Sherry and Pineapples

By Robert Strickhart By Robert Strickhart

Sounds like great dessert tonight … and a story

I am absolutely certain that there are stories behind every bottle. One category of stories includes the “how I came by this bottle story.” Many bottle collectors, myself included, can tell you how, when and where the bottles on our shelves were acquired, who sold it, and the provenance connected.

I have a thing for bottles with the little sticker that reads The Carlyn Ring Bitters Collection. For some reason, they are just a tiny bit more appealing to me. I can also tell you how and where I obtained my first Drakes cabin bitters, for me a fond memory.

Then, there is the story of the bottle itself. If you look at historical flasks, there is usually a story being told. Sometimes, and I believe, actually most of the time, there is a secondary story, an underlying second layer of the story. Most of us have seen the beautiful Baltimore flasks with a nicely embossed ear of corn on the front with the image of the Baltimore monument on the reverse side. Certainly there is a story here, the ear of corn and Baltimore monument must have meant a great deal to a great number of people for a glassmaker to go to the effort of making a flask depicting such things.

In another instance, I received a beautiful Christmas card last year picturing a Sheaf of Wheat flask with the reminder that the sheaf of wheat once meant “prosperity” and that is the hope for you and yours for the holiday season. (I really do enjoy and appreciate this bottle family!)

Another story is the story being told by the name embossed on the bottle. I dug into the meaning behind the Chartreuse Damiana Bitters in a recent article and while the Damiana bitters had a great backstory, it was sort of a plain, unremarkable bottle. The bitters bottle we will focus on in this article is quite appealing and unusual in form, and it, too, has a great symbolism and ingredient story to be told.

The bottle for exploration is listed in Ring/Ham’s Bitters Bottles as follows:

M 146 MOULTON’S OLOROSO BITTERS / TRADE motif - pineapple -MARK J.J. Gillespy & Sons Sole Agents Troy, New York

11 3/8 X 3 (5 1/4)

Round, Aqua and Blue green, NSCR, Applied mouth, Scarce

14 ribs at base, at top of panel, on shoulder and two-thirds up neck

The A of OLOROSA changed to O

There’s a good deal of information to digest here. First, the bottle is described as scarce, indicating that there are probably 150 or fewer known examples available. There are two other Moulton’s known today. One of particular note is sort of referred to in the M-146 description’s last line, noting the change of the A in OLOROSA being changed to OLOROSO. This reference is to the extremely rare M-145 MOULTON’S OLOROSA BITTERS. This is the exact same bottle as the M-146 with the exception of the O to A letter change. Probably a mold maker’s “whoops” and corrected early on, as told by the extreme rarity of the M-145. While there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 known corrected examples, there are probably only five known OLOROSA examples. If you’re not paying attention, you could easily overlook this detail and miss out on a great scarcity.

The other known similarity of this bottle is an unlisted variant that came to the surface some years ago on eBay. This bottle was dug in Mississippi and reported by Bill Ham. The bottle was also aqua but had MOULTON’S OLOROSO BITTERS on the front, while the pineapple and words TRADE MARK were on the reverse. The bottle was also somewhat smaller and I believe will be included in Bill’s updated Bitters Bottles Supplement II. I don’t know who the successful bidder was, but he sure got what I consider a great rarity.

The M-146 Oloroso is usually found in aqua, but darker shades heading to the blue-green tones are known. In my opinion, aqua is an often overlooked color. It would be really something to see this particular bottle in a green or amber coloration, but somehow the aqua is very pleasing and appealing. On the shelf, it stands out nicely as do other aqua bitters. There is nothing quite as cool as a beautiful run of National Bitters ears of corn in wild colors with an aqua example in the mix.

Other than the information from the Ring/Ham Bitters Bottles, citing J.J. Gillespy, as a grocer from Troy, N.Y., as the sole agent for Oloroso bitters, little is known. The very fine website Bottle Pickers also found Jason J. Gillespy in the Troy City Directory of 1871. From that research we learned that J.J. Gillespy was in business at the beginning of the Civil War, and was located at 271 River St. in Troy. An ad noted that Gillespy was a dealer in “Fine Groceries, Ales, Wines, Etc., for Family Use.” He had two sons who joined their dad later on and together as J.J. Gillespy & Sons were listed as the sole agents for Moulton’s Oloroso Bitters.

