MORRISON POPS UP IN SACRAMENTO CITY

My seemingly never ending quest to trace the life and activities of  John C. Morrison Jr. has received a boost the past week.   Rick S. of the Bitters Blog tracked  him hawking playing cards in Sac. City  Dec. of  1850.    There is a British registered Caroline in service at this time,  she's getting some age on her by 1850.   Has an Australian connection, which is interesting.  There was a 'new ship' Caroline  launched in Boston, but not until late 1851.   Maybe this is just a river steamer from San Francisco to Sac. City.  

He landed in San Francisco on June 4, 1849.   According to his obituary he traveled to the North Fork of the American River and tried mining for a short time.    Living by his wits early on...

This sounds like our boy,  selling chances on a diamond watch.   From this to mining stocks.. not a big jump.  Ha!

March of 1851.



Still looking for that picture of him...

More Morrison stuff.... sailing the high seas with barrels of his favorite bourbons !

Here are a few ads I located about 15 yrs ago when I started really getting into the whiskey research. They are most likely the same ads Thomas refers to in his books, but comingled or confused them in the text. I thought it would be cool for everyone to see the actual ads without editing as they appeared in the day. These ads are from the Wine Dealer's Gazette and are interesting because they put a few things a little more into perspective, especially re the Clubhouse bottle date and Blue Grass Whiskey. Morrison's Sept 1872 ad for "Blue Grass whiskey", which originated from the Blue Grass region of Ky, was sold by other S.F. liquor dealers as well. The J.M Gowey & Co. ad next to Morrison's helps clarify this, where you can see in the ad that more than one dealer was importing it to the West. Morrison's angle was to cite the names of the ships that his barrel lots arrived on, as sometimes ships had a rocky voyage around the horn, and their cargo's survival was much appreciated. It was also thought it kept the whiskey in the barrels further aged and agitated by having endured a lengthy journey in rough seas.

Note: Contrary to the Thomas book, there is no mention in the above Sept 1872 ad of California Clubhouse bourbon arriving on the Kingfisher or Moonbeam ships. The Thomas book seems to have combined the above ad, the other guy's Blue Grass Whiskey ad (EJ Curley) sold by JM Gowey of S.F. , and the Aug 1874 Crop of 1870-71 ad... and mixed them all together like reading one ad. I think it is critical to note this, because knowing this puts the date of the Clubhouse bottles more into where I feel they should be... 1874-5. The first mention of Cal Clubhouse bourbon I could find in any of Morrison's ads was in the Aug 1874 ad shown below. It states that all the bourbons in the ad are from the crop of 1870-71. For whiskey to be classified as a bourbon, it should be four yrs old and must be at least three yrs old minimum. In my opinion, Clubhouse bourbon had just attained that minimum mark, and 1874 was the first time it was introduced to be sold on the market

~ ~

Another interesting ad appears in Aug 1874 Wine Dealer's Gazette (it wasnt clear enough to scan, so I will transcribe it) that also refers to a ship voyage and lists what Morrison calls his favorite brands of three and 4 yr old bourbon whiskies that he sells. Note that the Clubhouse product was part of this 1874 shipment and had an eight month voyage. In my opinion, this was the maiden voyage for Cal Clubhouse bourbon. The ad is transcribed below exactly as it appeared in the Gazette....


OLD BOURBON

Whiskies

CROP 1870-71

______

Fire Copper Hand-Made and Sour

Mash

_____

The following favorite brands:

Turf Congress
California Clubhouse,
and Stag C. D.

Direct from the Nelson Distillery Jefferson County

Kentucky, with the benefit of an eight month voyage,

now landing and for sale in lots to suit purchasers,

from ship or wharf with the government original

certificate of gauges, proofs, and capacity of barrels;

also regauged by the City Gauger.

JOHN C. MORRISON, JR.

Agent and Proprietor,

316 Sacramento and 321 Commercial Sts.

San Francisco

_________

Stag C.D. (which I believe the "C.D." represents "Copper Distilled") appears to have been his biggest seller. Judging by ads, it also had the longest run. Can you guys imagine what an embossed bottle for this would've looked like ! I can see a giant full-face Stag pictured on the bottle. Too bad Morrison didnt order a bottle for this one ! I think he had the California Clubhouse bottle made and no other embossed bottles for his other brands because he felt that bourbon was going to be a very special product for the West and was made special and exclusive for him to sell in California. He was the only importer of it.

