Whiskey Men with Iconic Bottles II

 

Foreword: What makes a bottle iconic?   I skirted that issue in a previous post on January 29, 2020 on three whiskey dealers whose bottles have been deemed iconic.  In that case, all the bottles were figurals.  That is, they had or contained the shape or likeness of other objects.  This post features three bottles that are simply bottles.  They have achieved vaulted status by their unusually attractive appearance, scarcity and value in the marketplace.  

At the age of 25 Julius Goldbaum, shown here, moved to Tucson,  working as a bartender at the Park Saloon and subsequently at the Gem Saloon, owned by his Uncle Isador.  Several years later  Goldbaum moved to open his own establishment. The Arizona Daily Citizen reported that in 1885 he had purchased a saloon on Church Plaza.  He called it “Jule’s Club Saloon” where he sold whiskey, beer, cigars and other smoking materials.  Almost immediately successful, within eight months he relocated his establishment to Congress Street a move that allowed him to expand to include wholesale liquor.

In addition to his business acumen, Goldbaum had a sense of design that translated into the styling of his liquor bottles and labels.  He was a “rectifier,” that is, mixing and blending raw whiskeys obtained by rail from distillers in Kentucky and elsewhere in the East, and selling the results as his own proprietary brands.  Among them were “Old Hoss Pony Whiskey,” “Three and Six Stars Bourbon,” “Jule’s Bourbon,”  “Liberty Bell Bourbon, and “Jule’s Diamond Monogram.” 

As a wholesaler, Goldbaum understood the value of providing his saloon, hotel and restaurant customer with advertising items, among them “back of the bar bottles.”  Those were fancy glass bottles meant to be displayed behind the bartender to attract the eye of potential drinkers.  Shown here, Goldbaum’s bottle advertised “Jule’s (Six Stars) Bourbon.  It is particularly notable for its rich amber color, with the enameled stars and lettering blending perfectly into the gold decor.  One observer has called the bottle “a magnificent display of craftsmanship and art” adding: “Some back bar collectors will view this example as possibly the finest back bar bottle in existence.”  One recently sold for $22,000 plus the 15% auction house premium.

Shown here is just a  portion of a label-under-glass Gold Dust Whiskey “back of the bar bottle” that has been termed “The Holy Grail” of Western whiskey bottles. Some speculate this bottle may be one of a kind while knowing that at one time others certainly did exist.  John and Nicholas Van Bergen whose San Francisco liquor house issued the “Grail” circa 1880 would be stunned at the current value of a bottle that originally was given away.  If another were found it might well sell for six figures at auction.

The Van Bergens  had moved to acquire rights to a Kentucky whiskey called “Gold Dust,” named for a nationally famous race horse.  The brothers saw the brand name, redolent of the California Gold Rush, as a natural for the San Francisco drinking public and contracted to become the sole West Coast distributor for the bourbon.  The brand proved so successful in California that in 1880 they purchased all rights to the name and became sole proprietors.

Gold Rush Whiskey bottles came in both amber and aqua.  A number of variations exist in both colors, some more rare than others, sparking considerable interest in the collectors of Western whiskeys.  All are considered rare and fetch fancy prices when upon rare occasion they come up for sale.  Several years ago an aqua Gold Dust whiskey bottle sold for $38,000, a record at the time. 

The highly elusive Van Bergen Gold Dust back-of-the bar bottle is speculated to be even more valuable.   Some have identified the one shown in detail here as “one of a kind,” but the economics of creating a label under glass bottle would indicate that more were created under the direction of Nicholas Van Bergen, shown here. 

The mid-19th Century amber bottle at left is accounted a singularity with nothing like its shape and decor before or after in American whiskey annals.  It was the product of the Bevan Brothers — Ebenezer,  Thomas and Benjamin — immigrants from Wales who fashioned a thriving liquor business in Pittston, Pennsylvania.   

Benjamin possibly drawn by the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, left his brothers and went to California in 1849.  Whatever his occupation there, when he returned two years later he had sufficient cash to help set up the Bevans in the liquor trade..  Thus in 1852 the wholesale whiskey and wine house of “E. & B Bevan" was born.  It is shown below.

Although many U.S. liquor dealers were content to market their wares with labels on plain flasks and quarts, the Bevans determined to issue their “I.X.L. Valley Whiskey” in a more costly uniquely shaped, embossed glass container.   They  designed and directed a Pittston area glassworks to craft the special bottle that opens this post.   

Benjamin Bevan

Blown in a mold and bearing a pontil scar, the whiskey bottle features a small cylindrical base with a larger octagonal paneled body tapering at the shoulders into a long neck and applied double collared mouth.  The embossing features the name of the whiskey and company along with four five-pointed stars.  The color varies from a brilliant amber to a darker hue.  Like the other two iconic bottles featured here, I.X.L. Valley Whiskey bottles fetch fancy prices at auction.

Unfortunately, the Bevans had limited time to fashion unique bottles for their whiskey.  Ebenezer, died at 44 in 1868, followed by Thomas, 48, in 1876 and Benjamin, 54, in 1881.

Note:  Longer accounts of the creators of each of these iconic bottles may be found elsewhere on this website:  Julius Goldbaum, March 2, 2017; the Van Bergens, November 1, 2020, and Bevan Brothers, May 1, 2019.