On Monday morning, I headed west on I-80. The interstate meanders up and over the Sierras, taking one through Truckee (famous for its beautiful enamel New Ess saloon shot glass), a CA agricultural inspection station (no, I wasn't carrying death-watch beetle, at least as far as I know. Bed-bugs, possibly), and the Tahoe national forest. The landscape is breath-taking and I couldn't resist pulling in at each and every scenic overlook to gawp at and take photographs of the lush vistas.
Many of you will have heard of Steve Abbott, and/or will have purchased glasses from him on eBay. He's famously opinionated on many pre-pro related issues, and is not afraid to speak his mind, even if he may ruffle a few feathers here and there. In fact, he would make the perfect person to take over writing SOTW - he could easily out Poo-bah the Poo-bah when it comes to outing idiots as idiots. Now there's a scary thought.
He is, however, a much-respected and knowledgeable member of the pre-pro collecting community, and he claims to have all but a couple of known Sacramento shot glasses. He and his wife live in an immaculate modern condo, into which he has managed to cram an amazing amount of Sacramento-related "stuff" that one would not appreciate was there unless given a full tour, because much of it is so tastefully framed and hung that it looks perfectly at home in his living room, or guest room, or wherever else he's managed to stash it. This is not a collection displayed as if in a museum, this is a collection designed to be lived with, and many of us could learn lessons from his approach.
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The focus of
the display is a discrete mirrored wet-bar tucked in one corner where the
living area meets the kitchen. As you can see, the glass shelves are lined with rare flasks, jugs, colored-label decanters, and enamel back-bars. Serving trays form Sacramento dealers hand above, and the shelf above that is stacked with Sacramento jugs. Note also the framed blotters and trade cards (hanging at right), a perfect example of how to display ephemera. Many of the back-bars hold appetizing golden fluids, which I was surprised to learn, was the real thing (see below): contemporary brands of bourbon and scotch. I've always been a little afraid of storing spirits in pre-pro glass because of its high lead content, but I guess the secret is to drink it quickly before significant amounts of impurities have time to leach out!
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Steve's glasses are gathered in two period glass-fronted store displays. Although they're stacked in ranks, the height of the displays and their glass sides mean that their inscriptions are easy to read. In case you're wondering, the blue/red/white etched glass next to the shaving mug is a fake that reads "Abbott's Best"
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A sampling of Steve's Sacramento shot-glass collection.
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 Offered for trade - would consider trading for any label-under-glass shot that I need to fill a hole in the collection - contact oldwhiskey@pre-pro.com. |
I flew
out of Reno the next morning with about ten glasses packed in my carry-on,
but I also had leads on about twenty more that followed by mail the next
week. Among them was the Campe label-under-glass shown at left
(offered for trade)! So I traveled many miles and missed the show
opening, but -- did I think it the trip was worthwhile?
You be the judge, fellow glass-lusters..... Happy hunting! |
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