Verrry Intersting~

OK, not neccesarily about tool top western whiskies; (per se). But interesting nonetherless.

Please excuse the side track in advance of the next tool top article.

Causes of Death You Won’t Want on Your Death Certificate

 

Among the more interesting details you may find on a death record is the cause of death. Even more so when that cause leads a story:

 

Pint-sized problems

Anyone who has spent long hours staring small screens or reading small type knows a little about eye strain, but who knew it could be fatal? This 1880 census mortality schedule from Leadville, Colorado reveals that J. Nash died from “Sore Eyes.” Consider yourself warned.

 

 

 

It was loaded?

Accidental deaths may be reported in newspapers, as was the case with Ohio politician and lawyer, Clement Vallandigham. Clement was defending a murder suspect and trying to demonstrate the possibility that the victim had shot himself. He attempted to demonstrate his theory, but grabbed a loaded gun by accident. His reenactment proved fatal. This article from The Herald and Torch Light of Hagerstown, Maryland (21 June 1871) describes the accident and the aftermath.

 

The defendant was eventually acquitted, but in 1875, he too succumbed to a bullet wound when he was shot in his saloon.

 

 

Death by Safe

Although Jack Daniel’s death certificate only lists “blood poisoning from operation,” the full story of the famous distiller’s death is a bit unusual. Apparently in frustration in not being able to open his safe, he kicked it, injuring his toe. The resulting infection was responsible for his death. The deadly safe is on display in Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg.

 

It Really Was a Wild, Wild West

If you think that the gunfights of the American West were a product of Hollywood, a look at some mortality schedules might change your mind. This Arizona City, Yuma County, Arizona mortality schedule is a good example. Eleven of the thirty-one deaths reported were due to wounds, a fracture of the skull, shootings, or stabbings.

 

 

At the bottom of the page, in the remarks section, the enumerator notes that, “I expect a great many violent deaths, this being a frontier county where all disputes are settled by the use of weapons, and it occurs between transient and single men who have no families.”

 

No Doubt, fueled by a lethal combination of youth, testosterone, and alcohol.

Funny (or not) how, a century later, some things change and yet others remain a constant.

 

Courtesy: (in part) Ancestry.com  

To clean, or not to clean; that is the question.

I may need some tar remover and a place to put the feathers, but here goes~ 

I recently made the acquaintance of a gentleman in the State of Jefferson that has cleaned antique bottles. And during the course of our conversation, the topic of whether cleaning was an ethical practice came up. What, with all the controversy being stirred up by an individual on the east coast about cleaning, misrepresentation, "criminal acts of the process", ad nauseum; the discussion was inevitable.
 

The concept behind cleaning is simple; a bottle which was once in pristine condition has been buried in soil. The minerals, acids and or alkalis in the soil react with the components in the glass and an exchange takes place whereby the previously bright and sparkly glass becomes opaque at best, or etched at worst. This process has been generically referred to as "opalization" over the years. Simply, the bottle is no longer in it's original state and is unattractive to look at.

 

 

In the old days, (1960's - 1970's) a wet cotton wheel attached to a washing machine motor was used and grits of varying grades were combined to make a slurry which was applied to the cotton wheel. Once this was done, the bottle was ground away on in hopes of removing the stain. This constantly resulted in bottles that had the embossing all but worn off and broken bottles due to excessive friction and heat. Thank God those days are apparently long gone.

 

 

 

According to what I was told, the wheel has been reinvented and the process now bears no resemblence to the old style of cleaning. Being of open mind, and having owned numerous rare but badly stained western whiskies over time, I was like a sponge. Modern cleaning merely removes the opalization and restores the glass back to it's original condition. It does not add an additional coating to or alter the basic makeup of the glass. Nor does it grind away glass along with the stain. And that's where I begin to realize that modern bottle cleaning is an attribute and not a detraction to a bottle. Again, it is simply restoring the glass to it's pre- disposal condition.

