Boston’s Burke Went Cuckoo for Whiskey

 

Possibly originating with the term “cloud cuckoo land” from the play “The Birds” by the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes, the word “cuckoo” is often used to describe a  person who is out of their mind.  Boston liquor dealer Michael Burke was not bothered by that connotation when he named his flagship brand “Cuckoo” and adopted the slogan:  “East and West, Cuckoo Whiskey is Best.”

Shown right, Michael Burke was born in Boston in July 1856, the son of Richard Burke, who had immigrated from Ireland about 1840 and died 15 years later.  Of Michael’s childhood, education, and early career, the record is silent.  We can assume, however, that he early was educated and well-practiced in the liquor trade when he opened a liquor house he called “M. Burke, Importer & Wholesale Dealer in Wines & Liquors.”  The year was 1892 and he was 36 years old.

Burke located his establishment in Andrew Square in South Boston, a densely populated Boston neighborhood of located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay, an area colloquially known as “Southie.”  Originally farmland annexed to Boston in 1804, the district had become a densely populated Irish neighborhood.  Burke’s customer base was assured.

The company used a variety of brand names. Among them were "Burkedale Bourbon, ”Fairmount Bourbon,” "Harrison Rye,” “Beacon Hill Whiskey,” Orient Club Bourbon,” "Pease Rye,” "Sorrento Rye,” “Trimore,” and "Wayside Rye.” Burke never registered any of these names for trademark protection, not even for“Cuckoo Whiskey” his flagship label.

Burke was not thinking about “nut cases” when he named his whiskey but referencing the cuckoo bird.  That avian, however, is not with its detractors.  The American species is a brood parasite, meaning that it lays eggs in the nests of other birds.  Although cuckoo eggs are larger than those of its hosts, the victimized birds often do not recognize the difference.   As a result the cuckoo chick is raised as their own.  That chick often shows its gratitude by shoving its smaller siblings out of the nest to their doom.  

By decorating his bottles with a picture of a cuckoo, Burke gave them a unique look that has captured collectors ever since.  The bottles range in size from half pint, right below, and pint flasks, to quarts, left below, each with an embossed picture of the bird.  One of the more interesting examples is a small bulbous carafe that held a drink-sized amount of whiskey.  Those bottles were specially made to be served to customers on the lounge cars of railroad trains.  It is indicative of a widespread market for Burke’s whiskeys.

As noted in the ad shown here, by 1897 Burke had expanded his operation to three addresses in Boston: 49 Causeway Street, 145-147 Staniford Street, and 141-143 Merrimac Street.  Some of his success could be  attributed to the advertising items he gifted to his wholesale customers, including shot glasses and serving trays. 

  

About 1909 Burke, now employing his son, Michael Junior, changed the name of his enterprise to “Rex Distilling.”  In reality, he was not a distiller but instead was  creating Cuckoo Whiskey and other brands by receiving product from area distilleries and blending their contents to arrive at desired color, smoothness and taste.  “Rectifiers” like Burke, courts had ruled, could call themselves “distilling companies” but not distillers.  Many liquor dealers around America had moved to this nomenclature.  Note that tray shown here, the product of Charles W. Shonk Co. of Chicago, bears the Rex Distilling name.

Throughout his long career at the head of a leading Boston liquor business, Burke was raising a family.  In August 1879 he had married Annie E. Colline, shown here in advanced age.  Like Michael, she had been born in America of Irish immigrant parents.   At the time of their nuptials, both were about 23 years old.  Over the next 11 years couple would have five children, two sons, Henry and Michael Junior, and three daughters, Dorothy, Margaret, and Lillian.  Burke provided them with a spacious house on Dorchester Avenue.  Shown here as it looks today, the home is recorded as having five bedrooms and two baths.  In both the 1900 and 1910 census the household included a female servant from Ireland.

The Burkes continued to operate Rex Distilling Company until at least 1918 when the company ceased being listed in Boston directories.  The coming of National Prohibition meant the end of Michael Burke’s successful liquor enterprise and the demise of Cuckoo Whiskey.  The brand was not revived after Repeal despite its earlier success.  

Note:   This post was drawn from a variety of sources.  Unfortunately, however, none of them identified the death dates and burial sites of Michael and Annie Burke.  I am hopeful some sharp-eyed descendant will see this vignette and provide that information.