Finch Golden Wedding Rye

[AlaMoi]

here's a poser for the history experts....
my grandparent's family were teetotalers - absolute, no exceptions - I don't know the 'source' of their convictions but they were convicted.

flashback decades...Christmas.  My great aunt was seeing a fella, he brought my great uncle a bottle as a Christmas gift.  My great aunt had a conniption fit - confiscated the bottle, hid the bottle - where it remained until she died in 1986 at 92.  the Christmas Gift Tag is still in the box......

a pix - Golden Wedding Rye - Jos. S. Finch & Co, Inc - Schenley, PA
that's a District of Columbia tax stamp - 1/4 gallon - there's no dates on the Federal stamp across the cap, but it shows a number  "51-1879548" imprinted in black on the rose colored stamp.
the only date clues I can find are
on the front label AL-1703-C
on the front label AL-1703-1E
(10-40) underneath
I thought perhaps the AL-1703 was a license/plant number - but there's a strong suspicion it is a label ID number.

 

on a minor flap of the carton itself:
American Coating Mills, Inc; Elkhart, Ind.
adjacent to the die position number is "J-40" - the carton notation "J-40" is curious, given January June and July, one would think they might be a bit more specific.

the 40 could be 1940 - the time frame could be right - I would have thought it a bit earlier however this site
http://www.bourbonbanter.com/bourbon-advertising/golden-wedding-whiskey-ad-circa-1941/#.Vlx1j79Aepo
shows a 1941 ad - my box has the same crystal decanters (not in that rack) on the back - same decanter tags & text - so the 1940-1941 date appears 'documented' - the label on my bottle has RYE in bold letters under the crown decoration - this is absent in the ad pix.

company timeline here:
http://www.bourbonenthusiast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1776
 

any ideas if this has any value?  (I'll pass on the drinking it idea....)

 

[gfweb]

Lots of empty bottles on eBay.  Prices vary. All < $20 so far as I looked.

[tanstaafl2]

here's a poser for the history experts....

my grandparent's family were teetotalers - absolute, no exceptions - I don't know the 'source' of their convictions but they were convicted.

flashback decades...Christmas.  My great aunt was seeing a fella, he brought my great uncle a bottle as a Christmas gift.  My great aunt had a conniption fit - confiscated the bottle, hid the bottle - where it remained until she died in 1986 at 92.  the Christmas Gift Tag is still in the box......

a pix - Golden Wedding Rye - Jos. S. Finch & Co, Inc - Schenley, PA

that's a District of Columbia tax stamp - 1/4 gallon - there's no dates on the Federal stamp across the cap, but it shows a number  "51-1879548" imprinted in black on the rose colored stamp.

the only date clues I can find are

on the front label AL-1703-C

on the front label AL-1703-1E

(10-40) underneath

I thought perhaps the AL-1703 was a license/plant number - but there's a strong suspicion it is a label ID number.

 

on a minor flap of the carton itself:

American Coating Mills, Inc; Elkhart, Ind.

adjacent to the die position number is "J-40" - the carton notation "J-40" is curious, given January June and July, one would think they might be a bit more specific.

the 40 could be 1940 - the time frame could be right - I would have thought it a bit earlier however this site

http://www.bourbonbanter.com/bourbon-advertising/golden-wedding-whiskey-ad-circa-1941/#.Vlx1j79Aepo

shows a 1941 ad - my box has the same crystal decanters (not in that rack) on the back - same decanter tags & text - so the 1940-1941 date appears 'documented' - the label on my bottle has RYE in bold letters under the crown decoration - this is absent in the ad pix.

company timeline here:

http://www.bourbonenthusiast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1776

 

any ideas if this has any value?  (I'll pass on the drinking it idea....)

 

 

Looks to be well sealed and still has a high fill level. I would be inclined to pop that bad boy open and give it a try. How often are you likely to have a chance to try 50-60yo rye whiskey from Schenley, PA.

 

Feel free to send it my way and I will happily remove all that annoying whiskey in the bottle so your great aunt can rest in peace. Heck, I will even return the bottle! Not like the whiskey is likely to kill you or even make you sick, at least not any more than any other whiskey might...

[tanstaafl2]

You might find this website of interest but it can't really answer the question of when your bottle was produced. It gives a timeline of the Finch company. Note the year 1856 and then when Finch was bought by Rosenteil in 1920 as distilleries began to consolidate (or close) during prohibition. That quickly became the Schenley Products Company in 1921.

 

Finch and the Golden Wedding brand was a Schenley owned product from that time on but probably got labeled as Finch & Co well into the 30's once prohibition ended. By the 1950's it had become Canadian whiskey but not sure when the straight American rye whiskey was no longer made. Around 1940 before WWII seems reasonable as many distilleries made alcohol for the war effort and then got consolidated or closed after the war.

 

If you don't see the Schenley name on the bottle anywhere than I suppose it is possible that this was pre-prohibition whiskey. But the 30's seems more likely since it notes it is a blend of straight whiskies..

 

 

 

Edit: I see you already found a similar timeline on Bourbon Enthusiast. And the ad you found certainly seems to fit and Mike Veach would be the "go to" expert!

Edited November 30, 2015 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[AlaMoi]

it's a bit of a confusing mess.

Rosenstiel bought up a lot of the distilleries.  depending on reference, could have started in 1924....

 

other than "Schenley, PA" there is no reference to any other company on the label or box.

Rosenstiel supposedly named his NYC based company after the location (Schenley) - Schenley Products is also cited as having a distillery in Indiana - so the box maker out of Elkhart would make sense - even if it was produced/bottled not in PA...

 

Finch is also cited some places as being a leading distillery right up thru the late 1940's - actually through the war period.  but I have not found a definitive source that says the Jos Finch distillery in Schenley, PA, was in business from year X to year Y.  and since it's a blend - the source booze could come from nearly anywhere, bottled anywhere, it's just a brand/label.

 

there does not seem to be a single encompassing chunk of info - it's scattered about and dates/events appear to conflict.

 

I did trip across a site offering a 1920's era plain jane no label still in bond bottle - for $340!

[tanstaafl2]

Certainly an interesting bit of history for the American whiskey enthusiast what ever the true source was!