A: I like the "Harper" with the picture of a lady playing the harp. Also, I like the "Green River, Owensboro, Ky." glass with the famous Green River logo and the "Buchanan Hand Made Sour Mash" with the glass covered label in the bottom. Other favorites are glasses that described a distilling process - "fire copper", "hand made sour mash" and, of course, anything with "bourbon" in the advertising. Also, anything from Paducah, Maysville and Bardstown. They are highly prized in the local area and are among my favorites.
Q:
Tell us about your biggest coup in picking
up a special shot glass.
A:
I've been collecting for so long, I don't
know if I remember: but I think what stands out is buying a couple of large
collections over the years, taking out the few I need and retailing the
balance of the collection. I would not call buying a collection - someone's
life work - a coup, but it is something special.
Q:
How about "the one that got away"?
A:
In my case, most of them got away. In my
thirty years, I have sold about six thousand or more shot glasses. I have
been a dealer first and a collector second. I think I've hung on to most
of the scarce Kentucky glasses but I am amazed by how many I have not seen -
they are only pictures in a book or on a website. I still do a yearly sales
list on pre-pro shot glasses, back bar bottles, etc. The next list is
Nov/Dec 2003. The list is free. Email me at
pvanvactor@aol.com for a copy.
 |
|
As a postscript, and with apologies to Paul, I'm including a picture of the Rheinstrom Bros.' Kriskrinkle glass. It's a Cincinnati glass and I had one in my collection but sold it off a few years back. It's a tricolored enamel lettered glass with gold curlicues above and below the brand name. Originally a bold red, white and blue, the copy I had was a washed out pastel version. Hope it didn't go to someone with a cleaning lady. |
Q:
What's that one special glass you've been hunting for?
A:
There's a story about a local collector
(who's now deceased). He told me one day that the cleaning lady broke his "Kriskrinkle"
shot glass. He was pretty broken up too - it must be some glass, but I've
never seen or heard of one. I'd sure like to find that shot glass.
Q:
To wrap it up, what advice would you offer to young collectors just starting
out?.
A:
It's a lot different today than when I
started. Today, you actually need money - sometimes lots of it. I would
say to pick up those shot glasses you see that are in near excellent
condition and reasonably priced. Get a copy of the latest Edmonson book,
HISTORIC SHOT GLASSES: THE PRE-PROHIBITION ERA and learn the difference
between some of the hard to find glasses and other glasses that you might
see quite often. Try to buy high quality glasses with sharp lettering,
graphics, etc.
Howard Currier is an avid collector of shot glasses and breweriana from Boston, Denver and San Francisco. Contact him by email at hecurrier@comcast.net
