W.C. Fields: The Tippler in Ceramics

 

NEWS BULLETIN:

On February 24, 2025, this website (blog) surpassed 2,000,000 views, as measured by Google, since its inception in April, 2015,  This milestone was reached through Internet attention to the 1,194 individual posts on the site dealing with the pre-Prohibition whiskey trade in America.  I am grateful to the thousands of individuals in the U.S. and worldwide who have taken time to view the posts and hope they have found them interesting and informative.  For myself it has been a labor of love.

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                       W.C. Fields: The Tippler in Ceramics

The American comedian W. C. Fields, shown here, has been a favorite of mine since grade school. From movies like “My Little Chickadee,” and “The Bank Dick.” to his radio sparring with Charlie McCarthy, Fields’ wit and ability to create a distinctive persona have never failed to engage my attention – and that of millions of others. Much of his humor revolved around whiskey, a personal obsession of Fields that ultimately would lead to his death. In life, however, he made it a prime source of his humor.  Some examples:

“Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake.”

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were forced to live on nothing but food and water for days.”

"How well I remember my first encounter with The Devil's Brew. I happened to stumble across a case of bourbon— and went right on stumbling for several days thereafter.”

“So long as the presence of death lurks with anyone who goes through the simple act of swallowing, I will make mine whiskey. 

"When life hands you lemons, make whisky sours."

“The advantages of whiskey over dogs are legion. Whiskey does not need to be periodically wormed, it does not need to be fed, it never requires a special kennel, it has no toenails to be clipped or coat to be stripped. Whiskey sits quietly in its special nook until you want it. True, whiskey has a nasty habit of running out, but then so does a dog.”

As a result of this close identification of Fields with drinking, he has been depicted numerous times on spirits bottles, jugs, beer steins and mugs. I have a whiskey decanter/ jug from the Turtle Bay Distilling Company of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, called W.C. Fields Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. It dates from about 1970. In this case, Fields’ head is filled with whiskey. It is accompanied by a water pitcher with a similar face.   Shown above, neither item has a pottery mark but have been attributed to the McCoy Pottery Company of Roseville, Ohio.

The David Sherman Corp. (DSC), more recently known as Luxco, issued at least three Fields decanters for their whiskey. They depict Fields with a tam from his golfing spoofs, the typical top hat and as a uniformed guard from the movie, “The Bank Dick.” In each case the hat is removed to decant the spirituous contents. 

These ceramics were issued during the mid-1970s. Each jug bears the name of Paul Lux, a founding partner of DSC in 1958 and later the CEO of the firm. Lux is assumed to be the designer of these bottles. The St. Louis based organization owned at least 60 liquor brand names and produced the Fields bottles for its network of distributors, wholesalers and retailers.

England’s Royal Doulton Pottery, famously the largest producer of Toby Jugs, made Fields the subject of a character jug, one that emphasized his florid face and red bulbous nose. A piece of his walking stick serves as the handle. The jug was issued in 1982 as part of the pottery’s Celebrity Collection and included on the base a line from the Fields movie “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break”: "I was in love with a beautiful blonde once. She drove me to drink. That's the one thing I'm indebted to her for."

Two other Toby-like jugs, likely designed as water pitchers for bar use, appear to have come from Japan. The one at right shows Fields in a straw boater hat with a more benign look than is usual. On the base a mark identifies this item as a creation of “Sigma the Tastesetter,” This was a Japanese-based organization. A second jug, left with a black hat has no attribution but the appearance of the item also seems a product of Japan.

Fields also has been a popular figure for beer steins and mugs. One dated 1971 on the right appears to be a hand-thrown artisan creation. The comedian, in bas relief, appears to be struggling to emerge from the vessel. A more conventional beer stein, unmarked on left, emphasizes Field’s top hat and swollen nose.  Although the Fields image most often appears on items linked to drinking, the McCoy Pottery also used his face as the motif for the ceramic cookie jar below.  He also has made appearances on a number of glass objects, including shot glasses, drinks glasses and decanters.

