After running this first bar, Thomas went on the road for several years, working as the head bartender at hotels and saloons in St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, California; Virginia City, Nevada;Charleston, South Carolina; and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The book collected and codified what was then an oral tradition of recipes from the early days of cocktails, including some of his own creations; the guide laid down the principles for formulating mixed drinks of all categories.

[2][5] The first edition of the guide included the first written recipes of such cocktails as the Fizz, Flip, Sour and variations of the earliest form of mixed drink, Punch.

by David Wondrich: The fortunes of Thomas' book were likely affected by the Professor's next move: rather than stay at the Occidental (SF), where he could have passed the volume along to the steady stream of clay-moistening literati who stopped in at his bar, he pulled up stakes yet again and headed east to witness the vast and vulgar spectacle that was unfolding 200 miles away in Virginia City, Nevada where a city of 30,000 had sprung up overnight on top of the massive mountain of silver known as the Comstock Lode.

[9] Nunc Est Bibendum Head Bartender at the Delta Saloon in 1863 was Prof. Jerry Thomas, most celebrated barman in American history.

Coming to Virginia City, according to the Territorial Enterprise** of that year, from the Occidental in San Francisco, he did much to elevate the tastes and drinking habits of the then uncouth Comstock.

** Territorial Enterprise newspaper (Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, reporter) Thomas developed his signature drink, the Blue Blazer, at the El Dorado gambling saloon in San Francisco.

In his saloon he hung Nast's caricatures of the political and theatrical figures; one notable drawing, now lost, was of Thomas "in nine tippling postures colossally."

[2] Thomas was an active man about town, a flashy dresser who was fond of kid gloves and his gold Parisian watch.

He had to sell his successful saloon and auction off his considerable art collection; he tried opening a new bar but was unable to maintain the level of popularity as his more famous location.