A Tom and Jerry is a traditional Christmastimecocktail in the United States, devised by British journalistPierce Egan in the 1820s. It is a variant of eggnog with brandy and rum added and served hot, usually in a mug or a bowl. Another method uses egg whites, beaten stiff, with the yolks and sugar folded back in, and optionally vanilla extract added. A few spoonfuls are added to a mug, then hot milk and rum are added, and it is topped with nutmeg. Pre-made Tom and Jerry batter, typically produced by Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas manufacturers, is sold in regional supermarkets during the Christmas season.
Name
The drink's name is a reference to Egan's book, Life in London, or The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn Esq. and his Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom, and the subsequent stage playTom and Jerry, or Life in London. To publicize the book and the play, Egan introduced a variation of eggnog by adding of brandy, calling it a "Tom and Jerry". The additional fortification helped popularize the drink. Two much later cartoon duos, a short-lived Tom and Jerry from Van Beuren Studios in the 1930s, and the famous cat and mouse rivalry from the 1940s through the 1960s, also bore the name, possibly as a play on words with the drink.
Tom and Jerry was a favorite of President Warren G. Harding, who served it at an annual Christmas party for his closest friends. The drink features prominently in Damon Runyon's 1932 short story "Dancing Dan's Christmas", beginning with the passage
This hot Tom and Jerry is an old time drink that is once used by one and all in this country to celebrate Christmas with, and in fact it is once so popular that many people think Christmas is invented only to furnish an excuse for hot Tom and Jerry, although of course this is by no means true.
In the 1940 filmBeyond Tomorrow, the characters drink Tom and Jerrys on Christmas Eve in the beginning of the film. When James Houston arrives to return Michael O'Brien's wallet, O'Brien insists that Houston "stay and have a bit of cheer with us." When O'Brien asks Houston what he'd like to drink, Houston replies, "Whatever you're having, sir." O'Brien says, "I'm having Tom and Jerry, myself" and ladles out the drink for himself, Houston, and Alan Chadwick. In the 1941 film The Great Mr. Nobody, a pair of characters are enjoying mugs of Tom and Jerrys in a bar on Christmas Eve and offer one to the protagonist, "Dreamy" Smith, when he arrives. A big sign by the door advertises the drink as a special Yuletide treat. The central character in the 1944 film An American Romance, Steve Dangos, is introduced to Tom and Jerrys during his first Christmas in a steel mill town, which makes him realize how lonely he is, and he sends for his fiancée to join him there. Toward the end of the 1945 film The Cheaters, the brother-in-law Willie Crawford asks for some nutmeg to make Tom and Jerrys for the family on Christmas Eve. In the 1946 filmNever Say Goodbye, Mrs. Hamilton prepares a large batch of Tom and Jerrys for the Christmas Eve midnight party with her daughter Ellen, which is interrupted by her former son-in-law Phil Gayley. The Tom and Jerry serves as a central plot device in Yogi Yorgesson's 1949 comedic song and monologue "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas". The narrator sneaks off to the local bar to have a glass of beer before his family's Christmas celebration but instead ends up consuming a dozen Tom and Jerrys, which leaves him severely hung over as the chaos of Christmas Day surrounds him. The drink is also mentioned in Billy Wilder's1960 filmThe Apartment, with C.C. Baxter, preparing to loan out his apartment to his boss for a Christmas Eve sexual tryst, informing him that "the Tom and Jerry mix is in the refrigerator."