 

The particular machine used by this person was made and marketed by Mr. Wayne Lowry, also known as the "Jar Doctor". At first glance one can see the quality and attention to detail put into this machine. It features easily adjustable rollers that accomodate different sized cylinders to allow different size and shape bottles to be cleaned. According to what I was told, the process is simple. The base "stopple" has fingers that grip the base of the bottle when it is inserted into the cylinder. The bottle is first loaded with fine pieces of copper wire and powdered oxide. Water is added to the inside of the bottle just above the copper. The bottle is inserted into the cylinder and the mouth plugged temporarily to allow addition of more copper, oxide and water to the inside of the cylinder without adding more to the bottle. Once this is done, a "cone stopple" is inserted into the mouth of the bottle and the cylinder is sealed by use of a compression gasket and wing nut. The cylinder goes onto the rollers and a switch gets flipped to begin the process. The cylinder ends get reversed about twice a day in order to change the direction of rotation. This allows the copper and oxide to get into every recess and avoid over cleaning in either direction. After a period of time ranging from one to three days, depending on the amount of stain present and hardness of the glass, the switch is flipped off and the cylinder opened up. The slurry is rinsed off of and out of the bottle using tepid water and the bottle is gone over with a quick rub down of soft scrub outside and ammonia inside to remove any remaining traces of oxide. Assuming that all went according to plan, the "opalization" is gone and the bottle now looks exactly as it did before being tossed out with the garbage, a century or more before. According to this person, he's never broken a bottle.

 

 

 

 

Now, before you decide to run out and buy a machine, be advised that they are expensive. Like any tool, price and quality generally go hand in hand. The particular machine that I was introduced to sells for well over a grand plus shipping.

Northern California is famous for good bottles. It's also famous for nasty soil that eats glass. Often bottles, rare or not, are so sick that they are relegated to a box in the shed rather than being placed on a display shelf. I viewed before and after photos of a number of bottles that had been dug and then cleaned. Impressive to say the least. 

Apparently, the learning curve of modern bottle cleaning is challenging at best. Early black glass from the Gold Rush era of 1850 differs in composition and hardness compared to say a San Francisco whiskey dating from the 1870's or 80's. And, "tap*tap - no erasies" is the rule of the day when you screw up. As such, it's often a good idea from both a cost and risk standpoint to solicit the services of a professional. Lou Lambert, and a few others out there have elevated modern bottle cleaning to a science. My hats off to those that have expended the time and energy to perfect bottle cleaning in the 21st century!

 

It does go without saying that once it's time to move a bottle along, the potential buyer must be made aware of the fact that it has been cleaned; that's just common courtesy.

 The vast majority of the collectors that I associate with would much prefer to own a bottle that has been cleaned compared to one that is so sick that it belongs tucked away in a box. Based on my observations, there is no question in my mind that done properly, bottle cleaning is ethical and does nothing to alter a bottle; it simply restores it 's appearance to pre-disposal condition. Furthermore, it preserves a piece of history that we can all be proud to own instead of having to make excuses for.









Thanks to what I've recently learned, I think that it's a travesty to leave a good (but stained) bottle stuffed away when it can be restored to as new appearance and be proudly displayed for all to enjoy.

 

One of life's mystery's

 

Ebay never ceases to amaze me with the sheer volume of "stuff" that comes to the auction block. Most of it is pretty ho-hum. The quantity of "rare" and or "one of a kind" ten dollar tool top whiskeys listed for $100~ boggles the mind. And yet, once in a blue moon a real rarity appears. I spotted just such a thing this morning while perusing the latest and greatest listings over morning coffee.

Listed by a seller named "badgerlaunch"; it's actually not a bottle that caught my eye, but a cast iron (or brass or bronze) advertising go-with. It is the first of these I recall seeing or even hearing of! At first glance I thought, how cool; Wolters Bros. was running a scam on Spruance Stanley & Co. by using their horse shoe logo on a saloon giveaway. But a second glance at the picture caused me to do a double take. WoTTers Bros / not Wolters. Huh?

 

 

That's when the piece really caught my interest. I've never seen any reference to Wolters Bros. without being listed as "Wholesale" liquors; not "liquor dealers". Not on a bottle, not on a shot glass and not on a billhead. And then the abbreviation for California is cast on the pieces as "Cala"; not "Cal.".

