After Prohibition, Marco’s, a business apparently owned by Abe Marco and (presumably son) Gerald F. Marco (died 2007 at age 93), operated a couple liquor retail stores in downtown Chicago. They possibly ran a parallel wine and spirits import firm.
In 1937, Marco’s published the first in a series of lavish, hardbound books for their customers, containing articles about wine and spirits, ads, and an extensive collection of cocktail recipes. The covers of these books were often personalized for the customer.
Four editions were struck—1937, 1940, 1945 and 1949—and many copies of these books are still floating around. You can check out a PDF of the first edition here.
These books, credited to Hyman Gale and Gerald F. Marco, are remarkably good, and probably the only liquor store books that border on canon.
One interesting addition to the second edition (1940), is a section of Tropical Specialties:
Examination of these recipes reveals that all—save the first recipe or two—are reproduced verbatim from RonRico marketing materials. Of these recipes, at least two might cause a double-take: the Diablo and the Hurricane Punch. We know these recipes appear in various RonRico pamphlets (including these booklets), but dating RonRico materials has been problematic, whereas with Marco’s How and When, we have a year: 1940.
Upshot:
The Hurricane (c. early/mid 1940s) was probably invented by some unsung mixologist—possibly at RonRico—and then adopted by Pat O’Brien
Before Trader Vic’s tequila El Diablo (c. 1947), there was the RonRico rum Diablo
Need to run a comparison, but several recipes from Marco’s, such as the Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Wisconsin appear verbatim in Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide (1948).
As a Twin Cities resident, I’d be interested in hearing what’s in the “Minneapolis.” (Link in the top post is broken, and it didn’t appear to make the cut of the '72 Trader Vic’s book I have on hand.)
The 1937 edition sometimes goes for that (just saw one for $200), but the 1940 edition can be found on eBay for $20. I think I got my 1940 copy 15 years ago for under $10.
The listing for the Pago Pago might be the earliest source of this gem. I’ve had it served up but I frequently serve it over crushed ice and adapt the volumes to serve it in a Tiki mug. Chocolate and Chartreuse are a classic French pairing.
I and writing a cultural history of the Hurricane cocktail for LSU Press. have encountered a mystery regarding the Hurricane recipe in The How and When and I’m hoping y’all can help.
website apparently republished and sold the 1945 edition (3rd ed). It is now sold out. While scrolling through the available photos, I saw the recipe for the Hurricane Cocktail, calling for whiskey, gin and creme de menthe. It’s the same recipe used in the 1935 (1st edition) of Old Mr. Boston’s Bartender’s Guide, so I wasn’t surprised at the whiskey part of the recipe. Instead, I’m wondering why they included this in a later edition when Martin’s post is showing the 1940 (2nd edition) How and When Hurricane Punch calling for the rum/passion fruit syrup we expect. Since I don’t have copies of either, I’m wondering if there are two hurricane recipes: one “cocktail” and one “punch.” Could someone help me sort out this puzzle? Thanks!