Question is, how long will W.C. Fields be recognized as the American icon of the tippler? Note that many of these items were made years after his death in 1946. Because his movies will continue to be available to generations down through the years, my guess is he will be remembered for a long, long time and artifacts bearing his face will continue to be collected.

Labels: Luxco, McCoy Pottery, Paul Lux, Royal Doulton Pottery, Sigma the Tastesetter, Turtle Bay Distilling Co., W.C. Fields

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The Weilers of Leigh County— Sheriffs and Their Shots

                   The Weilers of Lehigh County— Sheriffs and Their Shots

The Weilers, father Nathan and son John F., both served terms as sheriff in one of Pennsylvania’s most populous jurisdictions, Lehigh Country, including the city of Allentown.  Known for their skill with firearms, the Weilers’ most lucrative shots, however, came from elsewhere —  bottles of whiskey. 

Nathan Weiler was born in April 1810 in Longswamp   Twp., Berks County , Pennsylvania, the son of John and Maria Weiler.  Early in his youth Nathan was apprenticed to a blacksmith.  Although he learned the craft, he disliked the wprk and quit to work for a tobacco dealer.  At age 23, he married Maria Fogel.  The couple would have six children, of whom four would live to maturity, including one son, John F. Weiler, born in December 1847.

Changing occupations once again, Nathan, with wife, moved to Fogelsville, Pennsylvania, to work in a hotel.  That job led to his taking over management of a hostelry in neighboring Siegersville.  Active in Democratic politics, his activities brought him to the notice of prominent party members.   Nathan was nominated and elected sheriff of populous Lehigh County.   The demands of office caused him to move to Allentown, Pennsylvania, with his family.  The city became his permanent home.

Still looking for a more permanent occupation, at the end of his term as sheriff Nathan joined John P. Dillinger in the Allentown liquor trade.  After several years learning the business, Nathan bought out his partner’s share and continued to operate the liquor house until his death in January 1881 at just shy of 71 years old.  The cause was said to be pneumonia complicated by a kidney ailment.

Nathan was  buried in the family plot in Allentown’s Union West-End Cemetery. His gravestone is shown here. Citing Nathan as “a very well-off man,” the local newspaper in its obituary also commented:  “He ever was a well disposed citizen, simple in his tastes and habits and unobtrusive in his demeanor.”

John Weiler immediately took over management of the liquor house, located at 14 North Seventh Street and Center Square with its towering Civil War Monument, shown above. Now 34 years old, John had worked for his father in the liquor house since achieving maturity except while serving a term in Nathan’s footsteps as sheriff of Lehigh County.  By this time John, shown left, was married, his spouse, Ellimina “Ellen” Hass, a woman approximately the same age.  They would have four children, Edward, born 1870; Jennie, 1876, John Jr., 1885, and Marie, 1891.

After changing the name of the liquor house to his own, over the next 39 years, John F. made a number of important innovations.   Among them was containing his wholesale liquor in ceramic jugs with his name written on them in cobalt script.  Because each container was done by hand,  every label has a distinct character and is slightly different from the others, as shown here. 

 

John also packaged his wholesale whiskeys in less ornate jugs, as shown right.  For his retail customers, John provided liquor in glass bottles.  Left is a quart container with elaborate embossing that contains his name and address in large letters.  My assumption is that this bottle would have had a paper label naming the contents that long ago had been washed away and lost.  That renders Weiler’s Jamaica Rum bottle, right below, more interesting for an intact label that is more than a century old.

 

Following John’s term as sheriff, he co-sponsored an annual trap shooting meet as founder of the John F. Weiler Gun Club.  The tournament was held at a site on the grounds of the Duck Farm Hotel, located in a valley surrounded by sloping hills.  A local news story described the scene.  “A famous trout stream runs through the grounds just in the rear of the traps….The traps faced almost due north, and the targets being thrown against a hill background, made them made them more difficult to see—more particularly when thrown toward that part of the hill under cultivation.”  Nevertheless, trap shooters competed and prizes were awarded.  They frequently were won by gunners named Weiler.