A quick stroll through the S.F. historical newspaper archives shows no recorded entity by the name of Wotters Bros. from 1870 - 1900. Same goes for the city business directories. Ok, so let's assume that it was a typo. Why stop there when you can have a two-fer and really fowl up the order; hence the term "liquor dealers" instead of wholesale liquors? If I recall, Cala was a little used abbreviation of California during the latter part of the 19th century, especially in the southern part of the state. But why go to the bother of adding an extra vowel when you could just as easily cast the letters Ca. or Cal.?

This piece has all the ear markings of being the real deal, instead of a modern Chinese or Indian fantasy repro (ie; fake) since it appears to be corroded and bears evidence of having some sort of a faux copper plate at one time that has long since eroded due to burial. My guess is that it was indeed an advertising give away commissioned by Wolters Bros. & Co. in the late 1880's or early 90's and it was rejected due to the myriad of mistakes present.
 

 What's your take fellow collectors?

Canyonville Countdown

Wow, one week (correction - 1 Day!) and counting. October 6th will be here before we know it!

Looks like the weather is cooperating. Here's the advanced forcast for showtime; perfect~

The response to this years show has been well ahead of the curve compared to past years. We sold out of dealer space early, real early, this year and have a pretty healthy waiting list. We had to add display spaces to accomodate demand this year. And inquiries from the general public regarding our appraisal and onsite auction services continue to stream in. One gentleman in Northern California inquired about auctioning "100 insulators and well over 200 bottles, all of which are in excellent condition". Another person is consigning a Radam's Microbe Killer jug. And yet another has committed to auctioning an amber Fleckenstein and Meyer flask. I received some photos today from a local collector who is downsizing his collection and is bringing the following items to auction. 

 

For the insulator crowd there's a Locke porcelain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And for the bottle folks, a picture soda from Concord, Ca.,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

plus a scarce Lotus / BPOE flask from Portland.

 

Thought I'd add this photo that arrived today (Sat. the 29th) Of the Fleck. A little fuzzy but Wow, just the same!

Come join us for our 10th anniversary at the Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville!

 

See you soon~

Beavers 'n Bears?

And other ramblings...

Huh? Well I'm from Oregon and I collect picture whiskies, among other things. I've got a number of whiskies with pictures of the California grizzly bear on them. Oregon is the "Beaver State". You'd think that there would be a Beaver picture whiskey. About the closest thing to one though, is the Beaver Brand etched picture shot glass from Brunn & Co. out of Portland.

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This past weekend saw many of us trekking north on HiWay 49 to Downieville, where Rick and Cherry Simi once again hosted an amazing BBQ in conjunction with the annual show, located in the heart of the northern Gold Country of California. As always, the D'ville Show was fanatastic. I published an in depth article last year entitled "What's not to like?"

http://www.westernwhiskeytooltopgazette.com/2011/09/downieville-2011-whats-not-to-like.html.

It spelled out most everyone's feelings about the show and this year was a repeat of last.

 

As is so often the case, discussions about western bottles ultimately swung around to western whiskies. One collector observed that I must have a large and diverse grouping of Oregon whiskeyana in my collection since I've resided in Oregon for the past 37 years. I thought for a moment and responded with a simple, "Nope". It took a moment but a mental inventory revealed; one glop top Van Schuyver, one glop Rick Rack Hotaling, a clothes brush and a couple of picture whiskies (El Kader and Henry Fleckenstein with the griffin on it). He then mentioned that the Henry Fleckenstein didn't count because Bill Wilson said it was an eastern bottle. Not so, I stated, and here's the rest of the story~

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Bill Wilson, in his book Spirits Bottles of the Old West, documented the existence of a very scarce picture fifth cylinder, #68-5, embossed simply, "Henry Fleckenstein & Co. in an arch above a picture of a Griffin". The bottle is clear, but will purple, and has a tooled long tapered collar over a single ring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilson further went on to state that this bottle was distributed in the east, might be related to Fleckenstein & Meyer of Portland, and dated it ca. 1895 - 1905 and. And so, for decades, the bottle was assumed to be eastern and despite the rarity, was accorded little to no respect.

 

 

That changed in the early 1980's when I obtained an advertising brush that plainly shows Henry Fleckenstein & Co. / Portland Ore. / Bear Valley Whiskey. So much for the east coast thing...

