"I don't get no respect"

J. H Cutter Old Bourbon / Bottled by A.P. Hotaling: The Rodney Dangerfield of glop tops.

Face it, ya gotta start somewhere. Not all collectors can break the ice of western whiskey globby collecting with a Clubhouse... Sure, some of us were lucky enough to have gotten in on the ground floor before stuff went goofy. My first glop, a Tea Kettle the color of Herseys dark chocolate, cost me a whopping hundred dollar bill back in the early seventies. It was hammered to death with whittle and ranks as one of the most attractive TK's that I've had the privilege to care take. Trouble is, earning power is down and prices for prime examples of western whiskies are up, way up. I've had that same Tea Kettle on four different occasions; each time the price of admission went up and up. It last sold in 2005 for $1500~.

Which brings me back to the J. H. Cutter / Bottled By which, in my opinion, is one of the best values out there in globby land. Sure they're common as chicken beaks compared to most glops and yet they possess loads of character in many cases and are available in a myriad of colors. We've recently seen a surge in interest with the JHC / Sole Agents and maybe it's time for the "Bottled By" to come into it's own. I've got around a dozen Bottled By glops right now and, at the risk of being laughed at, thought it would be fun to do a blurb on the bottle.

Sole Agents, up until a few months ago, could be had for comparative peanuts. Their value had held pretty much status quo for years. We've sold ten Sole Agents in the past three years with an average price of $145~, including one on the April list for $165~, which was the highest price ever. So what happened? The supply hasn't differed, (there are just about as many around now as there were 10 years ago) nor has the quality of the bottles offered. Simply, it was demand. All of a sudden, collectors discovered what a buy the Sole Agents was; crude, early and with lots going for them. And prices rose according to the demand with the non

(A No. 1) examples now bringing crazy dollars and the A No. 1 variants becoming a close runner up.

Hotaling first introduced the Bottled By variant in the mid 80's. The glassworks that produced the bottle employed the latest techniques, including air venting, and as a result, they are generally not as crude as it's predecessor, the Sole Agent. Still, there is plenty of eye appeal to go around and I've seen a myriad of them with whittle to die for and spillover that slops nearly 1/2" down the neck; just the things we look for. And then there's colors; everything from root beer brown to lollipop yellow and from deep red to brilliant orange ambers. Ok, so there's probably a few hundred to go around. Supply and demand dictates price, but not necessarily value. And that's where I stop to ponder. How come these critters are still selling in the $50~ - $75~ range? That's one heckuva value!

I shot photos of a bakers half dozen. Oddly enough, when I compared each bottle, they appeared to me to be from the same mold. Obviously from different batches of glass, and the tops were applied and finished with different tools and by different craftsmen, but yet the embossing is eerily identical. Spacing, font, letter placement and alignment, all apparently an exact clone. Maybe some of you folks out there with a better trained eye than I can spot the differences. One thing that we all can agree on though, is that the J. H Cutter Old Bourbon / Bottled by A.P. Hotaling glop top is a great starter piece that is still affordable and can also be a key item in rounding out a line up of Cutters; even if

"It don't get no respect".

It's SHOWDOWN Time!

Now that's what I'm talkin about Kentucky Gem, "stellar"!!! What a friggin Nice J.F.!!! It looks whittled as all heck too. I've seen more nice Star Shields on this blog lately than I have in many years of collecting. Seeing bottles like these on a monitor is one thing but to actually see some of them up close in person would be just awesome. Hey all you J.F. Star Shield guys that are coming to Downieville, we might want to have a J.F. "Shootout" or a least see some of that stuff. Or better yet since some of the top guns from the West can't make D-ville but will be in Auburn, lets shoot it out there. Take your best shot son, anyone up for a showdown???
http://www.oldwestbottles.com/

"To be, or not to be" (a fat boy that is)

Dug September 1971; area of Bridgeport, Ca. It came in a collection a few years ago along with a lot of other pretty strong western glops.

Funny thing; the collection was in the home of heavy smokers. The bottle shelves were next to the kitchen, where a steady diet of fried foods was constantly being prepared. Adjacent to the displays was a wood stove that belched soot into the room. My hands literally stuck to the bottles as I picked them up and judging color was a crapshoot at best. I assumed that the bottle was a standard run of the mill amber. Imagine my delight when it emerged from its warm water bath of sudsey ammonia. Best described as loads of green at the shoulder and a strong transformation to old amber at the base. It's got a smooth base, a big top and the tip of the A in Extra is pointy.

But the big question is... fat boy or not?

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 ??

DIGGING VIDEOS

Check out the link we just put up for Collectors Weekly. I hate to guide you away from this site, but you might get a kick out those 'ol boys. It might even get you in the mood to do a little digging.

Scroll down to the videos on the left. I watched a couple of them. I'm sure I'll watch them all soon enough.

I can't say that I agree with all their techniques???? Unscrewing a bottle from the hole? We have all done it, but about the time you tear a big chunk off the top of a nice bottle... that's the last time.

Rubbing the gritty dirt off your find, with those gritty gloves. Keeps Lou busy!

What the heck, we all get excited.

ANOTHER FAT BOY

---well not quite, certainly not just your avg. "fatty".

"Castle" sent me this photo of his green var-1 J.F. Cutter(t-46). This infamous bottle is the one that was dug in Austin, Nv. in the mid 1990's. "Infamous" only to me, I missed out on it and have wanted a green fat boy ever since. Have not seen another.

BARREL ENDS

Here are a couple of items that go with the Jesse Moore bottles we have been posting about.

Barrel ends, boxes, etc. are pretty cool go withs for your collection.

Then it gets into trays and signs and it's 2'nd mortgage time!!