John Weiler also was active in the fraternal organization known as the “Improved Order of Redmen.”  Established in 1934, Redmen rituals and regalia were modeled loosely after Native American traditions (as interpreted by white men.)  At its peak in 1935 the organization claimed half a million members before dwindling sharply in subsequent years.   In addition to providing a hall for fraternity meetings, John held the rank of chief of the Allentown “Lecha Wonka Tribe” also known as “The Keeper of Bundles.” 

John Weiler retired in 1917 after some 36 years operating the liquor house begun by his father.   His son, John Junior., took over the business.  Apparently seeing the coming of National Prohibition this third generation of Weilers converted the liquor store into a drug store and confectionary.

John Senior died in 1922 and was buried in the Allentown’s Union-West End Cemetery, on a site adjacent to Nathan’s resting place.  The Weiler monument is shown below.  In his obituary, the sheriff cum liquor dealer was remembered as an “enthusiastic sportsman, with special interest in live bird shoots and clay pigeon shooting.” 

Note:  The story of the The Weilers of Allentown was gathered from a number of sources, including genealogical sites.  My hope is that some alert reader will be able to provide a photo of Nathan Weiler

 

 

 

 

The Heyday and Heartbreak of Milwaukee’s Marble Hall

 Considered by many as Milwaukee’s oldest standing building, the Marble Hall wrote a distinctive story as the city’s premier saloon, gambling house, and political center of the 1800s.   Located at 625 N. Broadway, the building also is associated with two major disasters, both involving significant loss of life.

Shown above is a photo of Marble Hall.   Standing outside are three men, all of whom played important roles in the development of this landmark structure.   At left is Fred Snyder, a Milwaukee native who is credited with establishing the venue.  Standing together above are the Pawinskis, Fred at right wearing a white apron and brother Peter.  The Pawinskis began by working for Snyder at his saloon, eventually bought him out, and guided Marble Hall into the 20th Century.

Snyder, a Milwaukee liquor dealer living at 103 Seventh Street, long had looked for a place to house his dream of a high class saloon and gambling parlor.  A newly constructed four story building in downtown Milwaukee had the right kind of almosphere Snyder was seeking.  He moved in and quickly created the city’s premier “watering hole,”  known city-wide for his famed marble bar, shown below. 

It was not just the bar itself, however, but also marble and slate tiles on the floor and other orate features that drew customers.  Following a fire in 2001, repairs revealed a large skylight at the rear of the saloon, decorated on the glass with pictures of plants and flowers. Also uncovered were a large pair of paintings that had flanked the bar. Indeed, Marble Hall had been a swanky drinking establishment.

Although strictly speaking a saloon, albeit one with a reputation for serving good food,Marble Hall was the name applied to the entire building.  This included rooms on the second floor, a Milwaukee center for local gambling and a Wisconsin political hotspot.  As one newspaper reported:  “Governors and mayors rubbed elbows there…Marble Hall gambling was ‘big league.’  Huge wagers were made on every election — national, state and local.  No odds were official until Marble Hall set its own.”   It was the saloon downstairs, however, where political deals were made.  There the fates of judges, mayors, councilmen, even governors, might be determined — and the results toasted with some of Fred Snyders’ “Old Crow “ whiskey.

Marble Hall also could be the scene of local hijinks.  It was reported that a Milwaukee mayor once walked into the saloon leading a cab horse that had transported him there.  Instead of displaying the typical nude over the bar,  Snyder installed the portrait of a United States Senator, Matthew Hale Carpenter of Wisconsin, shown here.  A gifted orator, known as the “Daniel Webster” of the West” Carpenter was a frequent patron of Marble Hall.

Marble Hall also knew its share of tragedy and sorrow.  In September 1860, amid the unrest preceding the Civil War, the city experienced the greatest disaster in its history.  Returning to Milwaukee from an excursion on Lake Michigan to Chicago, the steamship Lady Elgin was rammed by a fishing boat and sank.  An estimated 300 passengers perished.    Afterward survivors, relatives and others gathered annually at Marble Hall to commemorate the disaster.

