Jack Rose cocktail history

A 1905 article in the National Police Gazette credits Frank J. May as the creator of the Jack Rose:

“Frank J. May, better known as Jack Rose, is the inventor of a very popular cocktail by that name, which has made his famous as a mixologist. He is at present looking after the managerial affairs of Gene Sullivan’s Cafe, at 187 Pavonia avenue, Jersey City, N.J., one of the most popular resorts in that city. Mr. May takes an active interest in sports, and as a wrestler could give many of the professional wrestlers a warm augment.”

Less than a decade later, cocktail offerings at swanky dinners included the Jack Rose as the cocktail gained popularity across the country.

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway mentioned the drink in The Sun Also Roses, published in 1926:

“…Brett did not turn up, so about quarter to six I went down to the bar and had a Jack Rose with George the barman.”
Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, 1926, p. 42, chapter 6.

Rose ‘Général Jacqueminot’

A Jack Rose recipe appeared in Albert Stevens Crockett’s The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, published in 1935, on page 55:

Jack Rose (or Jacque Rose)

Juice of Lime
One-third Grenadine Syrup
Two-thirds Applejack

So called because of its pink color, the exact shade of a Jacqueminot rose, when properly concocted.