GOING TO PRESS!

 
Good friend, Warren Friedrich, has completed his manuscript for the definitive work to date on California’s early glass houses.

Entitled, Early Glassworks of California, it is a hard cover book on high quality heavy gloss paper with sewn binding.

 233 pages with 287 illustrations, it features original 19th C. ads and articles.

There will be only one printing!

Destined to become a "go to" book for all collectors of western glass, it is available by advance reservation only.

Warren will be at the Canyonville Show on Friday afternoon and evening, October 15th, to accept pre-printing reservations.

*You Must Pre-Order by October 18*

Price: $100~

(530) 265-5204 [home]

Lions and Tigers and Bears - OH MY!

Back in the 19th century, a pretty good percentage of the miners, loggers, railroad men and other components of the working class couldn't read well, if at all. Brand recognition then, as now, was ever so important if one was going to get his slice of the pie. Let's face it, everyone in the West Coast liquor business needed an edge to survive in business.


Around 1870 two competing companies decided to have bottle molds made that would allow pictures to appear on the glass, instead of just on the label.
 

 

 

 

Shea, Bocqueraz and McKee were slugging it out with John Van Bergen for their share of the market. Shea, Bocqueraz and McKee was marketing the Tea Kettle brand, which was distilled at a distillery in Trimble County Kentucky, casked in wooden "hogsheads" (oak barrels), shipped west on the transcontinental railroad and then bottled in San Francisco.

 

Tea Kettle was a nationally recognized brand of good affordable whiskey and sales were phenomenal in California and Nevada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Van Bergen's "Gold Dust" brand was named after a famous race horse that was known and loved from coast to coast and they figured, rightfully so, that they too could grab a big chunk of the market share by selling good affordable whiskey with a recognized name and picture embossed on the bottle.

 

 

 

 

 

Next in the line of picture whiskies was the Pioneer brand sold by Fenkhausen & Braunschweiger. This is called the "two name bear" and first came on the market around 1878. In 1881 Braunscheiger left the business to go it alone and the mold was reworked to reflect Fenkhausen's sole ownership.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But Braunschweiger, not to be left in the dust, came back in 1883 with his Bear Grass brand, again depicting a bear on the bottle.

 

 

 

 

 

The mold was carefully designed to look entirely different from the bear on the Pioneer, but it was a bear nonetheless, and I'm sure this created more than a little friction between the two companies. Regardless, both prospered for a number of years with Fenkhausen remaining a presence through 1893 and Braunschweiger making a go of it through 1913.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again a number of different molds were employed over the years with the bear remaining a constant fixture despite the passage of time.

This is the tip of the proverbial picture iceberg. Come see the "rest of the story" at the Jefferson State Antique Bottle, Insulator and Collectibles Show & Sale located at the Seven Feathers Casino Resort (I5 exit 99) in Canyonville Oregon, Saturday October 16th. There will be well over two dozen of some the West's most prized tooled and glop top picture whiskies on display!

See you there!

It's Show Time!

Well, it's almost Showtime; another week and change~ And this year promises to be a real treat for collectors and dealers alike! So what's different? Well, not one, but three of those closet collections promise to make their appearance at this years show; one insulator, and two bottle stashes that were carefully tucked away for a few decades will be up for grabs. And, rumor of yet another mixed collection to be set out came in over the past few weeks.

The same familiar faces at the Seven Feathers Casino Resort are back again this year to provide us with the luxurious accommodations that we've come to know and love. Dealers can look forward to the annual complimentary $100~ cash drawing and this years raffle drawings promise to be bigger and better than ever! Hourly free drawings for the general public promise to ensure a steady flow of folks off the street too.

Displays this year include a couple of new offerings including "What is Teal" for those insulator folks with the Cal Electrics, EC&M's and other killer "teal blues" while bottle aficionados will be treated to Pacific Coast Jewels. This is an open category much like the Best of the West. We invite everyone to bring along a bragging bottle to display; from Seattle to Southern Cal. let's show 'em what good WESTERN glass is all about! Space is limited so reserve now!

We've saturated the media from the California border to Portland and have visited every back water town in the surrounding area as well; plastering antique malls, junk shops, Mom & Pop Markets and anywhere else that the local citizenry might stumble across show flyers and an invitation to have their hidden treasures appraised for free. And, as always, the ever popular live silent auction returns.

This year is very near to a sellout, (even with the additional tables that we've added), with less than a half dozen tables still available. If you've been procrastinating, it's time to act!

