The exact origin of the Gibson is unclear, with numerous popular tales and theories about its genesis. According to one popular theory, Charles Dana Gibson is responsible for the creation of the Gibson, when he supposedly challenged Charley Connolly, the bartender of the Players Club in New York City, to improve upon the martini's recipe. Connolly simply substituted an onion for the olive and named the drink after the patron and that is totaly fine with us. There is no direct evidence that Charles Dana, or any other, Gibson created the drink. But, Charles Dana Gibson was certainly the artist who created the 'Gibson girl' illustrations—popular from the 1890's through about the time of the first world war. It has been suggested that the Gibson girl was the first widespread visual standard for beauty in American women. Well anyhow, the Gibson is a mixed drink made with gin and vermouth, and garnished with a pickled onion simply just to feed the monkey and to give people something to talk about.