A "Crier" with a CAPITAL "C"

This sad bottle was wrenched from it's earthen resting place by a backhoe operator putting in a septic tank in a northern San Joaquin County, CA, burg. After decapitating this beautiful sixth he casually tossed it onto the spoils, leaving it gleaming in the sun, only to be seen by a passing digger.
All he could tell from outside the fence was that it had the look of a western whiskey. After inserting a probe under the gate and dragging the remains to the edge he was able to see the star on the base. Thinking that it was most likely a unembossed sixth he reached in and pulled it out into the alley. Turning it over and seeing that it was embossed, he nearly dropped it. OH NO!! Of all the bottles to be shattered by a machine, why was it this one? A major BUMMER, indeed.

Evans & O'Brien/No 222/ Main St/ Stockton

Evans & O'Brien Stockton California

The firm of Evans and O’Brien, founded in the summer of 1868, produced the only early Stockton whiskey that is known. This bottle is found in shades of amber, also in green, has an applied top and is a “sixth” size. It is believed that this bottle is the first to be embossed with a dealers name, street address and city on the face of the bottle. This “full face” embossing was, during the 1870 – 1880 period, a common practice among western whiskey merchants and a highly desirable feature for today’s western whiskey collectors. Four whole examples of this bottle have been recovered from the Stockton area, one example was discovered in Newberg and another was recovered from the Crescent Mills area. At the present time there are believed to be six whole undamaged examples and several damaged examples.

Take a look at the ad to the right for Evans & O'Brien. They are located at 200 Hunter Street and have on hand Miller's #1 Bourbon and Cutter's.

They also have all kinds of case goods for the saloon trade at San Francisco prices and - here's the topper - all in their original packages. Kinda' makes you wonder what was sitting around in Evans & O'Brien's warehouse.

And if your a bitters kind of guy check out:

http://www.westernbittersnews.com/