PHOTOS FROM FOLLOWERS

Here are a few photos from L. Westfall that show a portion of his fine collection.

He has been at it for just a few years, has built some nice groupings... buying / selling / swapping / digging.... however you can add a bottle or upgrade an example. Just keep at it.

Cutter barrels:

A pair of O.K.'s (t-41)

Super nice Bird (t-42)

Classic A No 1 (t-40)

Jesse Moores:

Vented and Non vented Jesse (t-94)

Red amber glob Jesse (t-94 var)

Big and tall Serbian -- Mr. Chielovich to you, if you don't mind! (t-90)

Teakettle run (t-136)

A few more:

Jesse, O.K. and a very pretty Lilienthal (t-104)

Lilienthal Flasks

I will quit posting for awhile, but I just wanted to get caught up. Please bear with me.

I cannot recall any Lilienthal flasks (or even fifths for that matter), being featured on this site. While I do not claim to be an expert on this company, there is a wide array of early glass that comes wonderfully colored and crude.

Here are two examples of some of the earliest flasks from Lilienthal. The green example is the "high S.F." in a larger than pint size. It was recovered from the Comstock years ago. There are only a handful in this strong green coloration, and a few in a light yellow olive, ranging to old amber and even yellow amber. They remain a relatively available flask, but are becoming tougher to find.

The smaller example is referred to the Lilienthal "cognac". They are smaller than a pint in capacity. These are actually considered a very scarce flask with perhaps 12-15 examples in collections. The typical color for these is a dark chocolate with very few being a regular amber. Several years ago, a few in a light yellowish color were dug from the same hole in Nevada. Each had something different going for it, though they were the same color. One is super whittled, one has a monster strike, and one has a huge top, and swirls ( the example pictured).

An Oregon Flask

Here is an excellent example of the earliest Fleckenstein & Mayer pint flask from Portland. This is the knife edge with the horizontal embossing. This is a relatively scarce flask with about 25 examples known. They have been dug in Oregon, Washington, and California. These are the earliest flasks from this company that had more embossed amber flasks than any other Western concern except perhaps Lilienthal and Co. These are very tough to find with strong embossing throughout the pattern. They date from the late 1870s, through the early 1880s. This example was dug at a well known stage stop several years ago. It was found with another example, as well as two pontiled umbrella inks, a Bininger Night Cap flask, some cathedral peppersauce bottles, and misc. utilities. I have not seen one with a single roll collar, or in a light yellow coloration. There are a few known in an old amber, however most are in a medium to chocolate.

Portland Hotaling (Rick Rack)

In the 35 plus years I have chased Oregon glass (Hey, someone has to!), I have had an opportunity to examine, and own some very beautiful whiskey fifths, and flasks. Oregon has comparitively few early whiskies than California, and all are very scarce to rare. One particularly beautiful fifth to me at least is the Portland Hotaling "rick rack". These bottles were produced in the early 1880s, and are a great reminder of making one's mark in the marketplace. This bottle comes complete with crossed swords, a large crown, and that unique zig zag design around the full face embossing. There are two versions of this bottle, one with bold, and thick embossing, commonly called the earlier variant ( T-56) these come by and large in the same medium amber coloration, and skinny applied glob top. I have not seen this unique lipping treatment on any other fifth, and the charactaristics, as well as the consistency in color of these scarce bottles, indicate extreme quality control in their manufacture. These fifths have been dug in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. I am not aware of an example being dug in California, but would be interested to know if this is true. One version that you do not see very often is the "light rick rack". This variant is extremely rare with maybe 6 known in any condition ( T-57). Since John Thomas's first book on whiskies, this was considered a later bottle (1884-90). I have doubts about this. I have never seen a tooled top example as claimed in the book (have you?), also this bottle is much more tradional in profile, lip treatment, and extreme crudity to indicate it is actually earlier than the more commonly seen rick rack. Interesting that the heavily embossed version is much more common with perhaps 30 or so known, and more elaborate, and widely distributed. Why change the mold, top, and embossing to a much less fancy bottle when the one type was selling so well? Why so rare? I have compared the T-57 with many T- 56s and the T-57 blows it away in every aesthetic area except detail of embossing. To find a T-57 with a strong strike is super tough, since there are not a bunch to go around as it is. If you are fortunate enough to own one of each, compare them, and see which one looks more like an early whiskey to you!

Label Under Glass Castle Whiskey Found

Last Sunday morning at the alemany flea market in san francisco a label under glass castle whiskey with castle on the label was found and exchanged hands for $100. cash, it was flipped about an hour later for $850. cash and turned again after that....but after that trail goes dark. Anyone want to claim ownership? Supposedly the owner had listed it on e-bay but later cancelled the auction when he had only one watcher........

Not your average glob top........

Here is a beautiful crier that recently came out of an early privy. I've always loved these early western bottles but have not heard many collectors speak of them.

How many examples of this variant and the other variant without the star are believed to exist ? What colors have they been seen in ? Do they come in both a 5th and 6th size ?

How about some photos of member's examples........

Andrew, here is the dark green shard found in Nevada City..

maybe a bit darker green than your piece.

Puce sixth found in an 1860's area. Didn't find the base to see if there was a star. I have owned puce western sixths with the star, but I haven't seen an embossed base sixth in any color but dark green. Green and puce cylinders, hmm, sounds like a couple of early western bitters. Wait, I might know someone that has some information on this.........

STILL NO RESPECT?

Cutters have always been some of my favorites, but I have parted with most of them over the years. However, with all the blogging recently about Cutters, makes me wish I had many of them back now! The only "bottled by" that I kept was this one with most of the label in tact. How about some bloggers posting more Cutters with labels, J.H and J.F.'s. I know that they are out there in collections, most probably being found many years ago. I know Richard has some, probably Mike D., and surely others! Look forward to seeing some.