Gibson (cocktail) bartenders' guides sometimes gave the recipe as 50/50 gin and vermouth, Gibsons in the early days were much drier than other martinis. A third version, supported by Kazuo Uyeda in "Cocktail Techniques", states that Gibsons started as very dry martinis garnished with a cocktail onion to distinguish them from traditional martinis, but as the fondness for drier martinis became popular the onion became the only difference. There is no direct evidence that Charles Dana, or any other Gibson, created the drink. But, Charles Dana Gibson was certainly the artist who created the Gibson Girl illustrations—popular from the 1890s through about
Gin pennant The gin pennant exists in several variants. Due to their rather informal nature, gin pennants may be improvised or customized from available flags and pennants. The simplest option is to fly the "starboard" manoeuvering signal pennant (a pennant with a white field, and green hoist and fly). Purpose-made gin pennants often take the form of a starboard pennant defaced with a wine, cocktail, or martini glass (typically green, sometimes gray or black) on the field. Another variant described is a small triangular flag in solid green, defaced with a white cocktail or wine glass. Gin pennants have also been produced