As many of you know, I had relatives scattered throughout the Hawaiian Island chain, specifically on Oahu, Maui, and the "big island" of Hawaii, and spent a lot of time there over the years
I've acquired numerous higher end glop and tool top whiskies from diggers throughout the islands. These include, W. C. Peacock's, MacFarlane's, Spruance Stanley's, Cutters, Rothenberg Chickens, and Bears of both the Fenkhausen and Braunschweiger varieties.
Imagine my surprise when I received an email from the great grand daughter of non-other than Herman Braunschweiger! I thought it would be of interest, and so am posting it, along with the photos I received.
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Aloha. I've read and enjoyed your blog posts on Herman
Braunschweiger-- not because I collect whiskey bottles, but because I am
Herman's great grand-daughter. Herman's elder daughter, Elise, was my
grandmother; Elise's fifth and youngest child, Robert Bachrach, was my father.
Elise was a mystery in your surprisingly thorough summary of Herman's life, but
your research helped me track down and fill in many gaps in my knowledge of the
family. So, thank-you!
Although I originally read the Braunschweiger blogs a
couple of years ago, I was motivated to write now by a strange coincidence that
occurred yesterday. I was born in California, lived much of my life in
Portland, but retired about 10 years ago to the Big Island of Hawaii.
Yesterday, while hiking with my son and husband in the ohia forests in the
"saddle" between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, I stepped off the trail to
answer the call of nature. About 20 feet off the trail I noticed a discarded
bottle and thought "maybe that's one of the Braunschweiger's". Picking
it up, I wasn't sure, since I couldn't remember the various partnerships and
other iterations described in your blog. But I refreshed my memory, and
discovered that the bottle is a clear-glass version of the "Wm. H. Spears
/ Old Pioneer Whiskey / Fenkhausen & Co.
/ Sole Agents, S.F." bottle that is pictured in your 2/25/12 blog
post.
I wanted to share
this crazy coincidence with someone, so thought I'd share it with the person
who helped me learn a bit of my family history. I've included photos of the
bottle, below, both before and after cleaning.
With aloha,
