A frozen margarita tale for Cinco de Mayo

Why is this homely little brown box, with its sign that identifies it as the “World’s First Margarita Machine," living at the Smithsonian? And why are we writing about that margarita machine on May 5th, Cinco de Mayo? Here’s a story about how some things come to the Smithsonian; moreover, how this particular thing is connected, well, to blenders and battles, entrepreneurs and enchiladas, and to impresarios and good old American ingenuity.

I am a curator who specializes in American foodways (among other things), and a member of the teamthat brought Julia Child’s kitchen to the National Museum of American History. In the summer of 2003, in the course of developing a public program on Tex-Mex food, I got to know a Houston food writer named Robb Walsh. Robb had just written a wonderful book, The Tex-Mex Cookbook, a history of the phenomenon he calls an American regional cuisine. In that book, he told the story of a Dallas restauranteur who invented the frozen margarita machine. Robb told me that I had to go and get that machine for the museum. Intrigued, I embarked on the usual investigative process we go through when we are considering a new acquisition.

First and foremost, I had to determine whether, indeed, this was the “world’s first margarita machine.” I had to look at a trail of references to the history of margaritas, which, by the way, has as many claimants to their invention as there are to hamburgers. I looked at the patent history for frozen drink makers, checked in on the repeal of Texas liquor laws for the sale of “hard” liquor, and ran down press mentions of this new drink. Then I contacted the “world’s first” developer and took down his story. I made sure that he would really give us the machine that built his restaurant empire. I decided to go for it and made my proposal to the collections committee stating why it should come here. The short version is: The committee approved it, and a press release announcing it brought a wave of attention to this homely little brown box and its new home at the Smithsonian.

Now, here’s the long version: the story of brown boxes, frozen margaritas, Mexican food in America, one man’s entrepreneurial coup, and why Americans are so attached to everything represented by the machine. Mariano Martinez, a young Texas restauranteur, and his frozen margarita machine were at the crossroads of a revolution that took well over a hundred years to unfold. It was the revolution that caused Americans to adopt several regional versions of Mexican food (and Chinese and Italian food) as a major culinary underpinning of American food. Today, Mexican cuisine, in all its modified, regionalized (Cal-Mex, Numex-Mex, Sonoran Mex), commercialized, and even highly processed varieties, is as American as, well, as apple pie. In the 70’s, the margarita surpassed the martini as the most popular American cocktail and, in the 80’s, salsa surpassed ketchup as the most-used American condiment. First made on the California-Mexican border, the margarita became associated with the service of Mexican food in the United States, though it eventually spread to Mexico and over the world. Frozen margaritas, made with the help of blenders, became popular in the 50’s.

 

In 1971, young Mariano Martinez started serving margaritas in his new restaurant, Mariano’s Mexican Cuisine. His customers created a high demand for the newly popular frozen drink. With their blenders hard-pressed to produce a consistent mix for the drink they made from Mariano’s father’s recipe, his bartenders were in rebellion. Then came inspiration for the beleaguered boss in the form of a Slurpee machine at a 7-Eleven, a machine invented in Dallas in 1960 to make carbonated beverages slushy enough to drink through a straw. But the 7-Eleven Corporation wouldn’t sell him a Slurpee machine. He and a friend, a chemist named John Hogan tinkered with the recipe (hint: the secret is in the amount of sugar) and adapted a soft serve ice cream machine to make margarita slush, and word of mouth signaled a hit for his fledgling business. The machine was such a success that, according to Martinez, “it brought bars in Tex-Mex restaurants front and center. People came to Mariano’s for that frozen margarita out of the machine.” Mariano couldn’t patent something already patented, so many versions of the frozen margarita machine subsequently came into the market. His machine, however, made Mariano’s restaurant a success, leading to other restaurants (with their own commercial machines pouring out the margaritas). When Mariano decided to close the old restaurant and move it to a new location, he decided to retire the machine. We asked for it. So, after 34 years of blending lime juice, tequila, ice, and sugar for enthusiastic customers, the world’s first frozen margarita machine was retired to the Smithsonian.

Today, on May the fifth, revelers all over the United States will drink gallons of margaritas and Mexican beers. They will listen to mariachi music, and consume tons of their favorite Mexican American fusion food, Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex or just “Mexican.” They will do all these things because, in 1862, people in California and citizens of the state of Puebla in Mexico began celebrating the unlikely victory of Mexican troops over the invaders from France. Mexican Americans, in fact, everybody else in the country, have enjoyed this celebration ever since. How this victory, not much noticed in Mexico at all, became a vehicle for margarita, beer, and Mexican American food ingestion, a source of income for American restaurants and bars, and a bonanza for Mexican tequila and beer makers, is a long story. That story is, in some ways, much like the story of how and why millions of non-Catholics drink a lot of green beer on an Irish Catholic saint’s name day. It is, in almost every way, a story about the complex ingredients in American identity and the odd and wonderful attachments Americans can have to things like “The World’s First Frozen Margarita Machine.” Do think of this little brown box when next you enjoy one, with your nachos, tacos, and salsa.

Rayna Green is a curator in the Division of Home and Community Life and Director of the American Indian Program at the National Museum of American History.

Comments

[jimi]

Personally after a rough shift at the job site an after work cold beer was just the ticket. Not any more. Margaritas are now the only drink that hit the "right spot' with the right people. Thanks for a interesting and refreshing historical article

[Dinah]

@Esther Cervantes

It's not just Margaritas that have become popular: Mexican food itself has become significantly more popular over the years. What was exotic in the 1970s is commonplace now.

