Sunday, March 3, 2013

My Fantasy Girl


 
38 Special wrote the song. It was one of those radio "hits" that got run into the ground. Sometimes, when I force myself to browse through ebay, the song starts spinning away in my mind. It happened again the other day.
 
A while back I spotted an offering by Stufftou2 (where do people come up with these names...) on ebay. I was looking for a pre-pro shot glass called Bear Creek Rye; (it's an amazing picture glass with a dancing bear holding a bottle of whiskey!).
 

No shot glass, but up popped this "thing". It's an oddball for sure at only 8 1/2" tall with a footed base and a flared medicine style top. It's etched GOLDEN BEAR WHISKEY /  S.F. CAL. (on the front) and .25C on the rear.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 












At first, I felt my heart skip a beat.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And then... curiosity, followed by nagging doubt, kicked into gear.



I'd never heard of Golden Bear brand. It sounded plausible though. Whiskey is spelled "KEY", indicating west coast production. California, is the "Golden State"; and the Grizzly Bear figured prominently in both the states history and the liquor industry of the late 1800's. Wow, it's a natural. And the .25C shot sounded within the realm of reality.

 
 
 
 
 



Heck, a Golden Bear fifth exists although not embossed as such. It's a Braunschweiger glop top that should have been blood red but somehow got blown with the wrong cullet.
 
Could it be?
 
 
 
 
Nah, just wishful thinking. Lot's of advertising for Pierces Golden Medical Discovery stating that it will "bear investigation" in the S.F. Newspapers, but that's as close to connecting the dots as I could get from 1880 - 1906. No brand registration in California, and nothing through the patent office...

And so, elation turned to frustration. No way to document the piece. And once the shine came off the apple and I looked at the piece with a critical eye, I began to wonder. Is it a one of a kind "Real McCoy" but with no way to authenticate it or a Fantasy Girl?

What's your take? Let's hear it~
 
Shot photo courtesy of Robin P. and Ken S. - Golden Bear decanter courtey of ebay and "Stufftou2" 

2 comments:

Lordbud said...

This item sold for the minimum bid earlier today.

Kentucky Gem said...

Just rolled in from a week away. More fun than a barrel of monkeys...

Yep, I see that it "sold". Thanks for the heads up.

What's up with the "private" - bidder ID blocked? That's something new to me. Was the sale for real?

 
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