There was a time not so very long ago that the O!SO GOOD shot glass that graces virtually all pre-pro collections was in such low demand that they barely fetched $5 at auction. Indeed, I distinctly remember Paul Van Vactor (better know as stilz on eBay) observing that he had at least 8 on hand and no idea what to do with them.
O!HOW times have changed.
O!SO GOOD glasses are one of the most common and readily-available pre-pro shot glass, second only to the Hayner Distilling Co. cylinder. I’ve logged 580 of them into the sales database since its inception. It usually comes with a gilded rim. There are a few glasses without a gold rim in circulation, but a closer look at the rim using a loupe confirms traces of gold, meaning that the gilding has worn off. There are two known (and quite rare) variants. The easier to find of them has a slightly different monogram (note the solid “J”) and text font, whereas the other has interior panels.
In the past few years, interest in O!SO GOODs has increased exponentially, presumably coinciding with and prompted by the resurrection of the J. Rieger & Co. brand in the guise of the Rieger Restaurant and the Rieger Distillery, both of whom claim family connections to the original company. The idea that someone might engage in a bidding war that ultimately resulted in a hammer price of $76 for one of these glasses would have seemed ridiculous just a few years ago, but here’s the evidence:
The glass above was listed on eBay by glomannd with a starting price of $9.95, closing on March 13 at $76 with new bidder l***2 in pole position. Yikes.
jeffstateglass of Western Whiskey Bottles fame jumped in with a coat-tails bin (buy-it-now) that sold 4 days later for $55:
Old timers will be feeling light-headed and in dire need of a Rieger’s-on-the-rocks after all this excitement, but, hang on to your hats girls, this latest offering still has two days to go. It’s in fence post condition (as in, good only for putting on the fence post and using for target practice) but it’s already at $76 with l***2 in the lead:
Watch this space for the outcome…..
For those of you that are interested, this past 4 weeks saw 269 pre-pro glass auctions close on eBay. 158 auctions closed without a bidder. The average price of glasses that sold was $40.68.
Update: The O!SO GOOD shown above finally closed at closed at $76, with l***2 being the winner and i***a in second place.