Post #720744 by AdOrAdam on Sun, Jun 22, 2014 3:32 PM

Hmmm... interesting question...

On 2014-06-20 16:40, JOHN-O wrote:
I doubt if Ray Buhen or any of "the boys" would have created these drinks on their own if it were not for Donn's sense of enterprise and opportunity. He was a business man, not a con man

Sippin Safari pages 15 to 18 is relevant - it sets the scene that Don was a good guy & the '4 main boys' worked hard for him.

The '4 boys' probably experienced very little prospects in the early 1930s (being Filipino & living in different times n all). Towards the end of the 30s, they had a bit more bargaining power due the popularity of where they had worked but it was still likely to be pretty minimal.

Picture the scene:

Don has tons of drinks in the early 1930s. Don is schooling the bartenders how to make the drinks when very few other will take them in, it is quite likely that he says 'don't experiment, be exact with the measurements I give you', I have no doubt Don wanted quality & saw that limiting deviation from 'his' recipes was the way to do that. If this is true, bartenders probably didn't share their drinks with Don (if they made any).

Assuming bartenders are 'allowed' to experiment, if a bartender brings Don a drink he's been experimenting with, Don can try it & further experiments with the ingredients (e.g. changes one of the fruit juices, adds a secret spice mix, swaps the sugar syrup for the honey mix, switches the rums) & it might get put on the menu.

If it does get on the menu, the original bartender probably got an 'atta-boy' (a few dollars or free drinks for his friends). Don is the boss & 'finished the drink off' so it goes down as his.

The bartenders probably didn't have status in the 1930s/40s to say 'hey, that's my drink! Give me credit or I'll leave'.

In that situation who gets the credit?... Most likely, Don.

If is right is a different matter but I can believe it went down like that!