Above dated 2/14/1875
Above dated 3/01/1875
Above from 1876 Langley
Note "SIGNET"
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According to John Thomas, Kirkpatrick removed himself from the liquor business due to his involvement in S.F. politics and his appointment to the position as chief of police.
However, it was actually McCue who abrubtly departed from the wholesale liquor scene in 1875.
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So where is an intact bottle?!!!
And, could there be a variant with the mold slugged to read Kirkpatrick & Gentry?
And, could there be a variant with the mold slugged to read Kirkpatrick & Gentry?
PS: Refer to the following link http://www.globtopwhiskies.com/2009/04/old-signet-saga.html
It documents the existence of at least pieces of the bottle.
The late great Mike Dolcini coined the term "Old Figment" in reference to the Old Signet 1/5, or lack there of. It may have been his way of trying to "flush one out", as an avid quail hunter he was, would be familiar with the notion.
ReplyDeleteAs I've stated in the past, there is no hard (glass)evidence around to prove the bottles were even blown. All physical evidence seems to have been lost (2 documented cases: one at Fremont mudflats; other at Sutro, Nev townsite). I for one, do believe that the bottle exists and that another one will be found at least broken someday, and quite possibly an intact example will eventually be found. It's just too far fetched for this to have been a ruse by some early collector during the 1960's. Kirkpatrick and McCue were only together at 313 Pine for one yr... 1874. For someone to find that out, and "invent" a bottle, is pretty unrealistic. I dont think early collectors went through old directories looking at partnerships and then made up bottle designs ! Someone had to have seen some pieces of this thing, and then researchers like J Thomas and Bill Wilson went to the directories to nail down the date and brand. The Ultra Extreme Rarity of this bottle must be due mainly to the partnership only being in business 2 yrs, which only 1 of those yrs they were at the address embossed on the bottle... 313 Pine St., then dissolving the following yr. Maybe only one order was placed with the glass factory??
These ads that KY Gem found, concur with Eric McGuire's dates in his "Old San Francisco Directory of Liquors-- Wholesale and Importers" booklet.
1874 seems to be the magic year for Signet and also for Cal Clubhouse. Now... if one of us could just hit a loaded 1874 whiskey layer !! Both are on my bucket-list....
AP