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38-598: The name comes from prohibition-era slang meaning "the best". The bee's knees cocktail has unclear origins. It was possibly invented by Frank Meier , an Austrian-born, part Jewish bartender who was the first head bartender at the Ritz in Paris in 1921, when its Cafe Parisian opened its doors. A 1929 news article attributes the cocktail to Margaret Brown , an American socialite. In 2017, Barr Hill Gin started an annual event called Bee's Knees Week to promote their product. Bee's Knees Week

76-469: A Titanic survivor helped her promote the philanthropic and activism issues she felt strongly about. She was concerned about the rights of workers and women, education and literacy for children, historic preservation, and commemoration of the bravery and chivalry displayed by the men aboard the Titanic . Avoca Lodge, known as The Molly Brown Summer House , is in southwest Denver, Colorado near Bear Creek ;

114-553: A finer, bigger, more worthwhile man than J.J. Brown." Brown died on September 5, 1922, in Hempstead, New York . J.J. Brown left vast, yet complicated, real estate, mining, and stock holdings. It was unknown to the Browns and their lawyers how much was left in the estate. Prior to J.J.’s death, he had transferred a large amount of money to his children. Their children were also unaware how much money that Margaret had, but were displeased at

152-529: A foreman of the Louisville Mine by 1886. He was hired by Eben Smith and David Moffat to operate their largest mining enterprises, becoming the superintendent of the Maid of Erin and Henrietta mines by 1888. Leadville was a successful mining center, producing gold, lead, and silver. It was one of the world's largest and most lucrative silver camps. The Silver Boom flourished in the 1880s. By 1892, Brown

190-742: A man presented himself who could give to the tired older man the things I longed for him. Jim was as poor as we were and had no better chance. I struggled hard with myself in those days. I loved Jim, but he was poor. Finally, I decided that I'd be better off with a poor man whom I loved than with a wealthy one whose money had attracted me. So I married Jim Brown. Margaret and J.J. married in Leadville Annunciation Church on September 1, 1886. They had two children: Lawrence Palmer Brown (1887–1949), known as Larry, and Catherine Ellen Brown (1889–1969), known as Helen. They also raised three of their nieces: Grace, Florence, and Helen Tobin. In 1893,

228-647: A museum since 1971. It is called the Molly Brown House Museum . There is a trail marker outside it as part of the National Votes for Women Trail; the marker was stolen in November 2023, but was found later that month. In 1985, Brown was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame . James Joseph Brown#Little Jonny mine James Joseph "J.J." Brown (September 27, 1854 – September 5, 1922),

266-537: A separation agreement in 1909. She received a US$ 700 monthly allowance (equivalent to $ 24,000 in 2023) to continue her travels and political work. Brown assisted in fundraising for Denver's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception , which was completed in 1911. She also worked with Judge Ben Lindsey to help destitute children and establish one of the United States' first juvenile courts . Brown spent

304-572: A society lady, Brown became immersed in the arts and fluent in French, German, Italian, and Russian. Brown co-founded a branch in Denver of the Alliance Française to promote her love of French culture . She lobbied for women's right to vote. J.J. was not interested in the social life that Brown enjoyed and the couple began to drift apart. After 23 years of marriage, Margaret and J.J. privately signed

342-703: A summer mansion Avoca Lodge in Southwest Denver, near Bear Creek. The couple enjoyed the opera and theatre and Brown was a member of the Denver Athletic Club and the Denver Country Club. Margaret was later known as The Unsinkable Molly Brown , having survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. The Browns had two children: They raised three of their nieces: Grace, Florence, and Helen Tobin. There were other nieces and nephews who lived with

380-486: A two-room log cabin, and she found work sewing carpets and draperies at a dry goods store, Daniels, Fisher and Smith. Daniel was a miner. In Leadville, she met and married James Joseph Brown (1854–1922), nicknamed "J.J.", an imaginative, self-educated man. He was not a rich man, and she married J.J. for love. After his death she said, I wanted a rich man, but I loved Jim Brown. I thought about how I wanted comfort for my father and how I had determined to stay single until

