Believe it or not, “trotting”, aka “harness racing” is actually a thing. Wikipedia helpfully explains that “harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver.”
Quite how Samuel P Haller Co. of Pittsburgh, PA. was connected to trotting, we may never know, but his business did leave us with two nice picture glasses featuring a trotting horse and sulky to advertise their Trotter whiskey brand. Both are relatively rare, showing up for sale roughly once every 5-7 years or so.
The database contains a rare variant of one of the two that lists the company as “Samuel P Haller Co.“; the more common version of this glass omits the “Co.” The other glass in the database is the “Sole Owner” variant, and it was one of these that listed for sale on eBay in the past couple of weeks.
The seller, milksrme1960, wanted $100 for it and the auction closed on Dec. 17 without a bidder. I would have bid on it if I didn’t already have one in the display case, but I understand why there were no takers.
Wash me!!!
Luckily, the seller relisted for $65 and, as of typing, there’s only one interested party. I wouldn’t be surprised if a bidding war pushed it over $100 this go-around. Happy eBaying!