Via Derek Brown, David Wondrich has a handwritten recipe by Colonel Joe Rickey for the original Rickey. Here’s what I think it says:
Col. Rickey’s Recipe for a “Rickey.”
Long glass – Ice
Whiskey [illegible] –
Lime Juice
Carbonated Water
Don’t Drink too Many
JK Rickey
Anyone want to take a guess at what the word(s) after “Whiskey” say?
Update: Consensus is clear, the first line is “Whiskey or Gin”. Thanks for the help everyone!
On Twitter, Dave Wondrich addresses my confusion that Rickey’s original recipe called for whiskey, not a choice between the two:
Rickey wrote that in 1895, at which point he was resigned to the ubiquity of the gin version
So while this is not the original recipe for the Rickey, as created at Shoemaker’s in Washington DC by Col. Joe Rickey, it is the first written version tied to the fine Colonel.
A Jigger of Blog 
I think the words after “Whiskey” are “or Gin.”
By: Mark on July 6, 2011
at 11:40 am
I’m with Mark there, looks like “Whiskey or Gin”
By: erik.ellestad on July 6, 2011
at 12:12 pm
That was my first thought and that seems to be the consensus. It’s just that my understanding of the history was that Col. Joe Rickey’s original recipe was a whiskey-based cocktail & gin variations came later.
By: Matt Hamlin on July 6, 2011
at 1:02 pm
Whiskey [not moonshine]
By: erinh on July 6, 2011
at 12:30 pm
Oh, OK, I actually looked at it. agree, it’s “Or Gin”
By: erinh on July 6, 2011
at 12:31 pm
Definitely “or Gin”. I’d say you have a concencus.
By: MixnSip on July 7, 2011
at 12:54 pm
[…] Hits Matt Hamlin has a great scan of the original Rickey recipe, in Colonel Rickey's own hand. Typical of a Washington lobbyist to prefer the wrong ingredient in his own damn drink…. The top […]
By: SideBlog: Col. Rickey’s Original Recipe | The Pegu Blog on August 2, 2011
at 5:11 pm
[…] Gin Rickeys […]
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at 9:50 pm