The Smoking Chair

The Harvey Wallbanger is said to have been invented in 1952 by three time world champion bartender Donato “Duke” Antone at the Blackwatch Bar in Los Angeles. That said, recent reasearch by cocktail writer Robert Simonson indicated that this is probably NOT the genesis of this particular cocktail. Firstly there is no verifiable evidence that a bar called the Blackwatch ever existed and according to Simonson’s research, Antone was living in Connecticut in the time period the drink was supposedly created. Other historians such as David Wondrich posit that it was possibly the marketing team of the McKesson Import Company that have credit for the drink’s creation. In the 1960’s they created a “Harvey Wallbanger” Sandal clad surfer mascot to promote the drink and it is known that a McKesson executive named George Bednar was instrumental in promoting the drink as a means of increasing sales of Galliano. So there you have it, everything we know about the Harvey Wallbanger! Enjoy the drink or at least the video of the drink!