Shot of the Week

Each edition of SOTW will begin with some stats on sales in the past 28 days to give us all a sense of where the hobby is going. In the past four weeks, 113 pre-pro glass auctions closed, 21 closed with no bidder, average price of the glasses that sold was $27.27. Five glasses sold for >$100, none sold for >$1,000.

Hear that deep, resonant, reverberating rumble in the distance? That was the sound of March Madness on eBay coming to an abrupt and thunderous halt. As of a couple of weeks ago, the snow-bird buyers apparently upped camp and moved north, leaving easy pickings for the eBay regulars. The sellers are left wondering why their prized $100 glass just sold for $20 and chump change...

And so begin the summer doldrums in the 'Bay.

The Poo-Bah promised you an update on matters still in play in the last edition of SOTW. The intrigue is now over so the update can now go live: you can find an SOTW Special on two fake pre-pro glasses in the Archives.

Here's the most expensive glass from the past month - a California Club Whiskey from Braunschweiger & Co. of San Francisco. This particular example was snatched by Arky Joe, who has fully embraced a corruption of Horace Greeley's famous quote, "Collect West, young man, collect Western go-withs from wine country." Or something like that.

This ghastly green set of six shooters caught the Poo-Bah's eye while surfing in the 'Bay. It's not pre-pro, but the glasses do show up for sale individually on occasion and are often billed as such.

I'd often wondered if the crude rendition of the fly and the devil were related and this set nicely shows that they were and ties in four other novelty glasses. I was thinking of dropping a bid on the set to have a record of how the pre-pro novelties morphed during transition from pre-pro to Pro to post-Repeal, but the hammer finally fell at $88.77 - tad too much to spend on a curiosity item that potentially could light a room at night with a Martian glow.

The main story from these past few weeks has been about bargains, bargains, bargains.

Nuffie sailed off with a perfect Atlantic County Club from Noo Joysey for only $12.99 (nice!), then loco8ball took down one of azsaloon's glasses, a Minute Man from Boston, for $25.02. Not a bad deal!


A steal at $12.99!	Nice buy for $25.02!	Super-rare -- $25.02!	$7.71 a swallow!

We've seen so many Plymouth Rock's recently that the Poo-Bah just yawned and completely ignored Ed Sipos' latest version, especially since it seems worn on one side. And then when entering it in the sales database, I noticed the inclusion of the word "BOURBON" on the second line - making it a super-rare variant of the more common Rock. I kicked myself several times for not having bid on that one. Finally, there's a tasty "Two Swallows" from Chicago - that one washed down nicely, even with a rim chip, for $15.42!

And then from the sublime to the ridiculous:


Not at $52.00!	$53.99 for an old Bag?	Double trouble for $182.49!

Three plain text glasses for not-so-bargain prices.

When the JAX collectors take on the Chattanooga collectors, you just know it ain't going to be pretty -- but what's with you Kansas City boys these days? Something in the water??? Too late in the year to blame cabin fever!

So how about a pick for SOTW?

The Poo-Bah is showing his own bias yet again, but any time a lug shows up, it has to be a shoo-in for SOTW even if it does have a chunk missing from the rim. This one is listed in HSG but it's the first time I've seen it "in vitro". It's a Moss Rose Pure Rye from -- well that's an interesting question.

The brand originally belonged to Charles Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, but the company died during a financial crisis in 1882. It's unlikely that the glass dates to that period. Moss Rose later shows up as being sold by Friedman, Keiler & Co. and by the Geo Goodman Co., both from Paducah, KY., but a glass in Paul Gronquist's collection identifies V C Dillman & Co. as being "Sole Proprietor" of the Moss Rose brand. And where was Dillman & Co. located?

Uh-oh, Kansas City, MO......

I love this one, advertising on the bottom inside of glass.

Baked on white enameled bottom.

Small chip on top edge.

2 1/4"tall.