 

 

It was about that time that I acquired another picture cylinder. It was embossed simply "El Kader / Fine Old / Whiskey", and pictured what was quite obviously the Shriners symbol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I placed the El Kader on the shelf next to the Henry Fleckenstein & Co. and noted that the bottle from the neck down and the slug plates were an exact match. Sure the neck was a little longer but that happens all the time. Coincidence?

 

  

Both the El Kader and the "Griffin" cylinder are rare, with probably no more than a half dozen of each in collections. But proving that they were truly western whiskies and linking them positively to a liquor dealer would prove daunting to say the least. Life is full of assumptions, maybes, gut feelings and suppositions. But, without solid proof in the form of advertising, a bill head or a letter, my hunch remained just that.

 

 

Up until a few years ago, I never paid any attention to pre-pro shot glasses. That changed in an instant when I purchased a huge collection of western pre-pro glasses, which included well over 100 examples. And with that purchase came the opportunity to connect the dots to a lot of western whiskey mysteries. Those little advertising gems have proved to be an amazing source of information; including clearing up the El Kader mystery.



When I returned home this week, I thought it would be interesting to dig a little deeper into Mr. Fleckenstein and see what relationship he had to the firm of Fleckenstein & Meyer. I lucked out and actually gained access to the who's who of pre 1900 Portland Oregon.

 

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Henry Fleckenstein

Henry Fleckenstein was born in the city of Worms, Germany on September 14, 1838

 

At the age of 16 years he was apprenticed in the brewing business He mastered the business, after which he came to this country, landing in New York in 1860. Until 1863 he worked at his trade in St. Louis, also a brewing head- quarters after which, in May, he returned to New York, later going to Aspinwall and thence crossing the Isthmus, arriving in San Francisco in 1863.

He later went to Honolulu, but the climate failed to agree with him. Returning to San Francisco, he moved north at the end of a month to Portland in 1863 where he was employed for a year or more in the Weinhard brewery in Portland as a foreman, after which he started a bottling works in the fall of 1866. He abandoned that ambition a year later and engaged in the wholesale liquor business, in which he remained up to the time of his death. It was in 1867 that he was married to Christine Wittman, a daughter of Nicholas Wittman. The firm name for many years was Fleckenstein & Mayer. He was the senior member of this wholesale liquor firm until March 4, 1902, when he dissolved partnership and organized the firm of Henry Fleckenstein & Co. at 122 Second street On April 1, 1902. Mr. Fleckenstein supplied a constantly increasing trade in Oregon and other states. He was prominent in both business and official circles.

 

 

Brands marketed by Henry Fleckenstein & Co. after 1902  included; "Elk Tooth", "High and Dry", and "Belle of the Pacific", as well as the aforementioned Bear Valley and El Kader.

He also registered the following whiskies under the Henry Fleckenstein "label";

Serial #30462 - Buck Valley 5/21/1908

Serial #30803 - Diamond Hill also 5/21/1908

 

Documented addresses included 235 Oak (1903-1906), 68-72 2 nd (1907-1915).

 

In addition, 204 - 206 Second St. was recently added to the list thanks to the business card above and the following photograph.

 

Henry Fleckenstein died of heart failure on July 5, 1910; he was  72 years old. At the time of his death, he was an exempt fireman, a member of the Elks, A.O.U.W. and the I.O.O.F. and also of the Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Club.
 

 

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Al Kader Shriners History

The Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine was founded in 1872 by a group of 13 men belonging to the Masonic Order. It was originally established to provide fun and fellowship for its members. Al Kader was the 46th charter and the first in the Pacific Northwest. It was originally located in the City of Portland.

No references were found linking Henry to the organization. And so the question begs, was the Elkader brand a tribute to, or a jab at, AL Kader and the Shriners organization? I guess that mystery will remain shouded in the mists of time~

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In closing I'd like to say that we have Henry Fleckenstein to thank for some of the most desirable of the Oregon glop top cylinders and early flasks, in the form of the Fleckenstein & Meyer bottles, as well as two of the scarcest tool top western picture whiskies.

 

Thanks Henry!

 

 

Shot glass photos courtesy of Robin Preston~

 

Expo 2012 - Rrrreno!

Rrrreno!

