Julian Anderson

Are you planning any holiday parties this year? Here's a recipe that Julian Anderson would have served to the rich and famous at the Montana Club.

Bowl of Egg Nogg
2 1/2 pounds fine pulverized sugar; 20 fresh eggs; have the yolks separated; beat as thin as water, and add the yolks of the eggs into the sugar and dissolve by stirring; 2 quarts of good brandy; 1 1/2 pints of Jamaica rum; 2 gallons of good rich milk. Mix the ingredients well with a ladle, and stir continually while pouring in the milk, to prevent curdling; then beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and put this on top of the mixture; then fill a glass with a ladle, put some pieces of the egg froth on top, grate a little nutmeg on top and serve.

Recipe from Golden Jubilee Edition: Recipes by the Master of Mixes as served by him at the Montana Club, Helena, Montana, for fifty continuous years, June 1893 to June 1943. The Montana Historical Society's research center has the original.

Photo from Golden Jubilee Edition: Recipes by the Master of Mixes

Julian Anderson was a beloved and special individual who gave many years of service to the far-famed Montana Club in Helena. There is no record of his birth in Hamburg, Germany. His parents moved there as household slaves of a Caroline County, Virginia, family. The family had fled the South at the beginning of the Civil War. Julian observed his birthday on September 23, since his mother told him that he was born at “fodder-pulling time.” After the Civil War, when Julian was six or seven, the Andersons returned to the United States. They moved west to Denver. Julian struck out on his own, learned the trades of baker and confectioner in Laramie, Wyoming, and came to Helena in 1887. He worked at the Merchant’s Hotel and then as night clerk at the brand-new Broadwater Hotel. In 1893 he began as bartender at the Montana Club. Julian was famous as the master of mixes. Even though he was a highly skilled drink master, he never took a drink himself. He served such world-famous figures as Prince Albert of Belgium, Prince Olaf of Norway, Mark Twain, Otis Skinner, William Jennings Bryan, artist Charlie Russell, and all the Copper Kings. He even heard Teddy Roosevelt say “dee-lighted” in person. He hardly missed pouring a drink when the club burned down, despite the fact that his own son Harry caused the tragedy. In 1938, members celebrated Julian’s forty-fifth anniversary with the club, signing a tribute to him that read: “To Julian Anderson who never forgets us, is always constant, pleasant and competent. In sincere appreciation of his forty-five years with the Montana Club.” Julian retired in 1953 after sixty years of serving club patrons. He died in 1961 at 102.


From Montana Moments: History on the Go