Screw
It!
That’s
a term that many, or most, of us have used in one form or another since the
beginning of time.
When it comes to bottle collectors, that phrase
takes on another meaning. Now, I’m not talking about uttering that phrase after
dropping a bottle and watching it grenade into a million pieces. I’m talking
about the ubiquitous black thing that screws into the top of many western
whiskies.
1902 has been generally accepted as the year
that the black colored inside thread stopper with the orange “gasket” made its
debut on the west coast. That assumption, although taken as gospel for decades,
could not be farther from the truth. Recently I was admiring a couple of
Lilienthal related fifths in my display. Both had the original embossed inside
thread stoppers in place. And both had applied tops. One, a blood red Crown
Distilleries, sported the hammer whittled effect and massive spillover on the
applied long tapered collar; long known as having been blown in Germany. The
other, a Lilienthal “small badge”, was more the color of a London Warners Safe
Cure, but was also heavily whittled and sports spillover. The long tapered
collar on this example was stippled in an identical manner to the clear glop
tops that we associate with the German Connection or “GC”. Based on Tom Q’s
research, coupled with the process of elimination, we’ve narrowed the window
for the “GC” applied top western whiskies to roughly ca. 1888 – 1892. But wait,
the Crown and the Lili both have inside thread closures and both are GC bottles.
That’s ten years, give or take, earlier than originally thought.
Obviously these black screw stoppers were being
produced and used much earlier than originally thought. My first clue was the
addition of the words “Riley Patent” in addition to the liquor company’s name
and or logo on the embossed western stoppers. A quick check of patents for
inside thread closures shows that Frederick George Riley, of England, filed a
patent for a modified screw stopper closure on July 6, 1885.
His patent was the
result of improvements on earlier European inside thread patents. It was met
with immediate acceptance by soda / soft drink manufacturers in England and was gradually
accepted later on by American west coast firms who bottled a harder beverage.
Quite a number of bottles
destined for the west coast liquor industry were blown in Germany. The glass factory that
supplied bottles to the west coast adopted the inside thread as dictated by Abramson Heunisch, the “jobber” responsible for the German Connection whiskies.
The stoppers were a vast improvement over the age old cork closure method. The
side of the stoppers had grooves molded in to improve one’s grip. They were
easily removed and reinstalled by hand and they didn’t require a cork screw or
pick to get at the goods. By the time the 20th century rolled
around, the Riley Patent stopper was in widespread use by domestic glass
factories on the west coast. Trade catalogues in the US referred to them as the
"American Screw Stopper." The stopper was extensively marketed by the
American Screw Stopper Company, Limited, in Jersey City.
The stoppers were comprised of pressed, hard /
non-elastic, India rubber, often called “vulcanite”.
The stoppers are also sometimes described as being made from “ebonite”, which in fact was the
brand name for the vulcanized rubber – patented by Charles Goodyear in
1846. Wrapped around the stopper was a sealing washer of pink (or orange) India
rubber which was quite pliable when new and formed a tight seal. The stoppers
themselves weather far better than the gasket, which in most instances has
decomposed and is either badly cracked or missing entirely.
The most common stoppers are plain, followed by the star design
stopper.
The third style stopper is embossed with the company names, and or
logo. Often “Riley or Riley's Patent” is cut into the mold as well. Some of the more
common embossed ones encountered are Roth, Hanley Mercantile, Louis Taussig,
and Kellogg's.
All of these were San Francisco firms.
Occasionally, a liquor dealer would go all out and have a picture stopper
manufactured. F. Chevalier (also of SF) was one and an elaborate stopper was
made for their flagship brand, “Castle”.
They are scarce.
Another picture stopper,
“Black Crest”, posed a mystery, as no company name was present on the stopper.
Turns
out that only one company in the US offered the brand; Warren Watson of Oakland.
Another
fancy stopper, embossed Belle of Lancaster, was a mystery as well.
It too, turned out to be an exclusive product
of Watson.
Following are some photos of more stoppers, and
some stoppers mated to their embossed and or labeled bottles.
Next time you’re out scratching around, don’t
forget to keep an eye out for, and bring home, the stoppers. Without the correct
stopper, an inside thread whiskey is pretty much like a cake without the
frosting~
PS: if you're in need of a stopper or two, feel free to check in with me. I've got a few dozen and may be able to help you out.