I've been attending the Reno show since 1970. It's one of those time / date stamps that I look forward to every year. Back in the day, the convention center (such as it was) was located waaaay south of Reno proper. The MGM Grand sprouted out of the desert, part way and a little south, between Reno and Sparks, in 1978. We used to marvel at it's size as we lumbered through the center of old Reno, down South Virginia, and out into the dessert south of town toward the convention center. It was in the middle of nowhere, had a gravel parking lot, and tumbleweeds blowing alongside the building. Funny thing, it's still in the same spot, but bears no resemblance to it's former self. And what was the middle of nowhere is now the middle of south Reno. Times change, places change. Progress? (I don't think so...)

Fast forward to 2012. This year the Reno Show hosted Expo 2012 at what was the MGM Grand; now the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino. I come from meager beginnings and places like the Grand Sierra can be a bit intimidating to an old country boy who's not used to grid lock, anything over a couple of stories high, and glitz and glimmer every where you look. And so, we arrived Thursday to get a lay of the land and figure out what lay on the horizon for us. And that's where the good stuff started.

Here's my story; and I'm stickin' to it!

1) Setup; Talk about a walk in the park! A freight elevator that you could drive a Greyhound bus into! And rolling carts, courtesy of the Grand Sierra, that could hold the contents of not one, but two, loaded pickups. I was already smilin' from ear to ear.

2) The Grand Ballroom (heart and soul of the show); Easy access from the ground floor via escalator or elevator, just a hop skip and a jump from the entrance, carpet, twenty foot high ceilings, padded chairs, a bullizion square foot room, draped sales tables (that were in good repair and didn't collapse once the sales racks were up), displays up the whazoo, and room to spread out galore. Who could ask for more? OK, maybe color corrected lighting around the 5500 kelvin scale, but beggars can't be choosers~

3) Showtime; Exceptionally well organized. Everything went off like clockwork. Sure the neck veins throbbing visibly in Marty and Rich Siri's necks were visible proof that they were dedicated to making things flow smoothly in terms of both dealer and displayer setup. But the planning paid off in spades. Great job guys!

4) Crunch time (opening the floodgates); Again, advance planning paid off. Twelve noon - everyone out of the sales / display area in the Grand Ballroom. 1 PM, it looked like a cattle chute outside the entrance to the Grand Ballroom. The presence of uniformed security guards sent a message and no "gate crashers" made their way in uninvited.

5) Show Time (the nitty gritty); more awesome glass was present than I can ever recall seeing in one place in my 45+ years in the hobby. And the beauty was that both displays and sales tables were adorned with great "stuff". Both west and east were equally represented. Killer western whiskies, bitters, cures, sodas, plus any and everything else that came in glass was present. And from the east; historical flasks, foods, figural bitters, poisons and on and on. Totally breathtaking!

6) Attendance; Both Friday and Saturday were absolutely jamb packed with folks. Sunday started off strong but, as is typical with any show on the last day, things slowed as the clock ticked on.

7) Tear down and load out; Ditto Item #1.

8) High Points; a massive array of quality glass was present. Both east and west were equally represented. The displays were out of this world. If you were in a buying mode, both quality, quantity and fair prices were around every corner. The Shootout was a blast; great Drakes, Circle Cutters and inks - something for everyone. Seminars - again, something for everyone.

And yet, there was the one burr under the saddle that continues to plague every show these days, no matter how much security is present or no matter how vigilant the dealers are; THEFT. I've got my own feelings on the matter and personally think that the "code of the west" outta still be enforced. The heck with "politically correct". I guess that just don't cut it in the 21st century. It still should... And yet, with the quantity of killer glass present, coupled with the sheer volume of folks packing the aisles, it could have been a heckuva lot worse. Still, one theft is one too many~

Overall impression; I've always loved the Reno Show. But 2012 was, as Denaveauz and Maison named their top shelf whiskey, Crème De La Crème! The organization was great. The weather was great. The facility was great. We enjoyed great food, great beer, great whiskey, and great entertainment (thanks daughter Megan for the Ron White tickets!). We spent nearly four full days enjoying the company of the great friends and fellow collectors that we've gotten to know over the years. Who could ask for more!

In a nutshell, The show was over the top!

A sincere thanks to all who were responsible for a weekend that one and all will hold dear to their hearts. Simply awesome!

Bruce Silva