The Screwdriver cocktail, a simple mix of vodka and orange juice, is believed to have originated in the mid-20th century, with the most popular story pointing to American oil workers in the Persian Gulf who used screwdrivers to stir their drinks due to a lack of spoons. While the exact origin story is debated, the name and the drink became popular in the 1940s and 1950s, especially as vodka's popularity grew in the US.