NEW ORLEANS.— In spite of the somewhat convoluted and dry definition provided above, the origin of the term cocktail is surrounded by heated controversy, with advocates of each variant stoutly maintaining the veracity of their particular definition. What appears certain is that the word "cocktail" appeared in the second half of the 18th century. Some contend that the term was derived from the tap, or cock, for pouring ale. When the bottom of the barrel was reached, it was called the "cock tail." Others maintain that the word was coined by one of the patrician Carters of Virginia, who while traveling in the countryside was served a fermented drink of poor quality and upbraided the innkeeper, saying, "Hereafter, I shall drink cocktails of my own brewing!" Another school attributes the origin of the term to Betsy, a popular Revolutionary War-era barmaid in Hall's Corners, New York, who served a potent drink dubbed Betsy's Bracers by its consumers. A group of these patrons of the tavern managed to steal a number of male pheasants from the detested invading British officers, plucked the tail feathers and attached them to their hats and proceeded to the Hall's Corners tavern for a raucous celebratory party. They toasted Betsy and her bracers with, "Here's to the divine liquor which is as delicious to the palate as the cocks' tails are beautiful to the eye!" A French officer serving with the American army responded with "Vive le cocktail!" Still others say that General George Washington decorated his hat with cock feathers and that his officers routinely toasted him with, "Here's to the cock's tail."

Of particular interest to New Orleanians is the tale of the Sazerac, widely held to be the first genuine cocktail and devised by Antoine-Amedé Peychaud, who had earlier invented Peychaud's Bitters, a distinctive ingredient of the Sazerac, in Santo Domingo. Fleeing the revolution there at the end of the 18th century, Peychaud opened the Pharmacie Peychaud on Royal Street. There he served his Peychaud Bitters-flavored drinks to friends in a coquetier, or eggcup. The coquetier was soon corrupted to "cocktail."

Whatever the elusive origin of the word, it is certain that it entered common parlance in this country and England by the early 19th century and firmly remains there. It is equally certain that no one is going to agree as to a specific origin for the term.

Of course, the cocktail never would have come to be without the presence of alcoholic, or spirituous, beverages, and they were not available until the dawn of organized agriculture. It is thought that the first alcoholic drink was palm wine, which originated in Mesopotamia about 2400 BCE. The Babylonians made considerable use of fermented drinks; in writing the earliest known legal text, they included a law regulating drinking houses and taverns. The ancient Greeks were frequent imbibers, and their literature contained numerous warnings against the excessive use of intoxicating drink. Later, the Romans had a separate god of wine, Bacchus, and worshipped him with enthusiastic bouts of drinking.

In the history of fermented drink, it is apparent that it was used ecclesiastically and socially for many diverse purposes. In the social arena, strong drink has been used to provide courage in battle, to calm feuds, seal pacts and treaties, celebrate festivals and such important events as births, marriages and the termination of war and to seduce lovers. In medieval Europe, fermented beverages were used both as folk medicine and as preservatives. By 1250, the technique of distillation became widely known throughout Europe, permitting the production of stronger and more convenient alcoholic beverages.

Until the early years of the 16th century, however, most distilled liquors—such as brandy—were created from wine and were available only to the most affluent segments of society. By 1600, liquor was a customary part of the regular food rations of Europe's armies and remained so until well into the 19th century. Around 1650, the Dutch developed gin by distilling grain and the juniper berry, and the new drink quickly made its way to England via soldiers returning from fighting in the Low Countries. In 1690, Parliament passed new laws encouraging the distillation and sale of spirits in order to create additional revenues for the landed aristocracy.

During the 19th century, the abuse of alcohol noted by earlier generations became alarmingly widespread as people attempted to cope with the vast socioeconomic upheavals created by the Industrial Revolution. However, costly wines, liqueurs and distilled potables were expected appurtenances at grand social events. The upper-class after-dinner ritual of gentlemen remaining in the dining room for cigars and port, brandy or cognac became fixed and persisted well into the 20th century. The widespread use of liquor by both sexes grew increasingly at the close of World War I, an event most historians concur marked the demise of prudish Victorian standards. Alcohol came to be viewed as a convenient and pleasant tool for introducing people of widely differing backgrounds. Invitations to "come for drinks" became part of an important bonding ritual, and the modern-day cocktail party was born, quickly becoming a standard social event among all classes but the poorest. So ubiquitous did these gatherings become that specific attire for women was designed: the cocktail dress, the cocktail hat and the cocktail ring are but three of the best known examples.

As the cocktail party proliferated through the 1920s, 1930s and on, so did the concoction of new and exotic drinks. Although the United States was enmeshed in Prohibition from January 16, 1920, until December 8, 1933, the legal ban on the public sale of alcohol did little to curb enthusiasm for the cocktail party in this country and, of course, had little effect abroad. Here, speakeasies and rum runners proliferated while new and exotic drinks were concocted, the Pink Lady, the Ward Eight and the Singapore Sling among them. For these, special glasses and goblets were created; again, the Old-Fashioned glass and the martini goblet are but two well-known examples. New implements and accessories were devised, and the well-appointed domestic bar included olive and fruit slice dishes as well as accompanying picks. Cocktail shakers, pitchers, stirring spoons, novelty corkscrews and bottle openers were all expected accessories.

The present exhibition celebrates not only the relatively short history of the cocktail but also the history of the consumption of fermented beverages from the Late Classical world to the Renaissance and continuing to the present day. On view are more than 125 objects dating from the third century to modern times, covering the use of beer and wine before and after the invention of the distilling technique and the subsequent introduction of liquors such as rum, gin and whiskey. These objects include drinking vessels in metal and glass, decanters, punch bowls, bottle stands, carafes, pitchers, cocktail shakers and such diverse bar implements as swizzle sticks, muddlers, bottle openers, corkscrews and mixing tools.

The exhibition is presented in memory of the legendary advertising copywriter and London hostess Madeleine E. Andersen (1932-2003) who most definitely relished the numerous cocktail parties she so deftly organized for more than 50 years. Devoted to the martini, Mrs. Andersen frequently recommended the drink to her guests stating that hers were "divinely dry, darling."