Alphons Dryfoos was listed in New York directories as a liquor dealer from 1875 until National Prohibition shut him down in 1920. Through much of that history he was fixated on bottles, in particular designing and patenting unusual and extravagant ones. Clearly proud of his inventive abilities, Dryfoos displayed some of his “brainchildren” on his letterhead, as shown here. 
The whiskey man’s first foray into bottles was in September 1900. Dryfoos filed with U.S. Patent and Trademark authorities a design for a bottle he called a “composite receptacle” that comprised “a plurality of sections forming together a unitary body, and a covering inclosing said sections and provided at its upper end with a contracted tubular portion or neck serving as a handle for said body and also as a means for preventing the upward movement of the sections.” He provided no model but simply an illustration that shows the three sections, each with a hinged cap.
It appears that Dryfoos was aiming to create a decanter that would allow a bartender or home mixologist to provide a cocktail from a single bottle. For example, to make a Manhattan, one segment would hold the whiskey, another the sweet vermouth, and the third, Angostura Bitters. Perhaps because this “receptacle” apparently never was put into production, Dryfoos continued his quest for an effective multi-sectioned “composite bottle,” as he termed it. In 1894 he filed for another patent. From three segments, this time he had moved to five. Around a larger central receptacle, he arranged four other test tube-sized containers. “If desired, two Stoppers may be removed at the same time, so that when the bottle is tilted two different liquids will flow….” Again no model accompanied his patent application, simply a drawing.
A little more than a year later, Dryfoos was back with a new bottle. This time he had given up on multiple sections but clearly was enamored of the idea of items clustered around a central decanter. As shown here, this bottle had three niches into which he had inserted what he called “statues,” that is, miniature standing figures. The accompanying drawing showed a gentleman in a top hat and a policeman. 
For once, however, Dryfoos appears to have had a model made. It surfaced in November of last year and was put at auction on eBay. Purchased by Bob Ferri, a Texan, for $1,000, it since has been displayed in detail in Bottles and Extras, the magazine of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. While the carved figures differ from those shown in the drawing, they remain unique in the bottle world. In all probability it is the only one in existence. In the future the bottle will be on display at a tavern owned by Mr. Ferri’s son in Memphis, Tennessee.
Even after creating this marvel, Alphons was not finished designing bottles. In 1911 he took on the challenge of inventing a non-refillable bottle. Others had tried but never found commercial success for their efforts although many makers of premier whiskey were deeply concerned about their bottles being refilled with rotgut by unscrupulous saloonkeepers and bartenders. Dryfoos' solution was to insert a stopper with a central stem that released the liquid in the bottle through a series of overlapping valves. While the stopper would allow liquor to pour out, the valves would block any effort at refilling. 
Along the way, the New Yorker had registered the design of a bottle with three sides based on encompassing one-third of a circle. Dryfoos used a design patent in order to protect the ornamental appearance of his bottles, not their structural or utilitarian features. In order to qualify, his design had to be judged as new and not obvious in view of prior designs. Patented in 1894, the triangular bottle must have met the tests but once again no record exists of its commercial use.
Just who was Alphons Dryfoos — a man obsessed with improvements to bottles? From records we know he was born in Niederhochstradt Rheinfalz, Dei Landau, Germany, in 1847, the son of Jacob and Theresa (Kaufman) Dryfoos. At the age of 16, he left home and boarded the ship Goshen in Harve, France, setting out for the U.S. He landed in New York City where he settled for the rest of his life. Dryfoos became a citizen in 1884. He was described on an 1889 passport application as about five feet, six inches tall, with a high forehead, oval face, fair complexion, and thinning brown hair. In 1879 Alphons married Augusta “Gussie” Samuels in New York City. He was 31; she was 20. There is no record of children.
Dryfoos’ early days in Gotham, roughly the decade from 1865 to 1875 have gone unrecorded. My guess is that he was employed as a clerk in one of the many liquor houses in Manhattan, learning the trade. In 1875 he surfaced in a city directory as “Alphons Dryfoos, Liquors” located at 737 Second Avenue. Shown here, the building is still standing. While at that address he registered a trademark for “Wald Koenig Bitters.” Although he advertised this product widely no bottles bearing the name thus far have been found.
By 1886 Dryfoos was in new quarters at 654 Second Avenue, in 1887 opening a second store at 150 Chambers Street, located in the Tribeca District of Lower Manhattan. The building as it looks today is shown here. Currently providing trendy housing for young Manhattanites, then Tribeca was a busy industrial and warehouse area. Dryfoos maintained both stores through most of the 21 years he was passionately involved in inventing bottles. By 1898 he had added a partner, Eugene Blum, to assist in the management of his liquor business. 
By 1902, Dryfoos, Blum & Co. had moved one last time, to 42 West Broadway — the northwest corner of Broadway and Park Place. Feist Samuels, apparently a relative of Gussie, also was working with Alphons. Shown here is an amethyst flask bearing the name of the partners. Its color and shape make the bottle interesting even if it fails to reflect the flamboyance of Dryfoos’ other creations.
In 1920, with the coming of National Prohibition, Dryfoos, Blum & Co. was forced to shut down. Nine years later, in January 1929, Alphons died at home, age 81. Although he never attained fame or fortune for his inventions in bottles, Dryfoos had been in the whiskey business in The Big Apple for at least 45 years. That in itself was a notable achievement.
Note: For anyone interested in learning more about Alphons Dryfoos, the May-June 2018 issue of Bottles and Extras has a longer article on his bottles, with larger illustrations. The author/editor is Ferdinand Meyer V who has been following the Wald Koenig Bitters story for years.
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