Fast forward  to January 10, 1883. The deadliest fire in Milwaukee destroyed Newhall

House Hotel, adjacent to Marble Hall.  The upscale Newhall, called a “tinderbox” by firemen, took twenty-six hours to extinguish.  In the interim 72 people died, many jumping from windows to escape the flames.  Among surviving guests were the famed Barnum midget performer “General” Tom Thumb and his equally small wife, Livinia.  They were carried out of the burning hotel under the arms of a burly Milwaukee firefighter.

The bodies of some victims were laid out in Marble Hall.Shown below is the saloon building having survived the firestorm.  Note that the destruction of Newhall House uncovered earlier advertising on a wall of Marble Hall.  By this time Fred Snyder had sold the property to the Pawlinski brothers.  Although both Fred and Peter were recorded as proprietors of the Marble Hall, the former seems to have been senior partner.  Fred’s name alone appears on the bottled liquor that the saloon was selling in addition to drinks over the bar.

he brothers operated their saloon well into the 1900s until closed by the advent of national Prohibition.  And then beyond.  As described by Milwaukee collector Henry Hecker: “ Fred W. Pawinski, got a little more publicity in 1921. He was indicted and convicted in Federal Court for illegally selling whiskey and sentenced to 11 years in Federal Prison. He was sixty-six years old at the time. Likely owing to his long association with many politicians, some highly placed, a petition was quickly circulated and presented to then President Harding. President Harding issued Fred a pardon.” 

The 13 years of Prohibition were not kind to Marble Hall.  A fire in 1933 required demolition of the two top floors.  The saloon was closed as were the gambling spaces upstairs during and after America’s effort to go “dry.”  The building subsequently held Ianelli’s upholstery shop.  The address was changed to 654 Broadway.  Few who pass the old building today know that it once held Milwaukee’s most elegant saloon and the center of local and state politics.

 

Baltimore's Stewart Distilling Company

Foreword:  Readers of this blog are aware that from time to time I feature other writers who treat similar subjects.  Recently I was researching Baltimore’s Stewart Distillery when I came across an Internet article on that subject by Mike Cavanaugh, a resident of Long Island, New York, and ask his permission to reprint it.  He graciously agreed.  Mike’s blog, baybottles.com, features some 300 posts.  I am pleased to bring his excellent research and information to a new audience and recommend his website.

The Stewart Distilling Company was in business from 1909 until the mid-1920’s but the company’s roots date back much earlier to an Irish immigrant named Robert Stewart. According to 1900 census records, Stewart was born in 1836 in County Antrim, Ireland and immigrated to the United States in 1854. His July 10, 1901 obituary in the Baltimore Sun stated:   When a lad of 18 years he came to this country and settled in Baltimore. In 1886 he started a distillery in Highlandtown.

Between 1887 and 1894 Robert Stewart was listed with the occupation “distiller” in the Baltimore city directories. His distillery was located at the southeast corner of Bank and 5th and the office was at 32 S Holliday.  In 1894 his business incorporated under the name “Robert Stewart Distilling Company” The incorporation notice was printed in the January 15, 1894 edition of the Baltimore Sun:

 Certificate of the incorporation of the Robert Stewart Distilling Company was put on record in the clerk’s office at Towson. The company is formed to continue the distilling business already established by Robert Stewart at Canton. The capital stock is $125,000, in shares of $100 each, and the directors are Robert Stewart, Benjamin Bell, Isaac W. Mohier, Jr., Diedrich Wischhusen and Thos. W. Donaldson.

During this period, the distillery produced a whiskey called “Robert Stewart Rye.” Their agent, at least in New York, was the well established firm of H.B. Kirk who included their brand in several of their advertisements between 1893 and 1895. This December 6, 1893 advertisement in the New York Times stated that it was “bottled at the distillery,” and referred to it as the “Best Eastern Rye.”

Robert Stewart continued to run the business until December, 1897 when he sold the business and retired. The December 31, 1897 edition of the Baltimore Sun ran a story announcing the sale.

