A Brief History of the Guild
In 1948 a small group of Southern California Bartenders who were overseas members of the United Kingdom Bartenders’ Guild founded a California branch of that organization in the Los Angeles Area. These men, experts in their field, were associated with the finest restaurants and hotels in the state, and over the years their organization, devoted to professional, fratern
al and social activities, grew in size and stature. For 13 years, functioning as a branch of the UKBG, they undertook a full range of activities including annual Cocktail Competitions whose winners competed in the International Cocktail Competitions in Europe. By September 1961 the California group had grown sufficiently in size to form an independent organization, and that year the IBA granted a charter to the California Bartenders Guild as a full affiliate and the exclusive representative of the IBA in the United States. In 1967, competing against champions from 20 nations, members of the California Bartenders Guild won the “World Championship” title. Over the years, more and more of the highly qualified and professional bartenders recognized the importance of the work of the CBG –enhancing the prestige and status of the professional bartender, encouraging creativity through annual Competitions, developing improved customer relations, and undertaking important and valuable public relations activities on behalf of the entire alcoholic beverage industry. The mounting number of inquires from highly skilled bartenders throughout the nation pointed out the need for a nationwide organization. To answer that need the United States Bartenders’ Guild was officially chartered and incorporated in 1971 as a non-profit organization – assuming the exclusive charter from the IBA as that organization’s sole United States affiliate. In 1973 the USBG reached its peak since its inception as it hosted the International Cocktail Competition in Los Angeles. Professional bartenders from twenty-six countries competed at the affair, and to this day it is acclaimed as one of the most successful events in the history of the USBG.
