Martin Wilkes Heron was a New Orleans bartender, working at McCauley's Tavern in the Lower Garden District, a short distance from the French Quarter. In 1874, he invented a whiskey-based liqueur which he called "Cuffs and Buttons." It would later be renamed "Southern Comfort." The beverage included whiskey, vanilla bean, lemon juice, cinnamon, cloves, cherries and orange.
Heron moved to Tennessee in 1889, patented his blend, and began producing and selling it.
On the centennial of Southern Comfort's creation (1974), the Libbey Glass Company created a special series of decorated glassware to commemorate the drink's 100 year mark. Mid-Century Modernist graphics featured paddlewheel "showboats" and flowers—a nod to New Orleans's port-town location near the end of the Mississippi River. 22 karat gold was used to decorate the graphics and finish the rims—an attractive and practical embellishment (since it helps to protect the glass rims from chipping).
Shown above, a set of eight Old Fashioned "rocks" glasses—perfect for whiskey drinks (and many other cocktails). Because these are "single" Old Fashioned glasses (not "double"), they have a smaller diameter and are a bit easier to hold in smaller hands. Click on the photo above to learn more about these handsome glasses.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248