                                     A Highlandtown Distillery Sold

The Robert Stewart Distilling Company have transferred to Daniel H. Carstairs and J. Haseltine Carstairs, of Philadelphia, the plant and equipment of their distilling business and three lots of ground on Bank Street and Eastern Avenue. The price paid is not stated. A mortgage for $40,000 for part of the purchase money has been given.

Another story, this one in the January 14, 1898 edition of the Baltimore Sun provided some additional information:    The distillery has a capacity of 1,200 or 1,500 gallons of whisky daily, which will be increased to about 3,000 gallons daily by an addition to the plant now in course of construction.

The Carstairs Brothers served as proprietors of the distillery between 1898 and 1908 which was still listed at Bank and 5th in the Baltimore directories. Many of their early 1900’s advertisements included an aerial view of the distillery, which I assume by this time included the additions mentioned in the 1898 story above.

At the same time the Carstairs Brothers were managing the distillery they were also managing the firm of Carstairs, McCall & Co., a business that their family had been connected with as far back as the late 1700’s. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company was heavily involved in the wine and liquor trade as importers, exporters and wholesale dealers.

A story on Carstairs & McCall in the October 6, 1908 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer described the early history of the business:  The present firm style was adopted in 1867, in which year the late James Carstairs and John C. McCall associated themselves as general partners. They were both recognized as imminently enterprising and progressive men of affairs, and under their aggressive management the interests of the house were considerably broadened and extended. The death of Mr. Carstairs, in 1893, was followed by that of Mr. McCall, in 1894, since which time the business has been conducted under the management of Messrs. Daniel H. Carstairs and J. Haseltine Carstairs, sons of the late James Carstairs, who entered the firm in 1885, and representatives of the fourth generation of the Carstairs family in continuous connection with the house.

The Philadelphia headquarters of the firm were located at 222 South Front Street for many years, but were removed in September, 1904, to the commodious and modernly equipped four-story and basement double building now occupied at 254-256 South Third Street. New York offices are maintained in the Park Row Building.

The story went on to say that while the distillery of the firm was located in Highlandtown, the business was done altogether in Philadelphia. This leads me to believe that while they may have been separate business entities, Carstairs Brothers and Carstairs & McCall were in effect operating as one. During this period they called their whisky “Stewart” Pure Rye Whisky.” A January 12, 1905 item printed in the “Wine & Spirit Bulletin” described it like this:

                                 Carstairs Bros. – A Fine Whisky

The absolutely essential elements for a fine blending whisky are a heavy body and strong character and flavor. The same characteristics are equally attractive, after proper aging, in a fine bar whisky.  Among the best in this line either for blending or bar use or for bottling in bond is the “Stewart” pure rye whisky, made by Carstairs Brothers, of Philadelphia Pa., at their distillery at Highlandtown, a suburb of Baltimore Md.

    The Carstairs Brothers are gentlemen of a remarkably high order of intelligence and ability and character. They, as well as their goods, are thoroughly reliable, which fact will be attested by the trade at large wherever they have had dealings and that covers nearly every section of the country where fine rye whiskies predominate.

The 1908 Philadelphia Inquirer story called Stewart Pure Rye Whiskey their oldest and most well known product and demonstrated that it had grown quite a bit since being acquired by Carstairs:   It has a production of over 15,000 barrels per year and is sold all over the United States. A market for it abroad has rapidly increased of late years and many barrels are forwarded to London, Paris and Bremen every year.

Sometime in early 1909 a newly formed company called the Stewart Distilling Company was incorporated in Pennsylvania to consolidate the operation of Carstairs Brothers’ Stewart Distillery and the business of Carstairs, McCall & Co. A story in the April 25, 1909 edition of the Baltimore Sun covered the new corporation’s acquisition of the distillery:

The Stewart Distilling Company, of Pennsylvania, has purchased from Messers. Daniel H. Carstairs and J Haseltine Carstairs, of Philadelphia, trading as Carstairs Brothers, the distillery at Highlandtown, located on Eastern Avenue and Bank Street. The conveyance was recorded yesterday at Towson. The deed transfers 13 lots, 10 in fee and 3 leasehold: also the entire plant, machinery, tools, etc., office fixtures, furniture, whisky brands and trademarks known as “Stewart” brands, formerly owned by the Robert Stewart Distilling Company.

