier and Carondelet Streets in downtown New Orleans. The Imperial Cabinet was 3,500 square feet of classic New Orleans decor, with an ornate hardwood bar and views of Canal and Magazine Streets.
There Ramos invented the cocktail that bore his name, the “Ramos Gin Fizz.” A photo of the interior of the saloon above shows the large staff he employed for his drinking establishment. This was necessary because as one writer expressed it: “In the city that literally invented the cocktail. Ramos moved things forward with his invention of the Ramos Gin Fizz. Frothy, citrusy, smooth-as-silk.” His cocktail was an instant hit with the New Orleans drinking public.
Ramos’ libation also was highly labor intensive. As many as 20 “shaker boys” would be employed behind the Cabinet Saloon bar providing the strenuous shaking the cocktail required to achieve the creamy texture required. Some recipes suggest the motion go on for from two to ten minutes. Others put the time even longer. Evidence is that Ramos’s crew “nearly shook their arms off and still were unable to keep up with the demand.” During Mardi Gras, the saloonkeeper is said to have employed as many as 35 behind his bar. A whole lot of shaking was goin' on as the good times rolled.
As unique as the gin fizz was the character of Ramos himself. One local newspaper characterized him like this: "... his ruddy face and genial blue eyes sparkling behind silver rimmed, ear bowed spectacles, his snowy hair, his pure white shirt with the diamond in its bosom, his short, stout frame…” Despite the diamond stickpin, virtually standard for successful publicans, Ramos was not a flamboyant character. A teetotaler, he took seriously the responsibility of peddling booze.
Writer Theodora Sutcliffe records: “He closed his saloon at 8 o'clock every evening, and opened for only two hours on Sundays. He kept a wary eye for signs of drunkenness in his bar, and would stop service at the slightest sign of rowdiness. Apparently, if Ramos heard that a customer was drinking too much outside his premises, he would take him to one side and endeavor to assist him — even, in some cases, helping him out financially.”
Ramos also was a dedicated family man. In 1883 he had married Marianne Weicker, a widow with two children, Frank and Ida. The couple would have two children of their own, Carl and Stella. The 1890 census found the combined family living at 728 North Ramparts Street. Stella unfortunately died while still in her teens, said to be a source of considerable grief to her father.
Shown above is an 1907 ad for the Cabinet Saloon and its “world renowned” cocktail. Note that Ramos also had become an agent for the Dr. Brown line of patent medicines, specifically Brown’s “Sarsaparilla for the Blood” — the bottle at right — and his “Celery for the Nerves.” This was not an unusual juxtaposition of products since many such nostrums were heavily laced with alcohol.
In 1907, Ramos added a second upscale drinking establishment when he purchased the Stag Saloon near Gravier and St. Charles Streets, shown above in a post card. The caption on the back reads: “The Stag Saloon… Showing Oyster Counter and Famous Oil Painting ‘Life on the Metairie’ or the Old Metairie Race Course.” This painting had been created in 1867 by American artist Theodore Moise and his British collaborator Victor Pierson. It depicted 44 distinguished New Orleanians at the last meet of the Metairie Race Track. The facility subsequently became the Metairie Cemetery where tombs were arranged around the race track oval. When he died in September 1928, Ramos was buried there.
With the coming of National Prohibition in 1920, Ramos was forced to close both his drinking establishments and was reported to pledge never to sell another gin fizz. Twenty years later, however, the Ramos Gin Fizz was again making news. This time it was at the hands of “Kingfish” Huey Long, the most famous political figure in Louisiana history. A populist and demagogue, Long was elected governor in 1924, serving one term before running for and winning a U.S. Senate seat in 1932. With his colorful and outspoken ways, he soon was a national figure, a prominent Democratic antagonist to President Franklin Roosevelt and a likely opponent in the 1936 election. Long also was a devoted fan of the Ramos Gin Fizz.
During his senatorial career, Long spent much of his time in New York City staying at the posh Roosevelt Hotel, a far more exciting venue than sleepy Washington, D.C. When National Prohibition ended and the hotel bar opened once again, the Louisiana politician balked at the kind of gin fizz being served there. He got on the phone and ordered the best gin fizz maker in New Orleans to fly up and "teach these New York sophisticates how and what to drink.” The next day Sam Guarino, head bartender at The Sazerac Bar, arrived and spent three hours training his counterparts at the Roosevelt on the proper way to make Long's treasured Ramos Gin Fizz.
When that gambit garnered considerable media attention in New York City and beyond, Long decided that a repeat performance in Washington with the local press corps would be a good way to vet his opposition to Roosevelt and hint at his forthcoming bid for the Presidency. This time he brought the newly trained head bartender from New York to a Washington hotel to make his favorite cocktail.
Surrounded by journalists, ever eager for a free drink, and with newsreel cameras grinding, Long declared “Now this here chap knows how to mix a Ramos Gin Fizz.” He went on to extoll the cocktail, rating it superior to Roosevelt’s “New Deal” calling the President “no good” and a “faker.” He left little doubt about his own Presidential ambitions. The press obliged with stories. Via newsreels, Long’s gin fizz party was screened in movie theaters throughout America, a stunt seen by millions of Americans. Below are two frames taken from the film:
Although Long’s publicity gambit had the desired effect, it proved in the end to be inconsequential when the Kingfish was gunned down by a constituent at the Louisiana Statehouse in September 1935. The Ramos Gin Fizz, however, lived on. Here is the recipe as said to have been revealed by Henry “Carl” Ramos himself:
Ingredients
2 ounces gin
1 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce heavy cream
1/2 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed
3 dashes orange flower water
1 fresh egg white
Steps
Add the gin, simple syrup, heavy cream, lemon and lime juices, orange flower water and egg white into a shaker and dry-shake (without ice) vigorously for about 10 seconds. Add ice and shake for at least several minutes, until well-chilled and you can no longer hear the ice cubes. Pour into a chilled glass and slowly top with club soda to rise the foamy top.
Notes: There are multiple Internet sources on Henry Ramos, the Ramos Gin Fizz, and Huey Long. They differ in details but I have tried to reconstruct the story in a single narrative, choosing the more likely versions.
No comments:
Post a Comment