Masons, Medicines and Cocktail Mixtures

Did you know that a Frenchman who immigrated to New Orleans (by way of Haiti) and started an apothecary shop in 1811, invented the first cocktail?    Antoine Peychaud was a Mason and his group held their meetings at the "Pharmacie Peychaud" at 437 Royal Street.  Peychaud, who served his fellow Masons refreshments, began experimenting with bitters, brandy or cognac, sugar and spices.  The drink was served in a small egg cup called a "cocquetier."  Soon, he began selling them in his pharmacy.  His American customers quickly  turned "cocquetier" into "coc-tay," and, eventually, "cocktail."    For many years, the building where Antoine Peychaud entertained his Masonic group almost 200 years ago has been owned and occupied by Cohen Antiques - one of the oldest family owned businesses in the U.S.  (Photo at left.)

There's another New Orleans "first" involving a pharmacist.  "La Pharmacie Francaise," at 514 Chartres Street (now home to The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum), was opened by Louis Dufilho, Jr. in 1823.  For awhile, he held a distinction no other pharmacist in the United States could claim.  Mr. Dufilho was the first to pass Louisiana's licensing examination for pharmacists, making him the first licensed pharmacist in the United States.  Up to that time, U.S. pharmacies followed no  regulations or standards.    The Pharmacy Museum, located in Mr. Dufilho's old building since 1950, contains the largest pharmaceutical collection in the United States.    A picture of the building as it looked in 1920 is at right.  Pictures of the rear courtyard are below.  On the left, 1920, and the one on the right is the courtyard of the museum as it is today.

While we're on the subject of firsts, a visitor to the site submitted a photo taken in 1915.  Photo at right, the caption on back:  "This building was the first drugstore in New Orleans - Barracks Street, between Chartres and Decatur."  This would be in the block across the street from the Old Mint.  I don't believe this building's still standing.

There are no photos of the Pharmacie Peychaud or La Pharmacie Francois, but I thought you might like to see the interior of another Colonial era pharmacy.  This is an apothecary shop in Salem, MA, exhibiting items of the period, in a house which was an apothecary shop at that time.

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