Four days later the Philadelphia Inquirer covered the acquisition of the facilities owned by Carstairs, McCall & Co.:  The two buildings at 254-56 South Third Street have been conveyed by J Haseltine Carstairs to the Stewart Distilling Company for a consideration recited as nominal. On a combined lot 50.10 x 180 feet the buildings are four-story brick structures assessed at $30,000.

 The new corporation remained under control of the Carstairs brothers with Daniel serving as president and J. Haseltine serving as vice president and treasurer.  The company remained listed at the former Carstairs, McCall & Co., South Third Street address through 1918, changing their Philadelphia address to 301 Bellevue Court Blvd. in 1919. In New York their address was listed as 21 Park Row in 1909 and 1910 and 2 Rector Street from 1911 to 1919.

The brand I see advertised the most during this period was called “Carstairs Rye.” A series of advertisements printed in several of the NYC newspapers over the course of 1911 mention that its “the oldest American Whiskey,” dating back to 1788, which is certainly a reference to the first generation of Carstairs.  A labeled bottle found on the internet confirms that they continued to produce the Stewart brand as well, now called “Stewart Pure Old Rye”

By 1921 the Stewart Distilling Company was no longer listed in Philadelphia but the distillery in Baltimore survived for several more years.  On April 22, 1919, a “liquidation sale” was held at the distillery to dispose of the entire plant, including real estate and equipment as well as the trade name of “Stewart Pure Rye.” Notices announcing the sale were printed in several April editions of the Baltimore Sun.

The day after the sale a story in the Baltimore Sun announced that J. Haseltine Carstairs had purchased the plant in an effort to protect his own interests.

                       Philadelphian Buys Plant to Protect Interests

J. H. Carstairs, of Philadelphia, was the purchaser of the plant of the Stewart Distilling Company, Eastern Avenue and Fifth Street, at Highlandtown, at public auction yesterday afternoon for a consideration said to have been $125,000. The property has said to have been acquired by Mr. Carstairs to protect his own interest, the transfer involving no immediate solution to the future of the big plant. The property includes four blocks of ground, with nine bonded and free warehouses, , besides the equipment, and is said to have been appraised at $1,150,000 before adverse legislation closed its doors.

 Edward Brooks, Jr. attorney for the Stewart Company, said yesterday that after July 1, should the Prohibition law go into effect, a portion of the floor space will continue to be devoted to the storage of liquor now on hand. It is possible, he said, that the remaining buildings will be torn down to make room for improvements for some other line of business.

Sometime in 1921 it appears that the business was reorganized and the Carstairs were no longer involved. In 1922, the Stewart Distilling Company was listed in the Baltimore directories with Arthur Benhoff named as president. A year later in 1923, Robert Pennington and Vincent Flacomio were listed as president and secretary-treasurer respectively.

During this time the distillery may have been producing whisky for medicinal purposes but it was certainly storing liquor in their warehouses. This was evidenced by an incident that occurred in February, 1923 that was covered in newspapers across the country. A condensed version of the story was printed in the February 8, 1923 edition of the New York Daily News:

Discovery that bootleggers have got at least 100 barrels of whisky by tunneling from an unoccupied house to the Stewart Distillery was made today when a bootlegger had bared the plot to authorities. The tunnel is 150 feet long and large enough for a man to crawl through. Barrels in the distillery warehouse were tapped and the liquor pumped through a one and a half inch hose to containers in the unoccupied house.

