Mickey Finn (boisson)

Un Mickey Finn, ou parfois un Mickey, est une boisson généralement alcoolisée dans laquelle on a versé une drogue à l'insu de celui qui la consomme. Cette drogue, le plus souvent de l'hydrate de chloral, provoque l'inconscience de la victime.

Origine

Chicago en 1907 : State Street, la rue où se situait le bar de Mickey Finn.

L'expression, passée dans l'argot anglo-américain, vient du probable inventeur de ce mélange, un tenancier de bar de Chicago, Mickey Finn, propriétaire du Lone Star Saloon and Palm Garden Restaurant (1896-1903) situé sur State Street dans le quartier du Loop. En décembre 1903, plusieurs journaux locaux, dont la Chicago Daily Tribune en date du 16 décembre 1903^[1], indiquent que Michael (« Mickey ») Finn est accusé de droguer ses clients en leur servant des boissons mêlées de sédatifs afin de leur voler leur argent. Les jours suivants, le Chicago Daily News et le Chicago Inter Ocean ajoutent que l'établissement vient d'être fermé sur ordre du maire de Chicago Carter Harrison, Jr., pendant que Mickey Finn est inculpé. Le « cocktail » invalidant porte le surnom de « Mickey Finn Special ».

Il semble que les exploits de Mickey Finn ne se soient pas arrêtés là, car la Chicago Daily Tribune du 8 juillet 1918 mentionne une descente de police dans son nouvel établissement, un bar clandestin du quartier de South Chicago^[2]. L'écrivain Herbert Asbury a retracé sa carrière dans un ouvrage paru en 1940^[3].

L'usage du Mickey Finn apparaît dans nombre de romans et de films à partir des années 1930, en particulier dans Le Faucon maltais, aussi bien le roman de Dashiell Hammett que le film de John Huston, ou encore dans des œuvres de W. C. Fields, Raymond Chandler et P. G. Wodehouse, mais aussi dans le roman policier d’Agatha Christie Les Pendules.

Bibliographie

(en) James A. lnciardi, "The Changing Life of Mickey Finn: Some Notes On Chloral Hydrate Down Through the Ages", Journal of Popular Culture, Winter 1977 - Vol. 11 Issue 3 Page 591.

Notes

↑ Article intitulé « Stories of Knockout Drops » : « "Michael Finn, owner of saloon at corner of State Street and Harmon Court [now East 11 Street]... Two former habitués—Mrs. Mary Thornton and Isabelle Fyffe—told that he gave 'knock-out drops' to customers suspected of having money and afterwards robbed them." Mary Thornton : "I worked for Finn a year and a half and in that time I saw a dozen men given 'dope' by Finn and his bartender. The work was done in two little rooms adjoining the palm garden in back of the saloon". »
↑ « "Mickey Finn was arrested last night and lodged in the South Chicago police station. Mickey also known as Mike runs a hut at 115th Street and the Calumet River. He and his housekeeper Millie Schober and twenty customers were swooped down on by the police and all taken to the station. A wagonload of beer and booze was confiscated. Mickey and the woman were charged with running a disorderly house and selling liquor without formal authorization..." »
↑ Gem of the Prairie : An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld.

[1] Article intitulé « Stories of Knockout Drops » : « "Michael Finn, owner of saloon at corner of State Street and Harmon Court [now East 11 Street]... Two former habitués—Mrs. Mary Thornton and Isabelle Fyffe—told that he gave 'knock-out drops' to customers suspected of having money and afterwards robbed them." Mary Thornton : "I worked for Finn a year and a half and in that time I saw a dozen men given 'dope' by Finn and his bartender. The work was done in two little rooms adjoining the palm garden in back of the saloon". »

[2] « "Mickey Finn was arrested last night and lodged in the South Chicago police station. Mickey also known as Mike runs a hut at 115th Street and the Calumet River. He and his housekeeper Millie Schober and twenty customers were swooped down on by the police and all taken to the station. A wagonload of beer and booze was confiscated. Mickey and the woman were charged with running a disorderly house and selling liquor without formal authorization..." »

[3] Gem of the Prairie : An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld.

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