I wonder what food/drink that is rare today will be the Mexican food of 2040?

[Fred Perrito]

Yes, there are low to no sugar margarita mixes. We have one here in the Atlanta area called "Sinless Margaritas". They are sweetened with the same ingredients as zero calorie Vitamin Water or Sobe water. The taste is great.

[Kenneth]

I am a commercial refrigeration technician and have been asked about how frozen margarita machines got started. I found this article enlightening. Thanks.

They are still essentially ice cream machines with a the consistency adjustment made. Now days the adjustment is usually a dial. Back then it was most likely a screw on a spring connected to a pulley arm that acts on a switch.

In either case to make an ice cream machine into a margarita machine all you do is put in the mixture and see what happens. After it has run a while check the consistency and turn the control. If the consistency goes in the wrong direction, turn it the other way. With a little trial and error you will find the perfect setting, then just leave it there. You no longer have an ice cream machine, you now have a margarita machine!

[Eric]

Very interesting article. I wasn't aware that margaritas started in the the early 70s in Texas. I was thinking this drink came from Mexico. I think it's great that the Smithsonian has this machine for all to see and learn more about. This is a great learning opportunity for all.

[Jovana]

I was in a Grenada Hotel where they made the most fabulous Frozen Margarita. Thank you for the history lessons.

P.S. I absolutely LOVE LOVE the Julia Child Exhibition =)Congrats on that. Will be looking forward to reading your blog a couple of more times.

[Jason]

My coworkers and I like to freeze watermelon and make margaritas that way. Goes great with a crab boil on warm summer nights. YUM!

[Peter Dexheimer]

Well, what a great story about this (used to be my favorite) drink. Had no idea about the history of it, but it's great to read about this little, yet so famous, machine.

Very well written article, I have always liked Mexican food and drinks, still like the food. Though, I no longer drink margarita's, my last one got the best of me, it's interesting to learn of its history and this little machine.

Yes, I also wonder what happened to Mariano!

Does anyone have any healthy Mexican food recipes, we could implement into our magazine?

So what are Mariano and the chemist doing today? Did they both retire or is their restaurant still around today? Thanks for the history lesson

I love Robb Walsh's telling of Martinez's tale in The Tex-Mex Cookbook. I'm glad the Smithsonian has the machine, and I love your blog.

[Pilove44]

Nothing could be better than a slushy margarita (hold the salt) on a hot summer day. Its amazing to think margaritas were started in the the early 70s in Texas? They're not even Mexican!!! LOL. My boyfriend is Mexican and always claiming the margarita as a cultural milestone. I'm gonna get him good next time he claims it.

[Mark]

I don't drink much, but heck, I always wondered how the frozen margarita got started. I think this a good example of new inventions come out of need. This is truly a nice article.

[Dallas]

Mango margarita, definitely no salt. The absolute best. Dallas has some of the best tex-mex.

[maric]

No doubt, Margarita is a favorite cocktail drink until now. And a frozen Margarita will surely entice your taste buds.

[dr.mo]

That's what you call the power of science!
really like the way you write this article

[Carol Blogger]

So what are Mariano and the chemist doing today? Did they both retire or is their restaurant still around today? Thanks for the history lesson.

[Jodi Murphy]

Nothing could be better than a slushy margarita (hold the salt) on a hot summer day. Its amazing to think margaritas were started in the the early 70s in Texas? They're not even Mexican!!! LOL. My boyfriend is Mexican and always claiming the margarita as a cultural milestone. I'm gonna get him good next time he claims it.

Thanks for the great article and when we come to the Smithsonian I hope you guys have it up and running. (:

[Rod Martin, Jr.]

I don't drink much, but heck, I could use a margarita about now, along with a tasty set enchiladas, frijoles, y arroz con salsa. Being born in Texas on Cinco de Mayo, the tradition of Mexican food has been in my blood for sixty years. And margaritas? I always take mine with salt!

[Tex Mex]

Viva La Margarita! I never thought about who invented the margarita machine or when ... but it's good to know. I almost remember all those extra strong 'ritas we used to get at Casita Jorge's when I was in college. Their motto was "Only the strong survive". I've been living in Germany a long time now & I really miss good Tex Mex mexican food and a properly made margarita.

[Jeff Magee]

Nice article. I always wondered how the frozen margarita got started. I have been drinking frozen margarita's for about 30 years and it has gotten quite expensive for me. My kids, all four of them under the age of twenty also love margarita's as well (the virgin kind of course). I have had margarita's made from all sorts of machines, blenders, smoothie makers, true icee or slurpee machines (7 eleven style) and of course the machines sold as margarita makers.

You don't know what you're missing until you have that very smooth (ice chunck free) great tasting frozen margarita!

[Gisborne NZ]

Thanks for sharing, it was really interesting as i live in New Zealand and never knew where the margarita originated from. Its amazing to see a that a machine creates margarita's, much appreciated.

[Mattisyahu Nussbaum]

It goes to show you that even if you hit a brick wall, for instance 7-Eleven not giving up their machine, you can always find a work around. Love it.

[Ian]

Margaritas machines are common in my neck of the woods and my GF loves them. But I prefer the good old handmade ones before the machines became so common.

[Sasha James]

Huh, this is interesting. Someone maybe doesn't care but it is in deed valuable to know the story behind the things you like as well as how they came to be. 800 million Margaritas / year only in US ? I would say even more .... do you know that Joe Vitale came up with a "healthy" Margarita called Fit a Rita ? It may sound hilarious but it just shows how popular and liked they are .... even fitness fanatics whats them ;)

[April Tourneau]

Robb Walsh was a great guy.