The Baltimore Sun covered the story in much greater detail and actually provided a sketch associated with the theft:

According to a story in the April 18, 1924 edition of the Reading (Pa.) Times this wasn’t the only whisky vanishing from the Baltimore distillery:

Indictments charging two distillery officials with illegal sale of liquor were returned by a special federal grand jury here today.The men indicted were Jacob Katz, vice president and manager of the local warehouse of the Stewart Distillery, Baltimore, and Morris G. Waxler, local manager of the Sherwood Distillery.  The indictment against Katz contains thirteen counts alleging illegal sale of 3,000 cases of whisky and twenty-five barrels in September 1922 and with maintaining a nuisance where the whisky was stored…

Ultimately the end of the distillery came in the mid-1920’s. A story in the August 5, 1925 edition of the Baltimore Sun, stated the distillery property changed hands again:  Title to the old Stewart Distillery property on Bank Street between Fifth and Seventh Streets was conveyed by the Stewart Distilling Company to W. Guy Crowther, Jacob Ott and Herbert A. Megrow, through the Title Guarantee and Trust Company. The consideration was $75,000.

A month later, this advertisement in the September 6, 1925 edition of the Baltimore Sun announced that the distillery was being dismantled and that much of its contents and equipment was for sale.  Finally a June 15, 1927 Baltimore Sun article stated that the distillery property had been sold sold to the Crown Oil and Wax Company:

The former Stewart Distillery property on Bank Street, including eighteen two-story leasehold brick dwellings at 3804 – 3838 Bank Street and machinery, equipment, lumber, etc., was acquired at public auction yesterday by the Crown Oil and Wax Company. The consideration was $25,000 subject to mortgages totaling $54,566.22. Purchase was from Henry Goldstone, trustee, through Sam W. Pattison & Co., auctioneers. No plans for the property have been made by the purchasing Company, it is said.

The last listing I can find for the Stewart Distilling Company was in the 1926 Baltimore City Directory. As far as I can tell, their corporate charter was ultimately forfeited for failure to pay franchise taxes in 1925 and 1926.

Toward the end of Prohibition several different organizations were planning to revive some of the well-known Carstairs trade names. One, actually calling themselves the “Stewart Distilling Company,” was chartered June 14, 1933, and another calling themselves the “American-Stewart Distilling Company,” was a revival of the previously forfeited Stewart corporate charter.  D.H. and J.L. Carstairs brought suit to restrain them and two other companies, the “Carstairs Rye Distilleries, Inc.,” and the “Maryland Stewart Distillery Company” from using the Carstairs trade name.

An article in the March 15, 1934 edition of the (Allentown Pa.) Morning Call announced that the U. S. District Court of Maryland had ruled in favor of Carstairs in the case against Carstairs Rye Distilleries. I have to assume that they ultimately came down with similar rulings against the other companies as well because all three were included on a list of delinquent corporations that had forfeited their charters that was printed in the February 11, 1937 edition of Baltimore Sun.

The Morning Call article summarized the situation like this:  Carstairs rye whiskey, a favorite with drinkers since colonial times, is off the market unless the famous Philadelphia family bearing the name decides to re-enter the liquor business.

Based on this advertisement for Carstairs Rye, “Back In Baltimore Again,” that appeared in the September 6, 1934 edition of the Baltimore Sun  the family did re-enter the liquor business as Carstairs Bros. Distilling Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There’s no mention of Stewart.

The bottle I found (that opens this post) is machine made with what looks like a double ring lip. It’s embossed with this rather awkward phrase in small letters  around the shoulder:  “LICENSED ONLY FOR USE ON PATENTED VALVE MECHANISM HERE OF BOTTLES WHEN FILLED BY US. RE-USE PROHIBITED. STEWART DISTILLING CO. ONE FIFTH GAL.”

The bottle is consistent with the non-refillable bottle that the company introduced in 1914 calling it “The Supreme Achievement of Standardized Quality, insuring delivery of contents unchanged to the purchaser.”  This most likely dates the bottle no earlier than 1914 and and no later than 1919 and the start of Prohibition.

Note:  Mike Cavanaugh’s use of newspaper and other resources has done a  marvelous job of tracing the history of this distillery, its ownership and brands.  It is just one of some 300 posts he has written for baybottles.com and I recommend his blog to all those interested in whiskey bottles, other artifacts, and history.