Reaching Post #700 & the Way Forward

    

“History is the essence of innumerable biographies” — Thomas Carlyle

The post that follows marks the 700th on this blog devoted to what I have chosen to call “Pre-Prohibition Whiskey Men,” that is, the distillers,“rectifiers” (i.e. blenders), wholesale and retail liquor dealers, saloonkeepers and others who played a role in that national industry before January 1,1920.  

As noted on April 6, 2011, when I began this blog, making and selling whiskey from the very founding of the United States was a major occupation. George Washington, we know, was an important early distiller. The men who over time built and maintained this industry often had interesting and notable careers. In addition to their histories are the artifacts they have left behind in many forms, items that often are avidly collected today.

At this writing the site has had more than 784,000 page views.  They have come primarily from the United States but daily from other countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, Ireland and Germany.  I also have received hundreds of comments, the overwhelming majority of them positive, from descendants of individuals profiled, collectors of bottles and other whiskey memorabilia, and professional and amateur historians.  I try to respond to all messages.

A source of particular pride is the 232 individuals who have signed on as followers of this blog.  Starting out with a handful of friends and relatives, the numbers have grown beyond my wildest imagining.  I am grateful to these individual for their expression of interest and support. 

As each 100th milestone has been reached, I have reassessed the prospect of continuing to write.  My decision is based on whether sufficient good stories of whiskey men remain to be told.  The post that follows here is indicative of rich histories that heretofore have been untapped.  Despite being in my 84th year, my plan is to continue to 800 posts — and hope be around to reassess once again.  

My practice has been to present a new post every four days.  That I expect to continue.  Although the great majority of the vignettes are about individual whiskey men or families, in recent months every fourth post has been a summary of three or four previous posts in order to explore commonalities of experience among those in the liquor trade.  Those also will continue. 

Finally, I want to bring attention to a new activity begun this year.  Under the umbrella phrase “Wet” Enterprise my intention is to bundle substantial numbers of posts in order to illuminate even larger historical element of the liquor trade.   The first topic is Western saloons and saloonkeepers. It can be accessed via Google as “Wet” Enterprise:  Selected Saloons of the Old West.  If the blog proves successful it may be followed by others that feature numbers of notable whiskey men (and women) considered on criteria including geography, gender,  ethnic origin, and religious affiliation.