It was created with bourbon in Washington, D.C., at Shoomaker's bar by bartender George A. Williamson in the 1880s, purportedly in collaboration with Democratic lobbyist Colonel Joe Rickey.

Fill the glass with syphon seltzer, and serve with a small bar spoon.In 1883, Colonel Joe Rickey was purported to have invented the "Joe Rickey," after a bartender at Shoomaker's in Washington, D.C. added lime to his "mornin's morning," a daily dose of Bourbon with lump ice and Apollinaris sparkling mineral water.

Some stories place the exact day as a Monday after Col. Joe Rickey celebrated his wager with a Philadelphian on the successful ascension of John G. Carlisle to Speaker of the House.

Both men were German immigrants who served as officers in the Union Army in the Civil War and anglicized their names.

After the two men died, Colonel Joseph "Joe" K. Rickey, a Democratic lobbyist from Missouri, bought Shoomaker's in 1883.

This system ended when the Sheppard Act closed all saloons in the District on November 1, 1917—more than two years before national Prohibition began.

[9] Famous writers, politicians, and political types were frequent guests at Shoomaker's, including some of the "greatest men in the country.

A 1915 obituary in the Washington Evening Star claimed, "Many a great question of national politics has been thrashed out, if not settled, in [Williamson's] presence and himself participating in the discussion."

George Rothwell Brown ascribed the creation of the gin rickey to the Chicago exposition of 1893, where the jinrikisha, or rickshaw, was introduced from Japan.

The joke appears in 1891 in the Omaha Daily Bee, originating from the Washington Star:[citation needed] By 1907, the gin rickey was of such import that an article from the Los Angeles Herald titled "Limes are on Time" stated: However, by the 1900s, some newspapers were already noting that the scotch highball and the Mamie Taylor were overtaking the popularity of the gin rickey.

"[16] The narrator, Nick Carraway, describes Tom returning "preceding four gin rickeys that clicked full of ice.

"[17] The Glenn Miller Orchestra recorded the song "Jukebox Saturday Night" (words by Albert Stillman) in which a nonalcoholic version of the drink is featured (recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra on July 15, 1942, with Marion Hutton and the Modernaires): Mopping up sodapop rickeys To our heart's delight Dancing to swingeroo quickies Jukebox Saturday night In The Simpsons episode "Burns, Baby Burns," Mr. Burns is drinking a rickey when introduced to his illegitimate son Larry.

In Our Flag Means Death, set in the Golden Age of Piracy, a character named Prince Ricky claims to have invented the drink.

In Palm Royale, Robert the pool boy drinks a gin rickey in a nod to the actor who portrays him, Ricky Martin.