Stirring Lessons From a Mix Master

Dianna Seay (under the nom de plume D.J. Frienz) has reissued a book of pre-Prohibition cocktail recipes first published in 1917 by the famed mixologist Tom Bullock. The book is called “‘173 Pre-Prohibition Cocktails” ($14.95, Howling at the Moon Press).

Seay is a writer and cookbook collector. She lived in Los Angeles for 18 years before returning to her hometown of Tulsa, Okla., where she operates Howling at the Moon Press.

Question: Who was Tom Bullock?

Answer: He was born in Louisville in the 1880s. His parents were slaves, but he became one of the best-known bartenders of his day.

The trains were famous for luring away really talented people. In 1912, the Louisville city directory listed his occupation as porter, but often porters were people who did all kinds of things, and I suspect he was really working as a bartender. He’d already worked at country clubs in Louisville. George Herbert Walker, the grandfather of George Bush senior, claimed Tom Bullock had been at the Pendennis Club.

Q: What sort of people did he mix for?

A: In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt was campaigning on the Bull Moose ticket and there was a sort of “I didn’t inhale” scandal. Roosevelt’s opponents were charging that he was a drunk and unsuited for office. Finally he sued some poor little editor of a small-town paper for $10,000, and at the trial he brought in ambassadors and heads of states as character witnesses and swore under oath that he’d only had two sips of liquor in his life--one a taste of beer when he was campaigning in Milwaukee and the other “a part” of a mint julep at a Louisville country club. The St. Louis Post-Dispach came back and said he was a liar if he claimed he only finished part of one of Tom Bullock’s cocktails--”Who was ever known to drink just a part of one of Tom’s?”

He was a good man. There’s evidence that he took care of his mother until her death. He must have been warm and friendly. His photo certainly exudes warmth.

Q: Did they drink the same sort of cocktails back then as we do?

A: Some are similar, some very different. There was no air-conditioning, and I think that really influenced the way people drank. There were all sorts of smashes and coolers concocted just to cool people off. Ladies wearing all those heavy clothes used to pass out, you know. There are about 10 nonalcoholic beverages in the book, and one of them, Auditorium Cooler, he seems to have devised for hot rooms. It’s very refreshing--the favorite among the drinks I’ve mixed, right after that famous mint julep.

You have to remember, bartenders were still something like pharmacists until the early 1900s. They concocted drinks with herbs--many were devised to fight scurvy. When Mr. Bullock started in the profession, it was very highly respected, almost like being a doctor.

Q: Do you think he anticipated Prohibition?

A: Absolutely. One of his patrons was August Busch, and Mr. Bullock concocted a recipe using Bevo, a nonalcoholic beverage developed by Anheuser-Busch in anticipation of Prohibition. The St. Louis Country Club was preparing for Prohibition when he published his book.

Q: What did he do during Prohibition?

A: One year in the 1920s he gave his occupation [to census takers] as laborer and one year as a butler. Now, more alcohol was being consumed during those years than at any other period in our history. He had been in great demand as a bartender, so I think that’s what he continued to do.

Q: Do you know when he retired, or what he did afterward?

A: The 1930 census is still unavailable, so 1926 is the last year we’ve found him. When I wrote the book, I thought I’d found that he lived until 1964, but since then I’ve found it wasn’t the same Tom Bullock. I like to think he’s still out there and would like my book. He’d be, what, 120?

* D.J. Frienz will sign “‘173 Pre-Prohibition Cocktails” at Duttons Books, 11975 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood, 2 p.m. Saturday. The book is available by mail order at (877) 946-9546.