Wittenberg’s Whiskey Flew on Duck’s Wings

 

The blue winged teal is a species of North American duck that breeds from southern Alaska to Nova Scotia, and south to northern Texas. A dabbling duck, the teal is a favorite of hunters because of its excellent flavor.  Charles H. Wittenberg of St. Louis made the “Blue Wing” his flagship whiskey and the bottles literally flew off the shelves.

Wittenberg’s story begins in the latter part of the 19th Century when his father, also named Charles, emigrated from Hanover, Germany, and settled in St. Louis, Missouri.  There he found a bride in Marie “Mary” Preiss, born in Missouri and some nine years younger.  They would have three children,  August born in 1864, Charles H.,1866, and Henry “Harry” B.,1870.   According to the 1870 federal census the father ran a saloon and was doing well. His assets were estimated at the equivalent today of more than $100,000.

Like many saloonkeepers, even though serving drinks over the bar was profitable, the elder Wittenberg soon learned that even more lucrative was selling whiskey by the bottle and jug as a wholesaler supplying liquor to the saloons, restaurants and hotels of St. Louis and vicinity.  Although business directories are incomplete, Wittenberg was listed as a wholesaler in 1884, located at 1015 Washington Avenue.  With success he later moved to larger quarters at 2652-2656 Franklin Avenue, the street shown below.  It would be the address of the Wittenberg liquor house for the next 31 years.

As Charles H. and Harry grew to maturity their father took them into the business before he died in 1893.  .  The following year the brothers changed the company name to Charles Wittenberg & Sons.  Shown left in middle age, Charles H., the president, married at 30 years old in 1896. His bride was Leonora T. Wagenman, the daughter of Louis and Leonora Wagenman.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on their wedding described Leonora as “a brunette beauty” and possessing “a petite form.”  The couple would have four children over the next eight years, two girls and two boys.

After about four years of joint management, Harry Wittenberg departed. According to census data,  he went on to own and operate a livestock farm on the outskirts of St. Louis.  With the family liquor house now fully under his control, the elder son changed the company name to his own.  Thus was the Charles H. Wittenberg Company launched into a trajectory of becoming one of the largest liquor houses in St. Louis.  The “Blue Wing” took flight. 

Although Wittenberg claimed to be a distiller, only three distilleries are listed in federal records as having existed in St. Louis prior to National Prohibition. His is not among them.  My assessment is that Charles H. instead was a “rectifier,” that is, obtaining “raw” whiskeys from a variety of distillers and blending it to achieve a desired taste, color and smoothness.  Unlike many liquor wholesalers who featured multiple brands, Wittenberg seems to have concentrated his effort on just two, “Blue Wing Bourbon Whiskey” and “Blue Wing Rye.”

Like other wholesale liquor dealers, Wittenberg gave away advertising items to selected customers, including saloon signs, as seen here.  For outfits selling food and drink, serving trays with bright colors also were a favorite gift.  Below are two trays featuring blue winged teal.  I have imagined that the wary look on the duck at right may indicate an awareness that he might end up like the birds on the left.  Recently both these trays came up for auction.  The one at right drew 13 bids and sold for $456.55.  The one at left had six bids and sold for $325.00.  Remember that Wittenberg gave them away.

The St. Louis whiskey man also handed out shot glasses featuring Blue Wing Whiskey, a relatively inexpensive way to advertise.  As shown here and below these items varied considerably in the quality of their design.  The ill-formed duck at right looks as if he is standing in a mud puddle.  Those below display better art work and more precise etching. 

Under the guidance of Charles H. the liquor house became one of the largest in the Middle West.  As nearby states like Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma went “dry,” markets for mail order liquor opened up.  St. Louis whiskey merchants profited.  When new federal laws cut off that trade and National Prohibition loomed, Wittenberg in 1919 after more than three decades in business shut the door on his Franklin Street establishment.  In the 1930 census Charles, now 64 years old, was listed as having no occupation.   He lived to see Repeal in 1934 but did not return to the whiskey trade, dying in February 1948.  He was interred in St. Peter’s Cemetery, St. Louis, along side Leonora.

But the duck flies again!  Above find a re-creation of the original Blue Wing  drawn by an artist descendant as part of the Wittenberg family’s return to selling whiskey.  As explained by William C. Wittenberg, owner of the enterprise:  “I am collaborating with a small local distillery…Square One Distillery in Lafayette Square [St. Louis], to make the whiskey. This is a rare opportunity to bring back this spirit to the market.”  Shown right is a bottle of the reborn brand along with a shot glass.  Somewhere the two Charles must be smiling.

Note:  This post was created from a wide variety of sources after the sale of the two Blue Wing trays caught my attention.  Married to a master birder, I also have been drawn to whiskeys that feature avian names.  See my “Memories and Miscellany” blog of July 2, 2016, for other examples.