Charlie Paul

c. 1860–????

A prominant emissary of American cocktail culture to London

Charlie Paul seems to have been a Yankee who learned bartending in New York, traveled to Paris, presumably tended bar there, and then decided to try his luck in London, which is where he remained. Paul worked at the bar at the Royal Aquarium, and in 1884 wrote a cocktail book (paid for, in part, by the Royal Aquarium) entitled “American and Other Drinks”. In 1887, the American Exhibition opened in London (headlined by Buffalo Bill) and Paul evidently worked a bar there, too, updating his book to capitalize on the surge in Americana. Years later, his book resurfaced as a widely-distributed promotional item for a prominent London barware manufacturer.