418-871: Is said to have paid for night school in Pennsylvania to attain an education. Brown left home at the age of 23 and worked on a farm in Nebraska . In 1877, during the Black Hills Gold Rush , Brown went to Deadwood Gulch in the Black Hills of the Dakotas in 1877 and was engaged in placer and quartz mining . At that time, the area was the frontier and subject to conflicts between the miners and Native Americans. Brown came to Colorado in 1880, mining in Georgetown , Aspen and Ashcroft. His brother Edward joined him in

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456-440: Is the largest sustainability event in the spirits industry, focused on pollinator protection. A 2023 article published by The New York Times credited an increase in the cocktail's popularity in part to Bee's Knees Week. This mixed drink –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Margaret Brown Margaret Brown (née Tobin ; July 18, 1867 – October 26, 1932), posthumously known as

494-577: The Molly Brown House , in Denver for US$ 30,000 (equivalent to $ 1,056,000 in 2023). In 1897, they built a summer house, Avoca Lodge , in Southwest Denver near Bear Creek , which gave the family more social opportunities. Margaret became a charter member of the Denver Woman's Club, whose mission was the improvement of women's lives by continuing education and philanthropy. Adjusting to the trappings of

532-501: The Sorbonne in Paris, decided to take a side trip to London with friends. Brown boarded the Titanic as a first-class passenger on the evening of April 10, conveyed aboard the tender SS Nomadic at Cherbourg, France , and sailed for New York City that night. The Titanic sank early on April 15, 1912, at around 2:20 a.m., after striking an iceberg at around 11:40 p.m. the previous night. Brown helped other people board

570-549: The " Unsinkable Molly Brown ", was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was a survivor of the RMS Titanic , which sank in 1912 , and she unsuccessfully urged the crew in Lifeboat No. 6 to return to the debris field to look for survivors. During her lifetime, her friends called her "Maggie", but by her death, obituaries referred to her as the "Unsinkable Mrs. Brown". Gene Fowler referred to her as "Molly Brown" in his 1933 book Timberline . The following year, she

608-730: The 1914 Ludlow Massacre and she helped organize the International Women's Rights conference that year, which was held in Newport, Rhode Island . During and after World War I, she worked in France with the Red Cross and later with the American Committee for Devastated France to help wounded French and American soldiers and rebuild areas behind the front line. For her work organizing female ambulance drivers, nurses, and food distributors, Brown

646-608: The Ashcroft-Aspen area, where he lived for two years. Brown then went to Leadville . Once the surface ore had been thoroughly gleaned by previous miners, Brown found that mining required knowledge of geology, ore deposits, and mining to be successful and he studied books to become more proficient. Brown had a "special genius for practical and economic geology," which he used to identify and mine underground properties that subsequently became their most valuable properties. He became an increasingly adept and successful miner becoming

684-529: The Brown family acquired great wealth when J.J.'s mining engineering efforts proved instrumental in the exploration of a substantial ore seam at the Little Jonny Mine . His employer, Ibex Mining Company, awarded him 12,500 shares of stock and a seat on the board. In Leadville, Margaret helped by working in soup kitchens to assist miners' families. In 1894, the Browns bought a Victorian mansion, now known as

722-702: The Browns occasionally. In 1909, Brown and his wife signed a separation agreement. The couple were both Catholic and they never divorced. The agreement gave Margaret a cash settlement and possession of the Victorian mansion on Pennsylvania Street in Denver's wealthy Capital Hill neighborhood, and also the summer mansion Avoca Lodge in Southwest Denver, near Bear Creek. She also received a $ 700 monthly allowance (equivalent to $ 19,066 today) to continue her travels and philanthropic activities. Although they never reconciled, they remained connected and cared for each other throughout their lives. Margaret said of Brown "I've never met

