Haimo, Oscar

(1904–1982), author of Cocktail and Wine Digest: The Barmen’s Bible, published annually from 1943 through 1977 [first published as Cocktail and Wine Digest (from Private Notes)]. Born into poverty in the Passage Bullourde, then a Jewish ghetto in Paris, he rose to be maître de bar of the Hotel Pierre in Manhattan and president of the International Bar Managers Association. Too young to serve in World War I, he took the opportunity provided him by wartime labor shortages to wait tables at quality Parisian venues. In the early 1920s, he was trained as bartender at the Paris Ritz by Frank Meier, author of The Artistry of Mixing Drinks. See Meier, Frank;, Ritz Bar. After stints as an army officer and a ship’s steward, the ever-resourceful Haimo worked at the Royalty Bar and the Casino in Monaco before emigrating to New York in 1929, where he slung drinks in Prohibition-era speakeasies. See speakeasy (old). In 1939, his Parisian credentials led to a bartending gig at the Belgian Pavilion of the New York World’s Fair. From there, he went on to manage the six bars of the Hotel Pierre. His self-published Cocktail Digest became popular, and celebrity columnists praised his creations. Haimo was also known for his free program teaching bartending skills to World War II veterans in need of work.

Haimo, Oscar. Cocktail and Wine Digest (from Private Notes). New York: Comet Press, 1943.

Haimo, Oscar. Nothing Lasts Forever: An Autobiography. New York: International Cocktail, Wine & Spirits Digest, 1953.

Winchell, Walter. “By Walter Winchell, the Man on Broadway.” Syracuse Herald-Journal, February 25, 1942.

By: Doug Stailey