Stanley Clisby Arthur

1881–1963

First author to show interest in the origins and history of individual drinks

Stanley Clisby Arthur was a newspaperman and amateur historian devoted to Louisiana. He wrote books on various regional topics, including “Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’em” (1937), one of the first books that showed an interest—fixation even—in the origin stories of individual drinks. Modern scholarship shows that Arthur’s book often tilts toward mythology and boosterism, but it is not boring by bar book standards, and it succeeds at reconstructing New Orleans’ pre-Prohibition drinking culture. Arthur is buried in the Metairie Cemetery.