idea of someone talking about them to others such that the listener would rush off to find the purportedly nearby Tom Collins. Similar to the New York Zoo hoax of 1874, several newspapers propagated the very successful practical joke by printing stories containing false sightings of Tom Collins. The 1874 hoax quickly gained such notoriety that several 1874 music hall songs memorialized the event (copies of which now are in the U.S. Library of Congress). Early recipes The first published Tom Collins recipe appears to have been in Harry Johnson's 1882 book, New and Improved Bartender’s Manual or How to Mix Drinks of the Present Style. This book contains a recipe for two Collins drinks, the John Collins and the Tom Collins. The John Collins calls for Holland Gin, which is most likely what is also known as Genièvre, but the recipe for the Tom Collins in this book is as follows: Tom Collins (Use an extra large bar glass.) Three-quarters table-spoon of sugar; 3 or 4 dashes of lime or lemon juice; 3 or 4 pieces of broken ice; 1 wine glass full of Old Tom gin; 1 bottle of plain soda water; mix up well with a spoon, remove the ice, and serve. Attention must be paid not to let the foam of the soda water spread over the glass. In the 1884 book, The Modern Bartender’s Guide by O. H. Byron there is a drink called a "John Collins' Gin" where he calls simply for gin with no specifications of which gin, lemon juice, sugar, and filled with soda. That book also has a "Tom Collins' Brandy", which consists of brandy, lemon juice, gum syrup and Maraschino liqueur, and filled with soda water built in the glass over ice. This book also lists a recipe for a, "Tom Collins Gin and Whiskey", with the only instructions of, "Are concocted in the same manner as a Brandy receipt, substituting their respective liquors". In another 1884 book, Scientific Barkeeping by E.N. Cook & Co, you can also find a John Collins and a Tom Collins, with the John Collins calling for Holland Gin and the Tom Collins calling for Whiskey. There is a recipe for the Tom Collins in the 1887 posthumous edition of Jerry Thomas' Bar-Tender's Guide. Since New York based Thomas would have known about the widespread hoax and the contents of his 1876 published book were