Lucille’s Story
It was the 1940’s and the War was over. Young couples were rediscovering peacetime pleasures — nightclubbing with cocktails, picnics with cocktails, canasta games with cocktails, dinner parties with cocktails… We think you know where we’re going with this.
Duke and Lucille never said no to a good time with friends, but Lucille hadn’t found a favorite cocktail. At a weekend card game, Lucille asked her good friend Diane to surprise her with something special to drink. She didn’t expect the cocktail Diane mixed to come garnished with asparagus and celery, but she gamely tried the reddish orange drink — and fell in love.
The Bloody Mary instantly became her favorite. (Don’t worry, Duke never got jealous.) Lucille made it her quest to taste (and make) as many different varieties of the Bloody Mary as she could. Some were fantastic; others, not so much.
Fortunately, good taste ran in the family, because Duke and Lucille’s son Gary enjoyed Bloody Marys too (once he was old enough to drink). Not only did he like them, but he began to mix them better than any Bloody Marys Lucille had yet tasted. His challenge was to make every Bloody Mary great — not always easy if he was traveling and couldn’t find his favorite ingredients, or wanted to mix up a cocktail at a friend’s party. He started experimenting with dry spices and herbs until he found the perfect portable dry mix for a great Bloody Mary every time.
Gary’s blend became a favorite of friends and neighbors. He began to package it for others to take home, or on their travels. It went around the world on cars, trains, planes, ships and buses. After hearing his friends say, “You should be selling this mix, it’s so good!” for the umpteenth time, Gary and his wife RoseMarie decided their friends were right. What else would they call it but Lucille’s, in honor of his mother. With that, Lucille’s Bloody Mary Mix was born!
Today, you can enjoy a Bloody Mary exactly as Lucille did, with the same herbs and spices that Gary first blended years ago. Visit our order page to experience Lucille’s for yourself!