Did In-Laws Bernheim & Uri Duel with Teapots?

 

The annals of pre-Prohibition whiskey is filled with examples of brother-in-laws who collaborated to make their distilleries and other liquor-related enterprises highly successful over extended periods of time.  Not so for Isaac Bernheim, creator of the famous I.W. Harper Brand, and his brother-in-law, Nathan M. Uri.  Their brothers-in-law partnership ended abruptly, seemingly followed by “dueling” with metal teapots.  

Bernheim, born in Germany,  emigrated to the United States in 1867 with $4.00 in his pocket.  For a while he worked as a peddler,  traveling through Pennsylvania on horseback selling household items to housewives.   Then his horse died.  So Isaac packed up and moved to Paducah, Kentucky, where he went to work in the liquor trade.  More important,  he met the Uri family headed by Morris Uri, long established in the Kentucky whiskey trade.   Isaac married Amanda Uri and in 1872 joined up with her brother, Nathan, in a liquor  firm called Bernheim Bros. and Uri.  The other Bernheim brother was Bernard who subsequently arrived from Germany. 

Because of Paducah’s proximity to large waterways,  the business grew rapidly.  About 1888,  the company bought the Pleasure Ridge Park Distillery and renamed it the Bernheim Distillery Company.  About the same time,  the Bernheims and Uri moved their business to Louisville, in order to be closer to their distillery.   Soon they began the production of an elite whiskey brand called I.W. Harper, a name trademarked in 1879.

Within three years of the move,  Nathan Uri abruptly left the partnership and in 1893 set up his own firm, calling it N.M. Uri & Company.  Uri bought his own whiskey production facility, the International Distillery at Hunters Station, Kentucky, not far from Bardstown.  His principal label was “Parker Rye” a brand he advertised nationally.   Both distilleries flourished. 

The reason for the sudden split has never been adequately explained.  Did Uri chafe at being the road salesman for the Bernheim?  Or was it clear to him that Isaac’s brother was being given preference and he was odd man out? Perhaps serious differences over business practices existed.  In any case the split apparently was not amicable.   In 1912 Isaac Bernheim wrote a book entitled History of the Jews in Paducah and the Lower Ohio Valley.  He mentions Morris Uri favorably, as well as his wife, Amanda, and even her sister.  By contrast nary a word appears in Bernheim’s book about his brother-in-law and former partner, Nathan.  The silence suggests bad blood.

It may be a stretch but I believe the strained relationship of the brothers-in-law sparked a rivalry in advertising barware.  In pre-Prohibition America a familiar sight on a saloon or hotel bar was a metal vessel, usually silver plated, that advertised a brand of whiskey and added “cold tea.”   Tea was offered to patrons gratis by proprietors as a mixer for the liquor being poured.  The addition could make the drink go farther, pack less of an alcohol punch, and, I assume, taste better in an era of dubious quality whiskey.  Since only one teapot was needed per bar, the ability to secure that spot was fierce among Kentucky distillers.   It also offered an opportunity for Bernheim and Uri to play out their rivalry.

Bernheim produced two teapot versions.  One, shown above, was the product of the Taunton Silver Company. During the 19th century, Taunton became known as "Silver City", home to many silversmithing operations, including Reed & Barton, F.B. Rogers, and Taunton Silver.  The second teapot, below, is marked as quadruple silver plate from the Western Silver Metal Company in New York City.  This silver housewares business was founded by brothers-in-law Louis Schnitzer and Nathan Gelfman, experienced metalworkers from Kiev, Ukraine.

Uri issued at least two rival teapots.  Shown above, one advertises “R. H. Parker Whiskey.”  My notes, unfortunately, are silent on its maker.  The second teapot, shown below in two views,  was the product of the Homan Silver Plate Company.  Founded in 1847, this outfit was located in Cincinnati and produced silver-plated objects for distilleries, breweries, hotels, restaurants and even riverboat companies.

From his distillery south of Bardstown, Uri ratcheted up the competition with Bernheim by commissioning other silver plated advertising items for back-of-the-bar use. Below left is a silver decanter marked “Parker Rye”. A Homan-made product, this elegant piece is marked “special metal,” another name for silver soldered “quadruple” plate.  At right is a Uri whiskey dispenser with a spigot.  It presumably could hold a gallon or so of Parker Rye and be ready for the saloonkeeper to turn the handle. 

In Louisville, Bernheim could not have been ignorant of Uri’s aggressive use of those decorative silver-plated bar accessories.  He issued his own decanter, shown here.  Quart sized and incised “Old Harper,” this silver-plated vessel likely shared a shelf behind the bartender in many a saloon. Because it was impossible to tell just what kind of whiskey back of the bar items were dispensing, they were banned by law after the 1934 repeal of Prohibition.

The final word goes to Uri who “went metallic” to contain his whiskey in a quartwhiskey jug.  The jug mimics the shape of many ceramic containers of the time.  Marked “quadruple plated” and carrying a shamrock logo, the jug reads “Parker” on one side and “Rye” on the other.  The brother-in-laws’ feud, if that’s what it was, had resulted in decorating saloons all over America and an advertising bonanza for future collectors.

Note:   More complete biographies of both these men may be found on this website, Isaac Bernheim, Dec. 10, 2014 and Nathan Uri, August 2, 2012.