I remember reading a story of someone visiting Alma and the butler bringing in a pitcher of Martinis, The Butler kept chasing her glass to keep it full. There are three competing stories on where the Martini came from. One story is that they were first served at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, which was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. I wanted to imagine exactly what Alma would look like sloshing around a Martini for a photograph. So first, I had to figure out what recipe she would have had. I was able to find 101 Drinks and How to Mix Them, one of the first bartending manuals with Martini listed. It would have been orange bitters, gin, vermouth, and a twist. Next, I needed to know what her glass would have looked like. The manual says to put the drink in a cocktail glass. As I was looking up the histories of barware, I discovered a popular story that the Martini glass, as we know it now, was invented during Prohibition so that it was easy to empty your glass in a raid! I love this and wish it were true. The truth is that it debuted at the 1925 Paris Exhibition as a modern take on the champagne coupe. So she would most likely be drinking (in the early days) out of a coupe. To confirm this, I watched a film of Little Alma’s 13th birthday to see what glasses they drank martinis out of. At the end of the film, there is Alma standing there with a shaker in one hand and a coupe in the other, pouring herself a drink. The photograph I made is a martini-clad hand in the air gesticulating (with a twist!) as liquid sloshes out of the glass and drips from the bottom.

Also available 20 x 15 in (51 x 38 cm), Edition of 5 plus 2 AP, $2,500.

Large Frame: 40 3/4 x 30 3/4 x 1 1/2 in (104 x 78 x 4 cm)

Small Frame: 20 5/8 x 15 5/8 x 1 1/2 in (52 x 40 x 4 cm)