Below is an original Stag C.D. billhead from my collection, dated Sept 5, 1873, that also has Morrison's autograph on the reverse side where he signed the invoice as being paid in full. I found it unusual that the billhead doesnt mention any of his other brands. Most billheads list the dealer's principal product line. Was Stag CD such a big seller that it had its own billheads? Then why no embossed bottle ??

CLUB HOUSE HALL OF FAME PART DEUX

Time for the real Clubhouse Hall of Fame.
Oh, and congrats to the newest owner of a CCH. Dave B.
Dave lives just up the road a piece, I like to say in the Park City suburbs.

Dave, I hate to tell you this.. but guardianship of one or even two CCH fifths is not automatic inclusion to the H.O.F. Don't fret too hard, I'm out of luck as well. The member list of the CCH HOF is pretty darn short!!


President and Founder: JOHN C. MORRISON JR.

A true Argonaut, Morrison arrived in San Francisco on June 4, 1849 aboard the Steamship Panama. There were a number of soon to be important people aboard the Panama. William M. Gwin became U.S. Senator, Fred F. Low served as Governor of California, and of course most important of all was our boy Jno. C. Jr.
Morrison bounced around early San Francisco as a commission merchant and during the early 1860's he formed partnerships with several different people and operated various wholesale liquor establishments. In March of 1866 he dissolved the partnership he had with A.J. Bryant and hung out his own shingle at 614 Front St. In 1866 he registered the Dunham's Old Bourbon with the State of California. Later he trademarked 4 other brands with the State. His "Stag Whiskey" is the brand most often seen in advertising. It was registered on March 8, 1870. By this time Morrison was located at 316 Sac. Street.
On June 21, 1872 Morrison trademarked the Club House Whiskey brand.
J.C. Jr. also had a risk taking appetite for mining stocks. It got him into trouble in the 1860s but in the 1870's he hit it big. VERY BIG! He was a major owner of stock in the fabulous Consolidated Virginia and California mines in Virgina City, Nevada. Morrison invested $269,000 of his own funds in the development of the Dividend Block on the north side of Pine Street.
He is listed as a liquor dealer at the 316 Sac. St. address through 1878, however his obituary states that he joined the firm of Moon, Scalley & Co. in 1873. After 1877 his is simply listed as a "capitalist". A man with money! He had a love for horses, particularly Roadster horses. He died May 17, 1881 at the age of 58.
Interesting sidebar, on Jun 4, 1874, they held a 25 year reunion honoring the Pioneer Steamship Panama passengers. There were 23 former passengers in attendance at the gala event held at the Grand Hotel. Gwin and Low were there, along with the pomp and ceremony politicians love to surround themselves with. But we all know now who would someday be the most famous person to attend. Besides, he probably brought the booze.



Secretary and Publicity Manager: JOHN L. THOMAS

John Thomas, whiskey bottle historian. Author of several books on western whiskey bottles including the standard work WHISKEY BOTTLES OF THE OLD WEST first written in 1969 and updated in 2002.
John's favorite old glob was undoubtedly the Clubhouse. He owned two of them over the years and possibly guided others to top collections of his era. He has been accused of promoting the Clubhouse a bit too much and helping it along to it's status of the #1 fifth. Maybe, I believe it can pretty well stand on its own with most collectors.
It does have one grievous problem, that holds it back just a bit with some old school collectors... The words SOLE AGENTS do not appear on the fifth. Sorry John, but they don't!!!




THE ROLL CALL OF OFFICIAL MEMBERS

PAUL BAGWELL/JUNE BAGWELL
Saline Valley. One of the great digging stories of all time is attached to this beautiful example. Even reported in the Old Bottle Magazine in 1971 I think. Paul Bagwell and wife June were another bottle digging couple in the Bishop, Ca. area. Paul dug a number of good bottles, Eastern California was 'good ground' if you collected whiskey bottles. He liked to scout out areas off the beaten path, particularly small "charcoal burner" camps. I have been told that Paul liked to identify likely spots on the mountain side by the glint of broken glass in the sunlight. He would drive as close as he could and hike in the rest of the way. Sometimes a narrow wagon road or mule trail might lead into these small camps. The silver/lead ore of the area demanded a huge amount of charcoal for smelting purposes. Small two or three man charcoal burner camps dot the mountain sides near the mining regions. These burner camps were usually only manned for a few weeks, then the burners moved on to find more wood to burn.
Paul and June drove to a camp he had spotted one morning in 1971. Just another small camp that might have a few bottles, probably all broken in the rocks on that steep mountainside. He was digging away in the the trash layer in and around the burners flat and not finding much. He mentions in the article that he found several stemless pipe bowls with the initials P.B. on them. Hmmn, good luck maybe. No bottles coming out. June spent an hour or so enjoying the clear view down on the valley. Read a little from a book she brought along, had a bite to eat. Went for a little hike down the hill.

