I pulled the image above out of the database (which is currently offline -see below) in recognition of the day; there are few pre-pro glasses that feature the Stars and Stripes so prominently, although my memory is getting a little fuzzy around the edges after so many weeks of social-media fueled bizarritude. The only other one that comes to mind is a “Drink Old Glory” from Pearce & Co. of New Orleans, LA.
It’s been a struggle to find glasses worth mentioning over the the past two months, partly because the number of glasses listing for sale on eBay has dropped sharply (the usual summer lull) and partly because most of what has been listing has been run-of-the mill glasses or relists. Over the past 8 weeks, 290 glass auctions closed, 103 closed without a bidder, and the average price was $49.08.
Standing at 3-1/2″ tall, the “Nymphs and Satyre” below is not a shot glass but it caught my attention because it’s clearly a George Truog original. It was listed by wellman3 as a beer glass, but it was probably intended to be a part of a dinner service to hold water or some other non-alcoholic beverage. It fetched $102. If you keep a mindful eye out when trawling antique malls, glasses like this can usually be had for a fraction of that price and make an interesting (and usable) adjunct to the collection.
You’ll be aware from previous posts that I’m always on the lookout for items that tell us something about the history of pre-pro glasses, including how they were etched, who the recipients were, and how they were shipped. A couple of weeks ago I ran across a buy-it-now auction that featured an original box containing 7 pre-pro glasses. The glasses are all plain-Jane and known, but the lot is interesting because it contained two I W Harpers, two Owl Hollows, two Old Rockwells, and a Pure old Hickory. I W Harper and Owl Hollow were both Bernheim Bros. (Louisville, KY) brands. The owner of Old Rockwell is unknown, whereas Old Hickory appears to have been claimed and sold by many different liquor dealers.
The box doesn’t offer any clues as to who might have been the sender or the recipient – it is simply marked with a black stamp that says “1 DOZ BOX WHISKIES”. The lettering is dirty and faded and hard to read, but may include glass capacity also.
The glasses inside all look to be unused and in mint condition, suggesting that they shipped together and were kept together, but it’s hard to be certain. Regardless, it’s a nice find from a historical point of view.
The Rose-fever that I mentioned in the last SOTW continues. Who could have imagined that the sad, faded Chattanooga/Jacksonville shown below would have fetched $450? It’s a rare glass, but $450?
And the there was this one – a three-city glass (ATL/CHA/JAX) that I’d not seen before; this went for $760. I mean, seriously?
gator-ben (the seller) must be looking for a private island to buy at this point (I hear Richard Branson has put Necker Island up for sale to help shore up Virgin Atlantic – that would be nice one).
You will have noticed that that there are no links to the shot glass database in this post. That’s because the site was originally written using a now-prehistoric version of php, the popular scripting language. The company that host pre-pro.com recently updated php to a version that does not recognize many of the antiquated commands that make the databases work, so for now, they are kaput. Normal service may be resumed about the same time a viable covid-19 vaccine becomes widely available. In other words, it may be some time. Stay healthy, stay well.