760-589: The Colorado Sugar Manufacturing Company, which was established in 1899. The Great Western Sugar Company was founded by the same miners a few years later. It became the country's largest supplier of beet sugar by 1978. Brown married Margaret Tobin on September 1, 1886, in Leadville's Annunciation Church. They first settled in Leadville, Colorado but moved closer to the mines on Iron Hill in

798-463: The Little Jonny was shipping 135 tons of gold ore per day. Brown was awarded 12,500 shares. The Ibex Company and its owners, including the Browns, became extraordinarily wealthy. After serving Smith and Moffat for 14 years, in 1894, Brown decided to operate his own mining enterprises in Leadville and other locations. He moved to Denver that year and continued to advise Moffat and others, which led to

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836-421: The country and Europe, and operated until March 28, 1896. Three railroads brought visitors to Leadville, where there was a wide range of entertainment, winter sports, and contests. Brown along with other successful miners sought to diversify their holdings to include agricultural products. Sugar beets were suited for Colorado's arid climate. Along with Eben Smith and others, Brown was an investor and director of

874-484: The crewman in charge of lifeboat 6. Hichens was fearful that if they were to go back, the lifeboat would either be pulled down due to suction, or those in the water would swamp the boat in an effort to get in. After several attempts to urge Hichens to turn back, Brown threatened to throw him overboard. Upon being rescued by the ship RMS Carpathia , Brown proceeded to organize a committee with other first-class survivors. The committee worked to secure basic necessities for

912-751: The first major mining boom in the Creede area. He was the director and one of the major owners of the Ibex Mining Company (Little Jonny Mine) and had mining enterprises in Leadville, other Colorado sites, Arizona, the Southwest, Cuba, and Mexico. He became one of wealthiest mine owners in Colorado. Brown, whose Little Jonny Mine continued to produce gold, sought to save Leadville by creating an Ice Palace to draw tourism. Opening in January 1896, it drew tourists from across

950-462: The first months of 1912 in Paris, visiting her daughter and as part of the John Jacob Astor IV party, until she received word from Denver that her eldest grandchild, Lawrence Palmer Brown Jr., was ill. She immediately booked passage on the first available liner leaving for New York, the RMS Titanic . Originally, her daughter Helen was supposed to accompany her, but Helen, who had studied at

988-812: The home served as a summer retreat for Brown and her husband James Joseph Brown . It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The three-room cottage where Brown was born is now the Molly Brown Birthplace and Museum; it is on 600 Butler Street in Hannibal, Missouri . The theme park Disneyland Paris features a 19th-century riverboat attraction, the Molly Brown Riverboat, named after her. In 1965, astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young named their Gemini spacecraft Molly Brown in her honor. Brown’s Denver, Colorado home has been

1026-504: The lifeboats but was finally persuaded to abandon ship in lifeboat no. 6 . More than 1,500 aboard RMS Titanic perished; there were a total of 2,224 people on the ship. After her death in 1932, Brown was called "Molly Brown" and "The Unsinkable Mrs. Brown" by authors because she helped in the ship's evacuation, taking an oar herself in her lifeboat and urging the lifeboat crew to go back and save more passengers. Her urgings were met with opposition from Quartermaster Robert Hichens ,

1064-413: The price of silver fell, the price of gold went up. After the silver collapse, John F. Campion hired Brown to find a solution for the mine's shafts that continually filled with dolomite sand with the intention of mining gold at Little Jonny. Brown's engineering efforts proved instrumental in the production of a substantial gold and copper seam at the mine. The gold was particularly pure. Brown, who

1102-455: The rugged Stumpftown (now a ghost town). After the birth of their son, the Browns moved back into Leadville, living at 320 Ninth Street and then 322 Seventh Street. As Brown became more successful, the family enjoyed the life of the upper middle class and sent their children to school in Paris. In 1894, the Browns moved to Denver , Colorado , buying a $ 30,000 Victorian mansion in Denver's wealthy Capitol Hill neighborhood. In 1897, they built