Turning our attention to the term “Oloroso” and the symbol of the pineapple, we find that Oloroso is a type of sherry that has been aged. Sherry is a product specifically of Spain and for sherry to be legally labeled as “Sherry,” it must come from an area in Spain in the province of Cadiz. In fact, the folks from Spain are quite serious about this and will actively prosecute anyone who produces a product from somewhere else and names it “sherry.”

TOP: Another Moulton’s Oloroso Bitters bottle. BOTTOM: Close-up of the A to O letter change.

While there are several varieties and versions, “sherry” is what is known as a “fortified wine” made from white grapes. After the wine undergoes fermentation in the barrel, the original wine is “fortified” with what is known as grape spirit in order to increase the final alcohol content. The wine classified as Oloroso undergoes aging and is fortified to 18 to 20 percent alcohol, resulting in a dark, heavy, sweet dessert wine with quite a kick. The word “oloroso” means “scented” in Spanish, and this follows true as the end product has quite an aroma.

Now those of you who know me, really know me, understand that I take writing these articles very, very seriously. I believe that to write an accurate and informative article, authors absolutely must spare no expense, and sacrifice any personal dangers or tribulations to be able to relate to the subject matter at hand and get the real truth to our readers. I, therefore, only for the purpose of being able to relate to you, dear readers, felt obliged to experience “Sherry” in its real and true form.

Without fear and with dogged determination I proceeded to sample sherry, keeping in mind the true spirit of journalism and the requirements of a columnist with Antique Bottle and Glass Collector magazine. My final analysis: YUCK! I guess it’s an acquired taste. OK, so now let’s get back on track.

Why the symbol of the pineapple was included in the embossing of this bottle is unknown, but it really was an excellent choice in my mind. The pineapple has quite a history of its own and is symbolic in many ways.

As far back as the 1600s, Europeans were introduced to the pineapple by explorers and those brave enough to sail the seas to far away places where pineapples were to be found. To bring back a pineapple was extremely difficult due to the slow nature of sailing vessels. So if you were to have a pineapple, you paid a high premium for it, and that meant you had the finances to live in luxury. In the early days of the colonies here, only the fastest ships were employed to bring pineapples to port to avoid the fruit from rotting, and so the cost was exorbitant.

In fact, when Marianne and I toured South Carolina last year, we learned how rich citizens of Charleston would actually rent a pineapple to exhibit on their table when visitors came to call. It meant that you would spare no cost to show your guests how much their visit meant to you. Therefore, the pineapple not only was understood to mean luxury, status and in fact almost royalty, it came to symbolize hospitality. The symbol of the pineapple became popular on door knockers and even butter molds from then on. To this day, our family Christmas tree has a pineapple ornament included.

So a rich, sweet alcoholic after-dinner drink and a pineapple, the sign of hospitality, wealth and status; quite a good message to send to those seeking the benefits of a bottle of bitters.

Finally, we should investigate the possibility of adding a Moulton’s to your shelf. This bottle does not show its face all that often. Even yet, for the longest time, this bottle traditionally sold in the $200 to $400 range. Good examples in fine condition do come to the auction block from time to time but you rarely see them at bottle shows.

While Ring/Ham records this bottle as scarce, indicating that there are as many as 150 examples out there, I think there really aren’t many more than that to be found. Recently, there have been auction sales of this bottle remaining in the $200 to $400 range, with a recent exceptional record sale of an example realizing $770, with the buyer’s premium included. Perhaps the popularity of this bottle is finally gaining some momentum.

The darker aqua and blue-green examples really are more desirable in my opinion, but in all respects, this is a beautiful bitters that deserves a place on the shelf.

I hope this has piqued your interest in this fine bottle and as usual, I welcome any comments or further information. I can always be contacted at strickhartbob@aol.com. Happy collecting!

A final close-up