Mckennas

My Friends, My Apologizes, it appears I am getting old and feeble, I didn't read the Description very well. To keep it clean, I removed the original comments. My new seeing eye dog "Old Shep" told me to do this. BD / Kcir

Another McKenna's

Here is one of two examples of the McKenna's fifth that was dug last month in a Western state. This has been quite a year for nice fifths coming out of the ground. I would be thrilled to pull two of these out of one hole! Both examples are virtually twins being a nice light yellow, shading to a lighter yellow amber towards the base. This example has strong whittle effect, and a nice crisp strike. I have not heard of a Gold Dust being dug this year, but the Cheilovich, and Cassin fifths, along with the Chevalier Whiskey Merchants make for some heavy stuff in my book. Is there a somewhat accurate count of non C & I McKenna's? I am guessing 50 or so...These are just a classic Western whiskey, and I can see why they have been considered for "top 25" status in the past.

ANOTHER McKENNAS

Here is the one I got from Roger. A very nice example in a "greenish" coloration, but not near as green as Richard's. His looks to be really green, a super color in this bottle! Photo taken with an amber Teakettle. I think that Roger told me he obtained this one from Alaska, or was it Hawaii?

WILMERDING & CO. - SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK

Here is an email I received from Kentucky Gem.   Posting it with his comments:

Check out the C. W. Staurts, McKennas, Untied We Stand and SHM on the barrel ends.


I suspect that the attached photo of a sign may account for some of the eastern production. Note; S.F. & New York. Also, notice the second barrel on the left from center at top. Mckenna's...

Smooth base for western distribution, C&I for eastern, and since they had the bottles, for western distribution when the S.F. glassworks couldn't keep up, or when the east coast venture fizzled.

Here is the picture.

MORE MCKENNAS

Here are some picts. of a "C&I" McKennas and the more familiar western base McKennas.   Note the differences in lettering style or font,  C&I is a more slender bottle,  top is a bit different on the C&I.

I have had a couple of light yellow amber "traditional" ones over the years and one that was quite "greenish".  I think it is still hanging out with Dennis R.   I keep selling them off to pay for other bottles,  then I find I really can't live without one.  The C&I examples tend to be medium amber to darker amber.  Haven't seen a real yellow or green C&I McKennas in my travels.   Another strange thing,  the C&I  S.H.M.s,  that I have seen, are all a beautiful light yellow amber.   That is a whole new set of questions.... the S.H.M. 




Again,  more questions than answers about the two different McKennas.   These two bottles appear to be in service roughly the same time period.  I believe the C&I possibly started just a bit later (late '70's)   than the Western base.  ??
Why the different molds?
Size reduction?  The C&I bottle is an ounce or two smaller.  Don't think that is it..  The non C&I is a transitional bottle, glob and toolie, used well into the '80s.  Well past the start of the C&I's. 
???????

My Old McKennas....

M.E.,

Is the one in yor post from our fairly recent horse-trading? Or is the one pictured in your post another recent upgrade? It seems to be the same example (note the large tear-shaped bubble above the K in Mckennas).

Here's a quick teaser for the upcoming Las Vegas Show: I purchased/traded for this McKennas fifth at the Vegas 2009 Show! There are always some good finds there....even for the glob top whiskey collector!

~J.F. Cutter

Mc Kenna's

Here is a recent acquisition. This is the Mc Kenna's without the C&I on the base, and while these are not particularly rare, have been a contender for top 25 status in past years. Most of the McKenna's I have seen have fair to average strikes, and occasionally one turns up with very bold embossing. This is an upgrade for my collection, and is the 6th McKenna's I have owned which were upgraded to this point. Similar to Teakettle,(or any bottle I guess), finding an example with color, character, condition, and strike is not an easy task. I have never seen a McKenna's is a greenish hue, but have heard they come in some great colors. Maybe a McKennas "shootout" might be in order? This is a classic Western fifth that is obtainable, and has great characteristics. Let's see some more! M.E.

WHAT A WEB WE WEAVE

I am intrigued by the tangled web of related bottles from Wilmerding and Kellogg, separately or together. G.O.'s post of the Wilmerding ad for S.H.M., and the chatter about the McKennas got me started. I'm going to just list some questions and assumptions and lets see where it goes.

