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Making a gibson drink6/17/2023 ![]() ![]() Her co-star Celeste Holm plays Karen Richards who is described as a Gibson girl, before being handed one to drink while Bette Davis sinks two martinis in quick succession before blazing through the house, leaving a trail of acerbic and hilarious destruction in her wake and even drinking a third Gibson. Perhaps one of the best references to both the Gibson girl and the drink itself comes from the 1950 film ‘All About Eve’ where Bette Davis sasses her way through line after line of timeless zingers. They were known, of course, as ‘Gibson Girls’. They were portrayed as feminine, voluptuous, fashionable, witty, sophisticated, educated and confident, but also fragile and competing for good partners, rather than being desiring independence. These women had S-shaped figures, with slim, often corseted waists, ample curves, long necks and big hair. Walter DK Gibson reportedly liked his martinis without the bitters, and was one of the potential inspirations of the chilled water business story above, whilst Charles Dana Gibson is said to have ‘inspired’ the inclusion of the pickled onion.Ĭharles Dana Gibson leaves an additional legacy, for he was famed for his illustrations of women, accentuated with the zeitgeist of La Belle Époque and sexism of ideal beauty standards. Some people believe that the drink was first, or at least officially created at San Francisco’s Bohemian Club in 1898, where it was named after one of two patrons, businessman Walter DK Gibson or illustrator Charles Dana Gibson. ![]() It has also been attributed to several different individuals over time, all likely to be false – but it is a good story nonetheless, and a potential heist ploy for any of our more entrepreneurial readers. This story is not likely to be true, at least not as the origin of the drink. He asked for it to be garnished with a pickled onion so that he could tell it apart from the others and stay stone cold sober while the others drank and presumably became more pliable in the terms of any contracts he wanted them to sign. One story tells of a businessman who would ply his potential business partners with martinis, but paid the waiter to bring one extra martini glass for him that contained, not alcohol, but chilled water instead. Like several martinis, there are different legends surrounding this one’s origins, many of them likely untrue. Note that you do not need to eat the garnish – especially if you are enjoying a romantic date.Īs an optional extra, you can also add a teaspoon of the pickling vinegar to the drink for more pungency, just after you have poured the vermouth.
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