What’s in a name?
By: Courtne
Seemingly unrelated backstory: It all began with a pale purple martini...
A few summers ago I went to visit the new W Hotel in Hoboken. I had a few hours left over on the nanny clock so I grabbed my best buddy aka the hubby, and we planted ourselves at an outdoor table overlooking the Hudson River and the west side of Manhattan. I perused the cocktail list and landed upon the Violette. I took a sip and my summer cocktail was born. This was summer 2009. The summer of Drake’s “Best I Ever Had”, Blackeyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow”, and Lady Gaga’s “my my my my Poker Face”. It was also the summer of… pause for a moment of silence…the King of Pop’s death.
After enjoying a few, I immediately thought: Cocktail party! At our house! With Violette martinis! Yes! Yes, we must! Our friend and owner of Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette (the star of the show) shared the recipe with me. And I in turn shared said cocktail with 6 other friends over amuse-bouche of chilean seabass and mango salsa on crispy flatbread, while listening to a carefully selected medley of Telefone Tev Aviv, Bebel Gilberto, Shae Fiol and Kruder & Dorfmeister peppered with- you guessed it– Michael Jackson (RIP). And did I wow? Yes, I did. And my little cocktail gathering was lauded amongst my dear friends for many summers to come.
Fast forward to today’s topic at hand. Why the name Julibox? I began my search for a name once the idea of Julibox had crystallized. After cycling through several names like sipproof and littleboozebox, I took to the internet in search of the origins of the cocktail. There are many, many myths and only one consistent theme: no one really knows (or agrees) on its origin. But then I read a nugget about the first cocktail party, which was hosted in St Louis, Missouri in 1917 by a wonderful woman named Mrs. Julius S. Walsh. Why wonderful, you ask? Because she invited 50 of her closest friends to her home at NOON on a SUNDAY for COCKTAILS (and lunch was served thereafter). And I thought now THAT’S the kind of lady I’d want to hang out with!! A: Cocktails. B: Before noon. C: On a Sunday. How utterly scandalous! And her story doesn’t end there. She was also known to have hosted eggnog parties (they were spiked) and a “baby party” where everyone dressed up as toddlers and drank whisky from baby bottles. Tres Chic. But it was her cocktail party in 1917 that spread like wild fire across the nation as the new “it” social event and landed her in the history books. She single handedly revolutionized the drinking experience from a bustling Midwestern city. Now that’s something to aspire to. Hence the name, Julibox.
So no, my name is not Julie. But I am from the Midwest.
Posted: July 19, 2012 | Permalink