Fox, Richard K. (1846–1922), was the influential publisher of the National Police Gazette, a sensational newspaper that also did much to advance the craft of bartending. Born in Belfast, Ireland, where he began his newspaper career as messenger for an advertising department, Fox arrived in New York in 1874, married and penniless. Less than three months later he was business manager of the New York Police Gazette, which three years later he bought, changing “New York” to “National.” Remaking his acquisition to target the sporting youth of its day, Fox mixed its staple tabloid crime journalism with sports and entertainment news, turning it into the first nationally successful men’s lifestyle periodical.
The spiritual ancestor of reality media, Fox attempted to elevate average people into stars through Gazette-sponsored competitions. One of these, starting in May 1899, was the world's first bartender’s contest, which ran for at least seventeen years, with thousands of recipes from contestants across the globe. See cocktail contests. Drinks from this contest were featured in Charley Mahoney’s Hoffman House Bartender’s Guide, which Fox published (it was the first bartender’s guide to be illustrated with photographs) and included the Commodore, Ping Pong, Modern, Mountain, Fanciulli, and Du Barry Cocktails, all of which received some acclaim, and the Dizzy Sour. See Hoffman House. A different bartender was spotlighted each week, such as Frank J. May, who in the April 22, 1905, issue was acclaimed as inventor of the Jack Rose (he probably wasn’t). See Jack Rose.
Mahoney, Charles S. The Hoffman House Bartender’s Guide. New York: Richard K. Fox, 1905.
By: Doug Stailey