John F. Cutter felt it necessary to have this article published in a California paper on Sep. 2, 1872.
The J.F.Cutter 'Star in Shield' trademark was awarded by the patent office in early 1871. (see previous posting on J.F. trademark Aug. 9, 2009 - preview of ABA lot 92)
Interestingly, John F. Cutter (Martin and Henarie)? also had registered the brand in California in April of 1870.
This is the earliest ad I have seen for J.F. Cutter Extra. Feb. thru May 9th, of 1871.
Ad refers to the product being "put up in large bottles". This is referring to a fifth size container, instead of the formerly popular and more standard 'sixth'.
This three part article was published in the San Francisco Daily Call in August of 1875.
A.P. Hotaling's reply to a card "signed by E. Martin & Co." This is three years after J. F. Cutter voiced his piece above, so this is not replying directly to John F's statements. His comments on John F. Cutter are interesting.
His dislike of Mr. D.V.B. Henarie, E. Martin's managing partner, is quite evident.
A.P. Hotaling's reply to a card "signed by E. Martin & Co." This is three years after J. F. Cutter voiced his piece above, so this is not replying directly to John F's statements. His comments on John F. Cutter are interesting.
His dislike of Mr. D.V.B. Henarie, E. Martin's managing partner, is quite evident.
Great info Roger. Now if someone could prove full face JH Cutters date to 1867 I'd be happy ! I think they could be that early, how about you guys ? What have you dug in-situ with full face Cutters before ? What do the age of the camps in NV and UT tell us about the earliest possible age of them ?
ReplyDeleteI am working on it, but early references to Hotaling and J.H.Cutter are few and far between in the years prior to 1870. It is my totally unfounded belief that he sold J.H.Cutter in fifth size containers as early as 1866.
ReplyDeleteI have the above mentioned articles, and many more, in a scrapbook that was assembled beginning in 1871 by someone either in the employ of Mr. Hotaling or an extremely interested "consumer". In one 1874 article Hardy makes the following statement:
Milton J. Hardy vs. Charles P. Moorman, United States of America, Southern District of New York, ss. "I, Milton J. Hardy, being duly sworn, do further depose and say as follows: During the existence of the Firm of M.J.Hardy & Co. and C.P. Moorman & Co., my share of the business has been to make sales and collections in the City of New York, and I have had nothing to do with the equalizing, running over, or refining whiskies, that part of the business having being attended to by Mr. Moorman, at Louisville. THE PROCESS OF RUNNING AND REFINING WHISKIES, THEREFORE, IS TO SOME EXTENT A SECRET IN MR. MOORMAN'S POSSESSION, and CONSEQUENTLY whiskies not run over and equalized or refined are more valuable to him than to me, and on a sale thereof I should not be at a disadvantage in competing with him; while if run over, equalized, or refined, according to the method practiced by the firm, I should incur less risk of being unjustly dealt with."
MILTON J. HARDY.
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this fifth day of February, 1874.
LUCIUS W. HOW,
Notary Public
[seal]
Bottles, or pieces, found in association with the open face Cutters include early unembossed jakes, wines, blob top sodas(O. Casey), J. Anjeli and horizontal Wormsers flasks In some instances, only Cutter bottles were in the pit, the majority of which were fragmented. I know that the Eastern Nevada camp diggers will have plenty to add to this post.
I have researched the J. H. Cutter Hotaling embossed cylinder also. I've gone back to 1865 when he first became the agent on the Pacific coast for this brand, and worked forward thru the years 1866 thru 1870. Although A. P. Hotaling was having some counterfeiting issues with the Cutter brand and imitation of his labels in subsequent years of 1867, 1868 and 1870 of which he took the parties to court for restraining orders. None of his ads for this whiskey product indicate an embossed bottle was used to market this whiskey in the earlier years.
ReplyDeleteI believe his earliest embossed whiskey bottle did not appear until around the time of J. F. Cutter's bottle. If you examine both bottles, the same pattern maker or glassworks were used for both bottles embossing style. Hotaling's importing of barrels and pipes of the Cutter brand whiskey from Kentucky most likely was put up in unembossed bottles with his trade-marked crown symbol label as none of the lawsuits he engaged in talk of an embossed bottle, only the copying of his name and imitation of his label being put over his genuine one.
I have always thought the open face J.H. Cutter bottle (t-49) was in use as early as 1868-1869. As O.C. has eluded to, the camps and mines that surround Treasure Hill-Eastern Nevada are loaded with Hotaling's first bottle. I have not seen particular mention by Hotaling of an embossed bottle that early, but even the small outlying camps in the White Pine have these old "full face" J.H.Cutters.
ReplyDeleteThe rush to White Pine was phenomenal in it's intensity and it's brevity. The promise of rich chloride of silver ore, often assaying at $5000.00 a ton or more, lured the 'boys' in. Problem was, there just wasn't much of it.
Upwards of 25 thousand or more brave souls rushed into the district 'above the clouds' in the spring of 1868... hoping for a replay of the Comstock. Most had left by the fall/winter of 1869.
O.C.
ReplyDeletePoor M.J.Hardy! Bad P.R. to admit that you don't know jacks--t about the manufacture of J.H. Cutter Old Bourbon. That the original process was only known by Moorman(now your competitor) and old Mr. Cutter.. who was dead! Oops!!
Amazing how many bottles of bogus (Cincinnati) J.H. Cutter that E. Martin Co. was able to unload from 1873-1879. Some consumers just weren't that discriminating. HA!
Discriminating consumers? Drunks is drunks and cheap whiskey fuels their habit. What else did they have to spend their hard earned cash on? Not too many "dancing girls" in the hard scrabble camps of the high lonesome.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Martin's "swipes" were just as popular in the toney heights of old San Francisco. Despite his being called to court by Mr. Hotaling, his advertising gimmicks paid off, with sales of his imitation whiskey lining his pockets with double eagles.