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, 231 pre-pro glass auctions closed, 50 closed with no bidder, average price of the glasses that sold was $24.19.  Thirteen glasses sold for >$100.

Traditionally we only talk about bidding and selling on eBay, but this edition of SOTW features a rarely-seen glass on an auction site where glasses are rarely seen.

 The glass advertises "Crow Whiskey", from the Lapp-Goldsmith Co., of Louisville.

 

As you can tell, this is an old one and bears the unmistakable handiwork of our friend GT.   I've seen this glass only once before - in Ken Schwartz' collection.  There is another version of it in Paul Van Vactor's display case - the crow is rendered more crudely and may be the older of the two, but Lapp-Goldsmith stopped listing in 1894  so both versions predate the bulk of glasses we collect by a couple of decades.

So where did it list?  It appeared with two other glasses in a group lot on a bottle website.  I've watched it for many years now and seen shots come up only a couple of times.  Bidding remains anonymous so I'm not sure who else was watching: the auction closed at $275.  Anyone else see it or know where it listed?   Answers in the next edition of SOTW.

Before ending, I wanted to share with you a conversation I had with the seller of the Custer Whiskey that I won a couple of weeks ago.  It cost me dearly, but it's a CA glass and the name alone is enough to make this one appealing to a wide audience.   The seller, Ellen B., is an extremely friendly person and great to talk to.  She mentioned that she'd had 37 requests to end the auction early.  The most ballsy, from a person who will remain nameless, tried this amusing tactic:

"The best offer I got was $125.00 and some BS about it going into a museum.  Gave me some story about the museum usually only takes donations for their displays but was hoping I would be honored enough that they were willing to pay for this piece that I would end the auction early.  Went on to blow some more smoke up my butt about how museums count on kind and giving people like myself to help create exciting displays for the public to see.  On and on.  Even mentioned I could use it as a tax write off but never offered to send a receipt or even tell me what museum.  I did not believe the story for a minute." 

 

Ellen also related how she had come by the glass.  She tells a great story and it gives us all hope of finding great glasses outside of eShot-Mart:

"...here is the story of how I acquired the Custer's Reserve: it's going to sting a little. My husband and I yard sale every weekend that we can. We collect a variety of items as does most of my family and I buy to resale on eBay.

This one weekend we started early on Saturday morning. (In most cases the early bird gets the worm, not true with this shot glass story). Mostly what I was looking for on that Saturday was any type of cups, glasses or dishes I could use in an old fashioned dime pitch/toss (like the carnival used to have) as cheap as I could get them. I am doing a dime pitch at a party next 4th of July. We hit 5 or 6 sales and really did not find much. Our local Catholic church was having their annual sale that day. We usually don't attend this sale only because the volunteers that put on the sale pick it over and keep anything good for themselves before the sale ever starts.

Since we were driving right by the sale and I was looking for dishes we thought we would stop in. Now mind you I have donated items to this sale before and have found them to be very picky about what they are willing to take as a donation for their sale. No lingerie as that promotes sex, no beer signs or other drinking items as that promotes drinking, no advertising mirrors as younger kids do drugs on mirrors, etc... (Yes they are that picky) So my husband and I went in and looked around. They had tons of dishes I could use for the dime pitch but they were still in the .50-$1.00 each range and that was more than I wanted to spend on dime pitch dishes that I am going to give away. I picked up a few vintage Halloween candles and went to pay. As I was paying I asked one of the workers if they would be coming down in price later in the day. She informed me at 12 noon everything went 1/2 price and the last hour or so of the sale it was fill a box for a couple dollars. So I tucked that in my memory and went on to some other sales looking for bargains.

About 1:30 that afternoon I was at home looking over my finds of the day and realized I really had not meet my goal of finding at least one box of dishes for the dime pitch. I asked my husband if he would like to go back to the Catholic church sale to see what we could find for the dime pitch. He was not sure he wanted to go. He tossed the idea back and forth and finally about 2pm I said I was going with or without him, so he hopped in the car with me. By the time we returned to the sale it was well picked over but some glasses and other dishes were still sitting on the tables that I could use. They told me almost everything was fill a box for a dollar. So I grabbed a box and started filling it up. I noticed these very thin shot glasses but thought that was not really a good item for a kids dime pitch so I passed them up the first trip down the table. Then I went back and picked one up and noticed it said Morville AAA. I knew immediately it was pre-pro only because my dad collected these shot glasses. In my box it went and I started searching for the other shot glasses I had seen. Most of them were thin walled but no etching on them. Across the table I spotted the Custer's Reserve but could not reach it from where I was at. So I left my box sitting on the floor and ran around the table to grab it. I got there just as a gentleman was reaching for it. But I did get there first. I figured the Custer's was a good one but did not know how good. I finished filling my box with dime pitch dishes but made my husband carry the 2 shot glasses so they would not get chipped or broke in the box.

We stood in line and finally got up to the cashiers table and she looked everything over. By then my husband had set the shot glasses carefully in the box with my other dishes. The cashier immediately pulled the shot glasses out and looked at them. She started going on and on how these should have never been out on the tables because they had to do with drinking. On and on she went and I said "Well just put them back in the box and I will take them off your hands." The cashier then tells me she can't sell them in a lot with the rest of the stuff in my box for $1.00 she needs more for the shot glasses. I thought here we go. I asked how much and she said.........................."I have to have a dime a piece for these glasses." I dug $1.20 out of my pocket (.20 for 2 shot glasses and $1.00 for the box of dishes I had) and away we went.

When I got home I washed them up and they were mint condition. I called my dad (he lives close by) and he came and looked at them. He brought his book and we looked them up. His book is so old that it listed the Custer's at $40-$50 I think. He asked where I had found the shot glasses and I told him. We were both amazed that these 2 glasses had sat at that sale all day long. My dad had not stopped that sale due to the reason I mentioned above. I had passed them up once that morning as did numerous other collectors that had attended that same sale. There is 20 or 30 of us that are consider "regulars" at local yard/tag sales. One man that I saw at that sale in the morning owns a local antique shop and is a heavy collector of whiskey bottles, glasses and advertising items never noticed the shot glasses either. If he had I know he would have bought them. How and why they sat there all day until I came back is beyond me.

When I got ready to list the shot glasses on eBay I called my dad and offered them to him. I could tell he kind of wanted them but said he did not, instead wanted me to list them on eBay so I could make a little money. I almost saved them back for my dad for Xmas. Instead I listed the Custer's with a "high" reserve (I thought) and figured if it did not sell I would then give it to my dad as a gift. And you know the rest of the story. So yes there is still hope for finding pre-pro shot glasses out there for next to nothing. Since then I look at all shot glasses at sales but those are the only 2 I have run across that are worth anything. In the past my dad has purchased some of his pre-pro shot glasses for .25 or $1.00. So yes it can happen.
 

That's all folks.  See you on eBay....