Those wacky Industrial Age pranksters!
Timely that I should stumble across this article, because I just made my first Tom Collins last night. It turns out that the drink began as a prank on the city streets of 1874.
As you were strolling about (no doubt in your top hat and spats), someone would run up to you and ask if you knew Tom Collins. They would then breathlessly explain that Tom Collins was talking trash about you in that bar over there.
Infuriated, the victim of the prank would storm into the bar and demand to speak to this Tom Collins fellow. In many cases, the people in the bar knew of the whole "Tom Collins" prank, and one of them might helpfully pipe up that "Tom Collins left, said he was going to that bar down the street," and send the victim off on another leg of the snipe hunt.
This became such a big thing that one bartender decided to turn it to his advantage. He made a gin-based drink, and named it Tom Collins. Looking for Tom Collins? This bartender had it ready for you!
A Tom Collins was my grandmother's favorite drink. I remember going to the neighborhood Chinese restaurant when I visited her, she would always order a Tom Collins for herself and a Shirley Temple for me.
This refreshing drink is easy to make: mix half a shot of simple syrup, 1 shot lemon juice, and 2 shots of gin in a tall glass. Add ice and fill with club soda.