Who Invented the Martini?

Opened in 1906 by John Jacob Astor IV, the Knickerbocker was a Beaux-Arts masterpiece perched at the corner of Broadway and 42nd Street, in what was then the bustling, up-and-coming Times Square. This was Astor’s answer to the opulence of the Waldorf-Astoria (also built by the Astor family), a hotel that would reflect both power and panache.

The Knickerbocker wasn't just a hotel – it was a social institution, with a clientele drawn from the highest echelons of society: financiers, politicians, writers, celebrities. At its heart was its barroom, a lavish space with mahogany woodwork, brass fittings, and a reputation for pouring the best cocktails in Manhattan.

Behind that famed bar stood Martini di Arma di Taggia, the hotel’s celebrated bartender. A native of Italy, Martini had already made a name for himself in European circles before bringing his bartending skill to New York. He reportedly mixed the first dry Martini here for none other than John D. Rockefeller, using London dry gin and dry French vermouth (the olive came later).

The Knickerbocker was John Jacob Astor IV’s crown jewel, and it wasn’t long before the Morgantown Glass Company created a cocktail glass for the Martini, crafted with an iconic stem in the shape of a dapper gentleman with a top hat, an homage to Astor’s New York and a symbol of American capitalism.