1140-467: The second- and third-class survivors, and even provided informal counseling. In 1914, six years before the Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote, Brown ran for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat, but she ended her campaign to serve abroad as the director of the American Committee for Devastated France during World War I . Also in 1914, she contributed to miners and their families after

1178-584: The theater. She died in her sleep at 10:55 p.m. on October 26, 1932, at age 65, in New York City's Barbizon Hotel . Subsequent autopsy revealed a brain tumor. She was buried next to J.J. at St. Brigid's cemetery, now known as Cemetery of the Holy Rood , in Westbury, New York, following a small ceremony on October 31, 1932, attended by close friends and family. There was singing, but no eulogy. Brown’s fame as

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1216-503: Was across the street from her home. Nearby was also the Hannibal Gas Works where her father worked as a laborer. Their neighborhood was a tight-knit Irish Catholic community, where people traveled westward through the town for the gold fields. At age 18, Margaret relocated to Leadville, Colorado , with her siblings Daniel Tobin, Mary Ann Collins Landrigan, and Mary Ann's husband John Landrigan. Margaret and her brother Daniel shared

1254-632: Was an American mining engineer, inventor, and self-made member of fashionable society . His wife was RMS Titanic survivor Margaret Brown . Brown was born in Waymart, Pennsylvania on September 27, 1854. His father, James Brown, was an Irish immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in 1848. There, he met Brown's mother, Cecilia Palmer, who was a schoolteacher. Soon after he was born, Brown's family moved to Pittston, Pennsylvania . Brown first received an education from his mother and he later studied at St. John's Academy . In his biography by Ferril, Brown

1292-405: Was an investor and board member of the Ibex Mining Company that owned the Little Jonny mine. Initially, silver was mined at Little Jonny. The Silver Boom came to an end in 1893 following the collapse of silver prices caused by the repeal of Sherman Silver Purchase Act . Silver mines closed and the state fell into a deep economic depression. In Leadville, 90% of the miners were unemployed. While

1330-458: Was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1932. J.J. Brown died on September 5, 1922. Margaret told newspapers, that although she had met royalty and other great people around the world, "I've never met a finer, bigger, more worthwhile man than J.J. Brown." J.J. Brown left vast, yet complicated, real estate, mining, and stock holdings. It was unknown to the Browns and their lawyers how much

1368-404: Was left in the estate. Prior to J.J.'s death, he had transferred a large amount of money to his children. Their children were also unaware of how much money Margaret had, but were displeased at the large amounts she spent on charity. Margaret Brown and her children fought in court for six years to settle the estate. In the 1920s, Margaret Brown focused her energy on personal passions, especially

1406-930: Was referred to as the "Unsinkable Mrs. Brown" and "Molly Brown" in newspapers. Margaret Tobin was born on July 18, 1867, near the Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri , on Denkler's Alley. The three-room cottage where she was born is now the Molly Brown Birthplace and Museum; it is on 600 Butler Street in Hannibal. Her parents were Irish Catholic immigrants John Tobin and Johanna (Collins) Tobin. Her siblings were Daniel Tobin, Michael Tobin, William Tobin, and Helen Tobin. Both of Margaret's parents had previously been married to other spouses who had died. Brown had two half-sisters: Catherine Bridget Tobin, by her father's first marriage, and Mary Ann Collins, by her mother's first marriage. Called Maggie by her family, she attended her maternal aunt Mary O'Leary's grammar school, which

1444-471: Was the superintendent of all the Ibex properties, devised a method of using baled hay and timbers to stop cave-ins. His invention paid off. When the Little Jonny mine opened, vast quantities of high-grade copper and gold were found. It was reported to be among the most substantial gold strikes in the country at the time and helped trigger economic recovery in Leadville and throughout the state. By October 29, 1893,

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