Looking forward to sharing a memorable weekend and seeing one and all. Come join us at Seven Feathers Casino Resort on October 16th from 9AM - 3PM ($10~ early admission Friday noon to seven PM) for the Canyonville 2010 Antique Bottle, Insulator and Collectibles Show and Sale where, "You Can Expect the Best"!

Show Website: http://www.ecandm.com/canyonville/

Information: jsglass@q.com





Downieville - T Minus 2 Days and Counting!

This coming weekend, September 10th, & 11th, is the annual Downieville Bottle Show.

This years show features: "THE GREAT WESTERN ROUND-UP" display.

An assortment of some of the choicest Western bottles known will be on display. This is Un-like any other show on the West Coast.

What happened in 1860?

That very question came to mind when I recently bought a collection that had a few back bars in it. One of them, is decorated with "1860 Bourbon". It is executed in a copper wheel cut design, on a high quality decanter that appears to have a very faint amethystine cast to it. It was blown in a two piece mold with a sunburst design on the base and an intricate pseudo cut glass pattern embossed into the neck that does a 90* counterclockwise twist.

First, the "why" behind the name... Well, two things come to mind as being the prompting behind the brand. First would be April 1860. Note the following; Tuesday 03: The first successful Pony Express run from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California begins, and is completed on April 13. Hmm. Sounds good to me and certainly a reason to quaff a good bourbon!

And then... November 1860; Tuesday 06: U.S. presidential election, 1860: Abraham Lincoln is elected as the 16th President of the United States, the first Republican to hold that office. I'll certainly drink to that as well!

I'd lean toward this one but who knows for sure. The nagging question remained; who, Who, WHO? This was a tough one. This particular example is delicate in form, obviously of presentation grade, but not one that could be readily linked to either the east or the west coast. And so the "digging" began. And dig, and dig, and dig. Talk about a stone wall! Nothing in any book, nothing in archives nothing online; nothing...

The break came while tracking down some info for a fellow collector on our pal, ol' J. Clute Wilmerding. Although he first partnered with Calvin Kellogg in 1868, he'd been involved in the west coast liquor business for quite a few years before then. In fact, Clute first showed up in "The City" in 1859; as "(Fargo & Co) 52 Front." This according to the Crocker Directory. Fargo & Co. is listed as a liquor Wholesaler, but not as a retailer. Wilmerding is listed as neither. And, he also is not listed as having any residence or address, other than that of 52 Front St. Things must have changed for the better because in 1860, he is listed with both Fargo as an employer, and a residential address of "rooms 622 Sacramento".

The jewel in the crown came when the search for registered whiskey brand names came back with one result, and one result only for 1860 Bourbon; "Wilmerding - Loewe Co. of San Francisco, CA." Their brands included; "1860 Bourbon", "Days of 49", "Kellogg", "Kellogg's", and "Kellogg's AA.".

The company link, in and of itself, helps to further narrow down the timeline since they were listed from 1896 - 1918. I'd date this critter to ca. turn of the century based on the manufacturing techniques employed and the obvious manganese dioxide base of the cullet.

The why behind the name remains a mystery. Maybe a letter head or an invoice will surface someday with more info. For now, I'd guess that Clute was influenced by his good luck back in 1860 combined with either nostalgia for the pony express or patriotic exuberance over Lincolns ascendence to the presidency back in the day.

Either way, he left one heckuva rare go with for us to enjoy. Now, if there were only an embossed one out there~

Identity Crisis?

I received an email from a gentleman back east who was curious about the origin of a bottle that he'd dug in Illinois. He wondered if it could possibly be western. I have to admit, the photos caught my interest. I also have to admit that it was one that I'd never seen. The shape of the bottle looked very familiar, but unlike any western whiskey I'd encountered.

In fact, it looked like an eastern bitters that I recalled seeing quite some time ago, but who's name I couldn't recall. Still; Elk's Pride Whiskey sure was a catchy handle. A little research into the whiskey brand data base revealed two strong contenders for the origin of said "Pride". One was J.S. Low of Carlisle Pa., the other, Adolph Harris of S.F. Cal.

Some online sleuthing revealed a very similar bottle, identical in appearance but embossed Elk's Pride Rye. It appeared to be a 5 3/4" mini with externally blown threads and with the same stag embossed on the obverse as on the "Whiskey". It was also a rectangle with the same decorative treatment and logic says that it had to come from the same outfit. Interesting too, was that it was also dug in Illinois.

