Did you know that a Tom Collins is tied to a (very) bad prank from the 1870's, leading to "The Great Tom Collins Hoax" throughout New York and Philadelphia in 1874? It went a little something like this:
"Have you seen Tom Collins?"
"No, I don't know a Tom Collins."
"Well, he sure seemed to know you! Spouting all sorts of nonsense and disrespect. He's just in the bar around the corner, you aughta give him a piece of your mind..."
Sure enough, angry and confused patrons stormed in to the nearest bar and asked the bartender for 'Tom Collins' and found themselves faced with a tall gin drink! Newspapers at the time also stoked the hoax with false reports of Tom Collins sightings.
