"Pairings"

Some things just naturally go together. For instance a fine wine and gourmet aged cheese. Or, to a western whiskey collector, rare shot glasses and a matching embossed cylinder fifth.

 

Pre-pro "Shots". 

I've collected western whiskies since the mid 60's. Never paid much attention to shots and go-withs earlier on though. Then, about 20 years ago, I spotted a western picture shot advertising Davy Crockett whiskey. The hook was set. The die was cast...

I've really enjoyed matching the glasses with their fifth counterparts. Best part of all is their size. They just don't take up much real estate.

Here are a few "pairings".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oregon picture shot glasses~

 Oregon picture shot glasses~

 

Oregon acid etched pre-pro picture glasses are all but non-existent. There's only a couple that come to mind, this critter picture glass and the western themed glass associated with the Remington Liquor company.

Here's a favorite of mine, produced for the firm of Brunn & Co. of Portland. They were in business from 1905 - 1915, and were located at 1st SE cor. of Alder (1906-1910), 140-142 1 st (1911-1915).

They only marketed two brands; "Beaver Brand", and "O. W. P.." The Beaver Brand critter glass has everything going for it; in addition to the picture, it has internal fluted panels.

 

Group of three pre-pro ACL Oregon Shots.

ROTHCHILD BROS. were located in Portland. They were in business from 1899-1915 and were located at 20-26 1 st N. Their flagship brands included "Lily Bud", "Magnolia", "Maryland Monogram", and "Old Standard"; three of which are pictured here.

The colorful applied colored labels (ACL's) were the exception, rather than the norm and were expensive to produce compared to the more often seen "acid etched" glasses of the era.

These examples rate very scarce to downright rare.

 

 

Z as in Zythum

 

Z as in Zythum

 

 

Somehow, I wasn't terribly surprised when I pawed through a couple of hundred embossed, labeled and embossed, and label only western whiskies on my shelves, when searching for anything that started with a "Z" only to come up empty.

I was, however, rewarded when I thought to take a peek at the western pre-pro glasses in one of my display cabinets.

Sure enough, Z for Zythum.

John Sroufe tossed his hat into the western whiskey wholesale ring, going solo in 1893. His least successful brand was Zythum.

No, this is not a Nazi emblem! In Hinduism, the right-facing symbol (clockwise) (卐) is called swastika, symbolizing surya ('sun'), prosperity and good luck.

Zythum was originally a malt beer made in ancient Egypt. Since whiskey is often made using malt as the base, the name seemed to be a natural.

Unlike his somewhat successful Slaters Premium Bourbon, the Zythum brand flopped, undoubtedly being paper labeled only since no embossed examples have ever surfaced.

There are less than a scant handful of these pre-pro shots documented to exist; best count is four in any condition. This one is dead mint.

Zythum