I then compared the amber Adolph Harris in my collection with the Elk's Pride bottles.

It was evident that the antlers on the A.H. were very typically western in form; nearly erect, whereas the Elk' prides were more horizontal in style and more in keeping with the eastern renditions of stags that I've seen.

Still later, I came across a photo of a pottery jug from the aforementioned J.S. Low of Carlisle Pa. It clearly depicts a stag along with the words Elks Pride Whiskey.

I promised the owner of the bottle to solicit coments from the general western whiskey arena. So; is it eastern or western? Feel free to weigh in with your ideas.

KG

I shoulda had a JF

Actually, the commercial says "V8" but in this case, I think a shot of J. F. Cutter makes more sense. After all, more Doctors recommended J. F. than any other leading brand. At least that's what the advertisement suggests.

And with that, we'll segway into the Reno show, followed up by a tie in with the J. F. Cutter tool tops. I know; here he goes again...


The Reno Show has always been a favorite of ours. We did our first show as a married couple in 1975 and, with few exceptions, have attended every year. This year held great promise. I'd just been to the doc., had lots of blood work done, addressed a number of concerns, and had been prescribed not one, but two meds. that were "guaranteed" to make my world a better place. All was rosy as we headed out just before sun up on Friday; a bright cheerful morning. By eleven AM, we were unloading at the show and looking forward to a great weekend. All was good, until I noticed the rash beginning to spread, at first on my legs, and then from head to toe. Several folks commented on my "sunburn". Jokingly, I said that I'd be brown as a bear the next day. Trouble was, I hadn't been in the sun...


The rest of the day was a kick; spending time with lots of old friends, picking up the whiskey collection that we'd bought the week before, boxing up a few fresh pieces, delivering stuff that had been purchased over the past month, and enjoying ourselves in general. But the redness and itching were getting the best of me. That evening after setup, we checked in at the Silver Legacy ; another perennial favorite. Uh Oh... we'd left the satchel with our change of clothes on the counter at home. Crap... Oh well, a good excuse for my wife to go shopping (as if she's ever needed one)~ But wait, there's more, another surprise; my green glop Cutter for the shootout was in the box next to the satchel, on the kitchen counter. Oh well, it's safe there.


Saturday AM came early. It was then that I noticed the swelling. It was a chore to put my tennis shoes on and lacing them up tight wasn't an option. And then there was the itching; head to toe, inside and out. But heh, this is the Reno Show and I was determined to enjoy myself, hives, swelling and all.


The displays were amazing. Lou and Marty are both to be congratulated on the Star Shield globby display. Photos were in order! Oh Crap; my camera was still on the counter, next to my green Star Shield, which was next to the clothes. A Silva trifecta! Next to the Cutter display, was a killer arrangement of "dirty clothes"; at least that was my wife's assessment. Personally, I found the display of miners clothing and personal effects to be fascinating as well. A display of amazing inks and Marty's to die for "swirly" display of drop dead bottles with barber pole color swirls rounded out the west wall attractions. Check out the glop top site for photos!


Back at the hotel that evening, truck loaded with bottles and ready to head back north, the hives, the itching, the swelling were all beginning to take a toll on my fun ticket. We'd planned on a few side trips before the drive home on Sunday. Problem was, I couldn't get my shoes on. My feet looked like they belonged to Fred Flintstone. So much for exploring. Five hours later, we rolled down the gravel drive at home.


The next morning, with eyes swelled shut, difficulty in swallowing, hives, blisters & itching, the retired firefighter / EMT in me sprang back to life. Denial only works for so long. I had a problem, a big problem! A mad dash to Providence Hospital / Medical Center was in order. Diagnosis; acute allergic reaction. Thanks Doc.! So much for modern medicine! Out of pocket about a grand (I've got lousy insurance with a massive deductable), I'm sitting here gobbling prescription steroids and antihistamines by the handful to help cure the effects of the previous two prescriptions. Something's wrong, very wrong, with this picture.


And so, I ponder, is it true that more Doctors agree that the best remedy for over taxed nerves is a gentle stimulant by the name of J. F. Cutter Whiskey?

Sure beats the heck out of a near lethal combination of Amoxy/Clavil and Allopurinol! And, if the Doc screwed up on the J. F. prescription, you'd only be out a buck or so for the whiskey and the worst you'd end up with is a hangover!