Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Hat trick

When I hear the phrase hat trick I think of the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoon series and what happens when Bullwinkle tries the old magic "pull a rabbit out of my hat" trick. Summary: He attempts many times, without success. (See video below for that particular bit from the early 1960s series.)

So, what about hat trick? Old? New(ish)?

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According to Mental Floss and a few other places, hat trick is closely tied to the sport of cricket, from 1858, where it was used when a team won three consecutive wickets. From there, the term meandered over to other sports, particularly ice hockey, to mean scoring three goals in one game. 

Well, shoot, what about the "pull a rabbit from a hat" hat trick? When did that definition come into being? The Online Etymology Dictionary has a pretty thorough entry, part of which I will cheerfully copy/paste here:

hat trick: ...the term probably has been influenced by the image of a conjurer pulling objects from his hat (an act attested by 1876). The term was used earlier for a different sort of magic trick:

Place a glass of liquor on the table, put a hat over it, and say, "I will engage to drink every drop of that liquor, and yet I'll not touch the hat." You then get under the table; and after giving three knocks, you make a noise with your mouth, as if you were swallowing the liquor. Then, getting from under the table, say "Now, gentlemen, be pleased to look." Some one, eager to see if you have drunk the liquor, will raise the hat; when you instantly take the glass and swallow the contents, saying, "Gentlemen I have fulfilled my promise: you are all witnesses that I did not touch the hat." ["Wit and Wisdom," London, 1860]

So this drinking hat trick dates to 1860, eh? I'll have to find somewhere I can use this in a book!