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, 163 pre-pro glass auctions closed, 34 closed with no bidder, average price of the glasses that sold was $27.86. Six glasses sold for >$100, none sold for >$1,000.

This is probably the last edition of SOTW before collectors head off on vacation, so I thought this might be a good opportunity to talk about hunting shots in the wild (or even virtual wild) as eBay winds down for the summer. First, I need to give you an update on the red-etched "Old Scenter" that became a topic of discussion in the Chat Room.

Glasses with a colored label attract bids like, well, the pile of dog poo currently sitting in my driveway attracts flies (maybe worse), and this one was no exception. However, the label on this glass is clearly beaded (see right) and to my mind, that dates it to post-1920 and perhaps post-Repeal. I don't know of any pre-pro red beaded glasses, but I have two 1920+'s glasses that look much like this one (see the C M King and the Wild & Koch glasses in the database).

Arky Joe withdrew his $97 bid after hearing that, which seemed sensible after learning that Griesedieck had a long and distinguished history that survived Prohibition and ran several decades after post-Repeal. The auction ultimately closed on a snipe, with xxxtruk losing the glass by $0.34 to thirdstreetantiques for a hefty $126.

Although the winning bid probably qualified it for a "Red Hayner" award, the story doesn't quite end there, because apparently the label is NOT beaded - instead the glass must have been greasy when etched which caused the labeling medium to pool in droplets and create variations in label density. It is, in fact, a standard red label and most likely a pre-pro glass. That's one for the text books..... live and learn.

During the past few weeks, several collectors have sent me pics of glasses that they've hunted down in the wild. If you've been reading SOTW for any length if time, you'll know that while I appreciate and applaud the steady stream of pre-pro glasses that eBay continues to throw up, I also lament that fact that there's little or no challenge to assembling an eBay collection. At least in the early days of eBay, the site was so rudimentary that actually finding pre-pro glasses in the sea of chaos required endless honing and refinement of search routines. Now, the site is so well organized that sellers are steered to precisely the right listing category and then eBay sends us all tidy little e-mails showing us what's just listed. Growing a collection the eBay way has become as easy as walking into Wal-Mart and picking up a pack of Pokemon cards. eMart is not the only source of glass, however, and if one actually makes the effort to go hunt them, there are plenty of prime glasses to be had in antique malls and at weekend shows and flea markets.

Case in point. When I relocated from Philly to Atlanta, I despaired at ever find another pre-pro glass in the wild because the Southern States are generally accepted to be the armpit of the universe when it comes to glass hunting. But, after hitting every antique mall in the area, I was rewarded with a stunning "Private Stock, L Martin & Co." glass from Boston (lower left) - a steal at $20. As it happened, I already had this glass, so I traded it to one of our colleagues for an equally rare Boston glass (middle). When I finally made it to the Atlanta bottle show last summer, I was surprised to find a table full of shots that represented the bulk of pushup1's (Tony Hayes) Louisville collection. I took several home, including a "Royal Whiskey" from W L Weller & Sons (lower right). The glass is an early GT original.

Bottle shows have always been a prime source of shot glasses, although you have to be there when the doors open if you want to nab the good ones.

Here's another great bottle-show find (right), from E H Chase & Co. of Louisville. This pic was sent in by aquabluecreations, who found the Chase glass and a Jesse Moore at the Columbia, SC bottle show. Not every show is big enough to ensure finding shot glasses, and one can strike out at even the best of them on occasion, but I've never regretted making the effort to attend a bottle show. If you enjoy hunting glasses, you'll appreciate picking through tables of related material and chatting with the people staffing them. You can find listings of shows in your area at the FOHBC and on the ABGC magazine website.

glasshopper8 found this South Dakota glass at a regular antique show. As he tells it:

"On Saturday I went to the Antique Spectacular Show & Flea Market at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds. Spotted a typical tray of post-pro crap. Then I told myself that is exactly where a deal might be found. No luck – just crap. Then I pulled back the identification card in front of the tray that was supported by another shot. I was looking straight down at the rim of a classic thin walled shot. Could it be? Pulled it up where I could see the face and was disappointed to see an ordinary text glass. It was only $2. So I took a look. It was so clean and perfect I started thinking post-pro. Drat a four digit phone number. But wait it was a mail order glass. I thought mail order was strictly pre-pro. Then I noticed it was from South Dakota. How many glasses can there be from SD and for $2 there was no risk. Barbara has the barrel version at $20-30".

How many pre-pro glasses from SD are there on record? Fewer than TX or MT - not a bad catch for $2!

Hunting through the virtual glasslands is not quite so satisfying but can be just as challenging. Plus those of you chained to a computer all day can hunt while pretending to work. If you don't frequent the Chat Room, you may have missed these spectacular grabs by nuffbarn:

The Robertson's Dundee whiskey glass cost him $35, the Tube Rose $50 - $85 for two pristine enamels is most definitely a Steal of the Week! The irony is that while nuffie found them on an antique store website, he had followed a link that had been supplied by whiskeyminis66 in the Chat Room!

So what about a SOTW? I guess we have to feature an eMart win, and this one was a doozy in that it sets a new record for price paid for an plain old text glass with not even a hint of color on the label. The lucky (?) winner was thegenuineflask (Ralph Van Brocklin) who fended off 26 other bids to take it home for $761.01, which just goes to show you the potential of these old glasses when a gazillion collectors are all after a one-of-a-kind find.

Etched Shot Glass - "Jack Daniel / Old / No. 7 / Nashville, Tenn. / Hopkinsville, KY. / St. Louis, MO.". Thin glass, stands 2 1/8" tall X 1 7/8" across top. Perfect condition and a very old one !


		*Shot of the Week - Just say "NO" to eMart* Special Edition!!**	Item number: 280340328122