AAA Old Valley Whiskey...

Awhile back several collectors showcased their AAA flasks, and all were simply beautiful. These flasks come in a myriad of colors, and crudity. Here is one of my examples that seems to have most of the qualities which are most desired in this (and most) bottles. The color is a light yellow, with green tone, it is extremely whittled, and the strike is crisp and clear. The way to tell if your AAA flask is boldly struck is to observe the outside edge of the cross. If the cross is actually outlined, and this ridge outline is present, it is extremely well struck. If the entire cross is on one plane, and there is no embossed "ridge" but the cross is flat, and drops off at the edge, it is an average struck example. of course the small lettering at each leg of the cross should be legible, and crisp. There are some stunning green examples out there, and the rarity, and prices seem to be in alignment with the Teakettle fifth. the realized prices are pretty close in each with similar charactaristics. Certainly not rare, but VERY popular. Just a stereotypical Western bottle.

Yet Another Visit to Portland...

It's great for this Oregonian to see "OldCutters" post of two nice Portland fifths. Glob top whiskeys from Portland are all tough to find, and do not come up for sale often. The Hotaling fifths from Oregon have a great tie in to California collectors of early Western whiskeys and finding a good example is not easy. Here is the "other" Hotaling globby from Oregon. This one is hard to find as well. It is a very primitive looking fifth, and usually has nice glass character, whittle and a larger top than the other "Rick Rack". I still have no proof as to which is earlier, and perhaps they were all used close to the same time for different brands of whiskey (?). The timeframe of use is so narrow, for all 3 to be distributed, and all are rare to extremely rare.

Portland-revisited

My recent purchase of another Rick-Rack(T-56) has spurred me to share a photo of it and it's predecessor , the open face Portland Hotaling(T-55). Sorry about the quality of the photo, but this old shack has exactly two windowsills, both of which have colored glass in them.

A.P. Hotaling opened the Portland, OR, Agency around 1873, and expanded rapidly in the Northwest area. Shortly after he opened offices in Seattle, W.T., as well as Spokane(Falls)W.T.
It is generally accepted that the first bottle Hotaling used in his endeavors in the Portland area was the T-55, or Open Face Portland fifth. This bottle was probably used to promote his wildly successful J.H.Cutter Whiskey, but could also have been filled with his other big names up there, Monongahela White Rye and Our Choice Whiskies. The Rick-Rack came into use in the late 1870s, supplanting the earlier bottle as Hotaling's container of choice for his products. Hotaling remained in Portland until 1894, at which time he sold his interests to the Rothchild Brothers.

Hotaling also used the more familiar bottles such as the A No 1(T-40), OK(T-41), "Bird"(T-42) and the various molds of the Circle cutter(T-44s), throughout the regions where he had outlets and agencies. It is likely that the earlier of these often seen bottles were used conjunctively with the ones that were blown specially for A.P. Hotaling's Northwest Agencies.

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. 
???????