"Paul, are you finding anything?"

"Not a thing, not much here. Maybe we should try somewhere else."

"Paul, I found a bottle ....."

"What did you find, dear?"

"Oh,  this green whiskey bottle that was stuck in that big sagebrush down below the flat."

"Green whiskey bottle, ok dear, does it say anything on it..."

"Paul, here, look at it, it says California Club H..."

"What! - - @^#%@&@##$#@#@##!!!!!!!!!"


The scene could never be effectively put to story. It would have been a sight to see. I have been told that for a few days Paul thought he had been "had" "duped" with a fake bottle,  someone had put June up to the big scam. Nope, it was the real deal! A survivor! A charmed bottle! Stuck in the brush on that steep mountainside.
Just a few years later Paul died of cancer. The bottle was purchased by M. Boone, a high flying bottle promoter of the day from Las Vegas. Booner was the king of whiskeys for a minute or two, then flamed out and sold out. He had just sold the Club House and a few other bottles when his place caught fire and burned to the ground! Everything in it was lost, including quite a few good glob top whiskey bottles. The 'charmed bottle' was long gone! Safe in the hands of another collector.


LOU LOBESKI/DORTHY LOBESKI
Beer label town. Lou and Dorthy were involved with the Bishop Bottle Club. They were fairly green as to digging, and sought the advice of some of the early Bishop club members. Adele Reed and others.   The many towns around Beer label town had been dug pretty hard, even by the early '60s. Beer label town had not. It was a tough town... flash flood central. Holes were very hard to locate. Lou figured it out, and absolutely loaded up on fifths. err-beers. When word of the Club House came out, they were inundated with offers. Dorthy was very opinionated, she hated waking up and finding Thomas and his little VW in the driveway. Doc. Rittenhouse, so on, all the players of the era gave her heartburn.  She hit it off with Allen Wilson. Allen traded them some very nice bottles, figural bitters, for the Club House. I have spoken at length with Lou and Dorthy, and they always felt good about the deal they made with the Club House. Allen was excited to go to Bishop and pick up the bottle. He told me he got there the same time as Lou and Dorthy were coming home from a dig. Lou opened the garage door, and brought in a couple of bottle boxes from that days dig. In the corner of the garage, on the cement floor, was a line of bottles that were still dirty - some with remnants of ghost labels. Embossed fifths, Blakes, Cutters, McKennas, and more than one of each! The amber fifths didn't warrant a cleaning I guess, green ones only need apply. Allen told me he nearly sh-- his pants when they reached into the boxes of that days dig and added three more embossed fifths, err beers, to the dirty line up. Lou and Dorthy have been gone for a number of years, wonderful people!

FRANK SCHOENGARTH
The postman rings twice. Boraxburg is located pretty close to beer label town. The origination or historical context of the clubhouses are completely different. The famous bourbon was actually sold and consumed in Borax in 1873/74, Morrison actually had a saloon there that he supplied as was the custom of several of the early S.F. wholesalers.  Several other broken ones have been found here. Beer label clubhouses were filled with beer from Boca Brewery, other breweries. Empty bottles were in high demand as the bottled beer industry took off in the late 1870's. Empty whiskey bottles were a perfect container for the beer. Bottles from defunct companies, partnerships etc. found their way to bottle recyclers and then to breweries begging for anything that would hold beer, then shipped into the notorious beer label town, and other towns.
Back to the postman - - - the old story was, that Frank led a group of diggers from the Reno Club into Boraxburg in 1970. A club dig as it were. After an hour of digging, the Club dig was over for Frank, he had two of them. I spoke with a early collector that knew Frank well and he told me that the story was total B.S. He said Frank was "an 'ornry old coot and wouldn't want to baby sit no bottle club diggers". He sounds like his old friend from Utah, Irlam B. Owen. I believe A.P. interviewed Frank back in 1997 or so, he might have the rest of the story. He was a postman.

DARRELL DUNLAVY
Sell a house, buy a boat. Do you know the way to San Jose? Darrell kept his Club House longer than any finder. I had a visit with him at the National Show in Pomona. He had spent the spring fishing in Mexico. Nice! Still digs like a steam shovel.

