{"id":322,"date":"2014-12-27T12:25:14","date_gmt":"2014-12-27T19:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/?page_id=322"},"modified":"2022-03-19T12:43:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T19:43:25","slug":"test-under-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/?page_id=322","title":{"rendered":"The History of Tom and Jerry, NOT the Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Origins and Lively Life of Tom and Jerry across Time
\n<\/span><\/h2>\n

Tom and Jerry did not begin as a cat and a mouse in MGM cartoon movies and comics in the 1940s, but over a century before as risque characters in early 19th century London, in popular fiction written by Pierce Egan.\u00a0 His Life in London <\/em>(first published in 1821 as a series in newspapers) portrayed two rakes despoiling the London scene, and was so popular that a play and spinoffs immediately appeared, these imitative forms continuing through to the cartoons from mid-20th century United States that we know well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Tom and Jerry” became a term for riotous behavior in England, as well as where mayhem was engendered: little beer selling establishments that sprang up in the 1830s were called\u00a0Tom and Jerry Shops. However, the extant evidence indicates that the cocktail itself was invented in the United States.\u00a0 It is featured next to the mint julep in Charles Joseph Latrobe’s famous\u00a0travelogue,\u00a0The Rambler in America.\u00a0<\/em>In a description of drunken comportment at a Tallahassee Florida anti-temperance meeting in 1833, Latrobe writes as follows:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So, the Tom and Jerry cocktail, that which you imbibe at the Tom ‘n Jerry Party, is itself a 19th century invention, and, being so inventive a people, yet another American contribution to world peace. Read all about it in the following links and text. <\/span><\/p>\n

1. A free Google E-book of Pierce Egan\u2019s Life in London: Or, The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., and His Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom, Accompanied by Bob Logic, the Oxonian, in Their Rambles and Sprees Through the Metropolis<\/em><\/p>\n

GoogleBookLifeinLondon<\/a><\/p>\n

2. A brief scholarly biography of Egan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 https:\/\/www.dib.ie\/biography\/egan-pierce-a2898<\/a><\/p>\n

3. A scholarly account of Egan and his creation of the Tom and Jerry characters in the Regency.
\nEganintheRegency<\/a><\/p>\n

4. A calendar for the Adelphi Theatre in London, showing the craze for Tom and Jerry theater in the 1820s.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 AdelphiTheatre<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Free prints of the Cruikshank illustrations accompanying the book and newspaper editions.
\nCruikshankIlustrations<\/a><\/p>\n

6. The Gutenberg Edition of The True History of Tom and Jerry or, The Day and Night Scenes, of Life in London from the Start to the Finis<\/em>h\u00a0 which is the mid19th century politician and writer Charles Hindley\u2019s later discussion of the \u201ctedious\u201d work in its setting.\u00a0\u00a0HindleyonEgan<\/a><\/p>\n

7. A dubious Wiki account but there is the current libation. \u00a0\u00a0 TheCocktail<\/a><\/p>\n

8. Proof that the Tom and Jerry alcoholic beverage existed in the United States by 1833. Latrobe’s account:<\/p>\n

The Rambler, Vol. II, p. 61<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

The Bangor Daily Whig and Courier<\/em>, on 15 July 1841, published a temperance ditty called \u201cDeath\u2019s Allies.\u201d It condemned, among other libations, the blessed Tom and Jerry.\u00a0 1841Reference<\/a><\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Further evidence of its antebellum American origins:\u00a0 Esteemed Arizona State University Professor of History Phil VanderMeer swears that he has seen archival proof of the following incident: in 1846, Henry Eddy, an Illinois state representative from Shawneetown, rose in the halls of the state legislature and began speaking. It immediately “became obvious to us all that Eddy was not in a fit condition at that time to address the House.” The next day he explained that since it had been a cold morning he “had taken a stiff horn of ‘Tom and Jerry'” to warm himself and it “flew to his head.” “I never did such a thing before, and but for the d\u2014d ‘Tom and Jerry,’ would not have done it then.”<\/p>\n

…and should we need a bit more, let’s have Nathaniel Hawthorne speak of Boston drinking, from his American-Notebooks,<\/em> the entry for 7 May 1850:\u00a0 \u2014 tipplers, either taking a solitary glass, or treating all round, veteran topers, flashy young men, visitors from the country, the various petty officers connected with the law, whom the vicinity of the Court-House brings hither. Chiefly, they drink plain liquors, gin, brandy, or whiskey, sometimes a Tom and Jerry….<\/em><\/p>\n

10. An excellent article on the history and delight of the Tom and Jerry as cocktail and as material culture by Eric Felten of the Wall Street Journal<\/em>\u00a0 FeltenontheTnJ<\/a><\/p>\n

11. A thoroughly cool article by David A. Brewer of Ohio State on the Regency mania for Tom and Jerry. That mania inspired Thackeray, who had a grim assessment of Egan\u2019s literary talents, to say of Robert and George Cruikshank\u2019s illustrations that \u201cthe pictures\u2014oh! The pictures are noble still.\u201d The article has interactive maps, the illustrations scattered through, and a bunch of worthwhile observations on the whole London scene.\u00a0 BreweronEganandLondon<\/a><\/p>\n

12.\u00a0 Tom and Jerry were used in theater and cartoons well before the cat and mouse we know from\u00a0 Hanna and Barbara of MGM, which began in the 1940s. Here are descriptions with links to earlier cartoon movies.<\/p>\n

TomnJerryBeforeMGM <\/a><\/p>\n

TomnJerryBeforeMGM2<\/a><\/p>\n

Even the later version MGM version is now getting along in years…..<\/p>\n

\"GeriatricTomnJerry\"<\/a><\/p>\n

13.\u00a0 “Life in London from Egan to Dickens: Regency Innocence versus Victorian\u00a0Experience” by Stephen Carver.\u00a0 2013<\/p>\n

Life in London from Egan to Dickens: Regency Innocence versus Victorian Experience<\/a><\/p>\n

A well-written and entertaining piece that sets up the Regency fops as city lovers and fun lovers, in contrast to Dickensian, Victorian gloom. Thackery was the main pack leader in the attack on Egan. Carver concludes, “Life in London\u00a0<\/em>craze had run its course.\u00a0 Tom and Jerry moved to the New York stage and had a lethal cocktail named after them, which William Hanna appropriated for his famous animated characters a century later, keeping, in some small way, the innocence and anarchy of Egan alive and kicking.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Origins and Lively Life of Tom and Jerry across Time Tom and Jerry did not begin as a cat and a mouse in MGM cartoon movies and comics in the 1940s, but over a century before as risque characters … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/322"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=322"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1046,"href":"https:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/322\/revisions\/1046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomnjerry.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}