In the 1862 edition of How to Mix Drinks, Jerry Thomas’s Whiskey Cocktail recipe instructs the bartender to fill the vessel one-third full of fine ice, shake, and strain the drink into a fancy red wine-glass.
Verified on 2026-09-01 against printed page 50 / scan page 55 of the complete 263-scan-page public-domain PDF. The full source and exact quotation are preserved.
This claim establishes documented printed practice in Thomas’s manual by 1862. It does not establish the first use of ice in cocktails, an exact date of broader adoption, or uniform practice across the United States.
The complete primary source contains a numbered Whiskey Cocktail recipe whose final instruction explicitly specifies fine ice, shaking, and straining. The page and wording were independently located in the complete scan.
Used and link-verified on the public history page “Expansion and Industrialization — Cities, Ice, Warehouses, and Factory Systems” on 2026-09-02. Retain the recorded qualifications in future revisions.