S.H.M(t-169) The Superior Hand Made is the oldest of the W&K bottles, at least the non C&I SHMs are oldest. Like I noted, we find these in Utah with the early stuff. 1873-74 stuff. The only other place I have seen them in abundance is C-bus, again 1873-75 stuff.
C&I mold variation is much later by my estimation. A digger I know in the Idaho pan-handle area dug one in 1999 with just the lip broken out. He found it in some early 80's stuff. Just recently a C&I was located in the Boise area. Digging context unknown.
The C&I SHM's are very attractive bottles, whittled and light yellow amber color.

McKennas(t-168) Mckennas long lived, say 1876-1883. Kellogg separated from Wilmerding, long before end of McKennas usage. Still, W&K on reverse shoulder.
The C&I McKennas are found in Calif., Nev., and here in Utah. Found a couple of broken ones in a small mill town on Rush Lake. This mill serviced ore from the Chicago Mine out of Jacob City, Ut. That would give this bottle at least a fingerprint in the mid to late '70s. I just purchased one from a digger in Nevada, said it came from Storey County. Digging context unknown.
C&I Mckennas color range from medium amber, orange amber, to fairly dark amber. Not even close to the SHM C&I variants.

United We Stand(t-170) circa 1878-1883, Kellogg gone, Wilmerding is on his own with this one. W in circle on the back. No C&I variant with this bottle. Why not??

C.W.Stuart(t-146) circa 1883-87. Wilmerding definitely the distributor. Sold the brand to Loewe Brothers in 1892. Much later bottle than once thought. Two broken examples found in the Idaho panhandle, both in '80s stuff. All examples have C&I glass works initials on base. Using the back half of the Cassin's Golden Plantation(t-16) mold. Which has the C&I initials on the base of course.

What is the relationship between Wilmerding and the Cassin Bros.?
Golden Plantation fifth is also later than once thought. Whenever it disappeared, was as early as the Stuarts could have started. Using the same mold.
And as if to play with our heads just a bit more, Stuart -(Wilmerding) has the small letter "k" on the reverse. Why a K?? Kellogg was long gone when the Stuarts came out. A "w" - Wilmerding, even a "L" - Loewe Bros, but a "K"
what the...

Kelloggs(t-171) circa 1890's. Red amber - German blown. W.L. Co. -- Wilmerding and Loewe. Some known with W & Co.-- Wilmerding & Co.
My confusion here is with the Kelloggs name. Did I miss something? Wilson indicates that Kellogg left the liquor business to go into the banking business. Did he actually purchase the McKennas name or distillery? No?It's now Kellogg's Nelson County Kentucky Bourbon? Not busy enough counting coins, had time to formulate your own bourbon? Kellogg name on several different bottles of the 90's and tc. Don't know what gives with Kellogg. Must have been involved silently throughout the entire time? Which might account for that little "k" on the Stuarts. Really reaching on that one...

Alright, now that I have confused everyone, even myself, lets talk about the C&I variants.
Cunningham & Ihmsen glass works - Pittsburg (as in PA. not Calif.)
Supposedly C&I glass works stopped production of bottles in 1875. None of the 4 mentioned fifths with the C&I initials were made that early. ??
Lettering style, or font, on the C&I fifths is different than the counterpart W&K fifths. Golden Plantation fifth also with so-called "eastern style lettering". C.W. Stuart bottle has "western lettering", curved leg 'R'. Of course the Stuarts was just using the back half of the Golden Plantation mold. Which means, likely, that the "mold re-use"... Stuart from Golden Plantation was done in San Francisco... ??
The glass characteristics of the 4 C&I fifths appears western to my old eyes, espec. the SHM and the Golden Plantation. Hard to quantify this, but the glass comes out the ground fairly clean with these C&I's. Compare that to other Pittsburg blown glass you find in the west. The amber Rosedale fifth definitely Pittsburg product, MCC - McCulley Glass Works, usually look like hell when they come out of the ground. Beside the fact C & I was out of business before these bottles were blown. Did another Pittsburg works blow these bottles? So what gives? Molds made in Pittsburg, shipped west to be used at SF glass works? Plenty of mold makers in San Francisco by 1875. Why two molds anyway, weren't cranking out that many bottles.
McKennas variants are being used at the same time, SHM variants seem to have quite a time break in usage.
I'm going to let this sit here for your comments and corrections. This is what I like, stir the pot for new ideas and new information. Or maybe just some adjusting of the cluttered mess in my head... Wilmer"ding" has made me ding-eeee!