DON MCCLANE
Is there a nicer guy around. Think Reno Show and I think Don and Bonnie McClane. Don dug his in 1964. It later went to bottle dealer Eugene Fachin, then possibly to Bill Wilson, then to Doc Ritz, and finally to Robert Frank. Don told me that it came out of a deep 10ft privy.  Two bottles in that big hole. A little unembossed blue med, and the CH.

RALPH HUNTER/MORRY HUNTER/GARY PETERS
Took 3 sets of hands to hoist A.P.'s Three diggers partnered up on this find in the early 1980's. A J.F. Cutter fifth was found right along side the CHouse. A.P. has been back to the exact spot, but all that was left were some 1920's bottles and trash.

AL
Phil's finder. This bottle has been in captivity for a very long time. 'Al' has passed away years ago. Phil has the name, but 'AL' works for me. Check out the post titled "THE CLUB HOUSE CLUB" for the crazy story on this one.



We have two additional slots saved for -
1. S.F. construction site digger/finder - Bob Shaw / Louie P. example
DO WE HAVE A NAME????
2. Mystery man that found the last one - Anderson /Bray /Frank / Bone example

Plus++++

one Honorary Membership to the CLUB HOUSE HALL OF FAME
goes to-

KEN SCHWARTZ
Owning two won't get you in, but having three different Club House fifths in your collection will.
They were not all there at the same time, but both green examples were there, one since has left. Later, the amber example dug by Darrell D. entered the Schwartz collection.



That is the total membership!
Quite an elite group. Go out and make digging history!

CLUB HOUSE HALL OF FAME

I will wait for a week or so to post my Hall of Fame list for the Club House.

These two are not on it! Wait, A.P., did one of these guys dig your 'House'?

I believe CCH burnout maybe causing some frayed nerves....

Time to relax and take it easy.

Dude ... there's some good shit on this blog...

THE CLUB HOUSE CLUB

Here is one member of the California Club House Club - and the story of his bottle.

AMERICAN BOTTLE AUCTION PREVIEW LOT 100

The big kahuna, California Clubhouse(t-119) was available for collectors to inspect at the Pomona show. I availed myself for a cursory inspection. There has been quite a bit of back and forth on this site in regards to the Clubhouse.

Just the facts:

This is the darkest example of the known Clubhouse fifths.

There are 10 known Clubhouse fifths, 9 intact - 1 with a repaired neck.

This was the last one found, 2002? Marin County redwood tree find??. It is not the one found in Virginia City- 1964, later owned by Doc. Ritz and currently still owned by Robert F.

The bottle is mint. There is not a "whack in the side" as I heard someone mention at the National.


Other relevant information?

When viewing the pictures of the bottle I suspected that it has been lightly cleaned, kinda had that mirror look. After holding the bottle I am not sure. Some character is evident on the glass surface that may have been removed with a "tumbling". If it has been cleaned, it has been done very lightly, and probably by hand.

Did not see any distractions other than a very light scratch on one side. No fleabites, potstones, really no excuses at all.... except that it is darker amber and has no whittle.

Check out the video at American Bottle Auctions bid site -- and good luck.

MORRISON BARREL TAG?

Here is an interesting piece that John O'Neill found while browsing the isles at the National. I tried to get a couple of quick picts of it, but it will have to be cleaned up a bit to get a full look at the lettering. That crown is interesting! The 1866 date that is visible relates to a brand that Morrison registered with the State of California on Sep. 10th, 1866. Simply called OLD BOURBON - FROM DUNHAM'S DISTILLERY - LOUISVILLE, KY

There 614 Front Street is his earlier address, moved in 1870 I believe. If you look closely you can make out something about "STATE" and "SACRAMENTO" around the top. Need to look at this again.

Here is Morrison's application filed with the State of California

in 1866 for Dunham's.

Lots of swirls and twirls around Morrison's signature, always

wondered if this document is in ol' Jno. C's handwriting. The signature appears to be from the same person that penned the

application.

LET THE TRICKLE DOWN BEGIN

Rumors have been confirmed!! I just received the Auction #48 promotional e-mail from American Bottle Auctions and yes a California Clubhouse will be in the auction scheduled to begin sometime in August. I think this is the first Clubhouse to sell at public auction, all other examples have changed hands privately. Other heavy weight bottles have changed hands recently and this is usually a good thing for the hobby... sometimes a trickle down occurs as cash is raised to buy the heavy!! Be prepared, there may be something come available that you have been looking for.

Super that Jeff is going to have the bottles available to view at the National Show in Pomona. If you were thinking of skipping the National for what ever reason, that might be a mistake.

"It's a long race, and you have to be alert to every opportunity that comes your way" - former NASCAR driver Richard "Dick" Trickle