Cooper Hewitt says...
Harry Craddock was one off the most influential bartenders of the twentieth century. Born in Stroud, United Kingdom, a young Craddock relocated to the United States and found employ at some of New York City’s most renowned bars, including Hoffman House and The Knickerbocker, among others. Craddock earned a reputation in the burgeoning bar culture of the twentieth century by concocting cocktails: these new drinks incorporated strong spirits and a number of ingredients, but their most novel element was the use of ice, a revolutionary development. Craddock eventually became an American citizen in 1916 but returned to England at the onset of prohibition, not, however, before purportedly shaking the nation’s last legal cocktail.
Upon returning to the United Kington, Craddock became Head Bartender at the Savoy’s American Bar in London in the 1920s. During his tenure there, Craddock drew large crowds and quickly secured his place in London’s cocktail culture. In 1930, he wrote “The Savor Cocktail Book,” a compendium of over seven hundred recipes (approximately a third of which are Craddock’s own creations) still in print and used by bartenders around the world today. Among his best known creations are the Corpse Reviver No. 2 and the White Lady, and while he did not invent the Martini, he is credited with popularizing its Dry incarnation. In 1934, Craddock also co-founded the United Kingdom Bartenders’ Guild, an organization that introduced England to the idea of bartender training and that still exists today.
After leaving the American Bar in 1938, Craddock worked at the Dorchester Hotel before retiring in 1947. Sadly, his life ended in relative poverty despite his successful career, and he was buried in a recently discovered pauper’s grave.
