<P> Eric Felten quotes Wes Price in an article that was published in 2007 in The Wall Street Journal </P> <P> "I just wanted to clean out the basement," Price would say of creating the Moscow mule . "I was trying to get rid of a lot of dead stock ." The first one he mixed he served to the actor Broderick Crawford . "It caught on like wildfire," Price bragged ." </P> <P> The Moscow mule is almost always served in a copper mug . The popularity of this drinking vessel is attributable to Martin, who went around the country to sell Smirnoff vodka and popularize the Moscow mule . Martin asked bartenders to pose with a specialty copper mug and a bottle of Smirnoff vodka, and photographed a Polaroid picture of them . He took two photos, leaving one with the bartender for display . The other photo would be put into a collection and used as proof to the next bar Martin visited of the popularity of the Moscow mule . The copper mug remains, to this day, a popular serving vessel for the Moscow mule . </P> <P> According to a 1942 Insider Hollywood article, the Moscow mule was most popular in Los Angeles, where it originated . The Nevada State Journal (12 October 1943) reinforced the mule's popularity in reporting: "Already the mule is climbing up into the exclusive handful of most - popular mixed drinks". It became known as a favorite drink of Reno casino owner William F. Harrah . In his book Beat the Dealer (1964), Edward O. Thorp did not name the Tahoe casino where he thought he had been poorly treated as a card counter . Instead, he wrote, "Immediately I had a Moscow mule", subtly hinting that the location was Harrah's Lake Tahoe, due to Harrah's then well - known proclivity for the drink . </P>

Why do you use copper mugs for mules
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