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Who knows who created the margarita?
Who cares? Just drink it and shut-up!

By John Gregory

Okay, so I made the mistake of offering to research the origins of the maragarita. It seemed like a simple task. Besides, I was once told that a group of actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood, along with a glamorous actress, created the first margarita in a bar when they went to Baja and couldn't find any other ingredients but lemons to mix with their tequila. It made sense at the time.

But after doing some flimsy research on the old World Wide Web, I found that no one has conclusive evidence as to how this popular drink came about. All I know is that we gringos use Cinco de Mayo as another excuse to drink gallons of margaritas and get wasted. Bars and restaurants use Cinco de Mayo as a great way to reap profits. Professional barflies refer to this manufactured holiday as another "amateur night." (The other being St. Patrick's Day).

Anyway, here is how the margarita was invented:

Danny Negret, manager of the Crespo Hotel in Puebla, Mexico, supposedly designed the drink for Margarita, his girlfriend, in 1936. He allegedly has some sort of official documentation from the Mexican government authenticating his claim. Its' funny how enough tequila will make a man begin to believe his own lies.

Or was it created by Texas socialite Margaret Sames (Soames?) who mixed it up for guests at her villa in Acapulco in 1948? They say her husband, Suaza Sames, suggested she name it Margarita, which he thought was her her name in Spanish. Unfortunately for him, margarita actually translates to "mechanical sex fiend" in Spanish. Will wonders never cease? — Nicky Hilton just happened to be a house guest on the scene. Hence, the margarita recipe was stolen and became a big hit at the popular Hilton Hotel chain. The rich get richer.

Perhaps it was bartender Francisco "Pancho" Morales who made the first margarita on July 4, 1942 at Tommy's Bar in Ciudad Juarez. This poor dullard reportedly got his flowers mixed up when responding to a drink order for a "Magnolia." Apparently his mind wondered from magnolia to daisy and, somehow, to margarita, which translates to "mechanical sex fiend" in Spanish.

Maybe it was invented around 1938 at the Rancho La Gloria bar in Tijuana by bartender Carlos "Danny" Herrera who concocted the drink for actress Marjorie (Margarita) King because she was allergic to other alcoholic concoctions. Some say Marjorie was a fledgling actress; others say she was a visiting showgirl. It's quite possible that she was just another lush whose liver could no longer process other forms of alcohol. So, Danny Herrera, being a practicing doctor (but not a real one), mixed tequila, cointreu and lime together in a glass lined with salt along its rim. It was a big hit with Marjorie and everyone applauded. To some, Marjorie King was just another suffering artist with a drinking problem. But to Danny Herrera she was simply the inspiration for the Margarita, which translates to "mechanical sex fiend" in Spanish.

Some say the margarita was invented in Palm Springs in the 1940s because the fancy pants boys visiting from Hollywood were not macho enough to deal with sipping tequila straight, although they pretended to enjoy it. Rumor has it they paid off a local bartender to create some sort of fruity, citrus drink mix that would take the edge off — and then act as if he made it up for the ladies because they couldn't handle the sting of straight tequila. Later that night, the anonymous bartender was sly enough to steal away with one of the Hollywood starlets after her drunken suitors passed out. The bartender and his new lady friend enjoyed the rest of the evening in her room so much that the bartender promised to name his new drink in her honor. He called it the "Margarita," which translates to "mechanical sex fiend" in Spanish.

There is even the suggestion that the margarita is merely the evolution of the so-called "traditional" Mexican way of drinking tequila by shooting it down with a squeeze of lime and a taste of salt sprinkled across the hand. Not very likely that this technique is authentic. Sounds more like some poor gringos in a trailer park or a frat house had no other ingredients to take the bite out of the tequila. Sounds like they were desperate. Sounds like they were a bunch of pansies. Sounds like they already had too much. Probably didn't even like tequila.

But this mixture doesn't mesh with the aforementioned tales.

Once I attended an authentic Mexican fiesta one Cinco de Mayo long ago. While there, I witnessed an authentic Mexican hat dance and listened to real mariachis. The hosts made margaritas with a mixture of lemon juice, tequila, ice and lemon slices in a large punch bowl. They dipped the mixture into large mugs. Not wanting to be rude, we drank until our faces turned red and our eyes bugged out. It was very strong — ay, yi-yiiiiii! But, in all my travels across the vast Southwest and Mexico, I have never been served a margarita in the same way since. I don't care. I just like to drink this cool concoction on a hot day until the heat subsides and I feel very much like ordering another cold "margarita," which translates to "mechanical sex fiend" in Spanish.