Three old duffers sat playing dominoes in the city park. Two of the gentlemen were a bit younger ~ the third was an old solider. He had been around the block & seen a great deal of life. His hair had long ago gone yellowish-white. He was rather bent. But here he sat moving the black tiles around & contemplating life. He spoke about a time when he was a much younger man. His speech was slow & deliberate. His memory sharp.
His opponents listened respectfully for although he was old ~ he wasn't really much older than they were. Still, he reflected on the effort of his past business & how one needed to put in an honest day's work. He had been an importer of a fine clear liquid from England ~ the toast of many a gala. Gin had been his trade. He put that sweet distilled Juniper berry up in American made bottles ~ bottles which sport a jockey & rider at full stride. He complained about the difficulty of obtaining good clear glass for his product. Gin ~ my god ~ an absolute colorless product. How could his customers judge his products purity when the glass came in so many colors? Perhaps a day would come when glass containers could be made colorless ~ and while they were at it remove the bubbles & indented panels caused by poor craftsmanship. They would just have to get the eight year old “boys†out of the glass manufacturey.
The two other players sat at the park table smiling somewhat. For in just the last twenty years glass manufacturing had come a long way. The applied lip that nearly fell off some of the earlier containers was being replaced by a new tooled top. The concept was in flux, but it seemed that a patron might not risk cutting himself on a glass container any more. The bottles even stood upright. Soon (maybe the next twenty years) would bring a flawless bottle ~ one that looked like all of it's brothers. Granted the character of the glass would be lost, but this wasn't about the container. It was about the consumer & the product. The old man won the game & wandered across the park.
Mr Jos Souther & Dr. Thos Hall continued their conversation. They kind heartedly spoke of the old gin purveyor. “Nice old fellow....although his ways are of the past.†Bitters is the trade. We can corner both markets by selling a “cure-all†with a heavy alcohol base. We'll mix in a little herb with a pinch of something ~ the public will make our fortune.†They both agreed the gin merchant was a superior domino player as they folded up their board & put their tiles in a leather bag. And as far as the quality of bottles goes ~ there is some talk of a machine that will completely make a bottle with out the aid of a glass blower. Ah yes, impersonal ~ every container looking absolutely the same as the other.
I paused to take a picture ~ That would be Mr. Joseph Souther on the left ~ Dr. Thos Hall on the right & the old gin merchant (identity still a mystery) in the center.
We appreciate the unique in old glass. 'Colorific & Bubblicious'
His opponents listened respectfully for although he was old ~ he wasn't really much older than they were. Still, he reflected on the effort of his past business & how one needed to put in an honest day's work. He had been an importer of a fine clear liquid from England ~ the toast of many a gala. Gin had been his trade. He put that sweet distilled Juniper berry up in American made bottles ~ bottles which sport a jockey & rider at full stride. He complained about the difficulty of obtaining good clear glass for his product. Gin ~ my god ~ an absolute colorless product. How could his customers judge his products purity when the glass came in so many colors? Perhaps a day would come when glass containers could be made colorless ~ and while they were at it remove the bubbles & indented panels caused by poor craftsmanship. They would just have to get the eight year old “boys†out of the glass manufacturey.
The two other players sat at the park table smiling somewhat. For in just the last twenty years glass manufacturing had come a long way. The applied lip that nearly fell off some of the earlier containers was being replaced by a new tooled top. The concept was in flux, but it seemed that a patron might not risk cutting himself on a glass container any more. The bottles even stood upright. Soon (maybe the next twenty years) would bring a flawless bottle ~ one that looked like all of it's brothers. Granted the character of the glass would be lost, but this wasn't about the container. It was about the consumer & the product. The old man won the game & wandered across the park.
Mr Jos Souther & Dr. Thos Hall continued their conversation. They kind heartedly spoke of the old gin purveyor. “Nice old fellow....although his ways are of the past.†Bitters is the trade. We can corner both markets by selling a “cure-all†with a heavy alcohol base. We'll mix in a little herb with a pinch of something ~ the public will make our fortune.†They both agreed the gin merchant was a superior domino player as they folded up their board & put their tiles in a leather bag. And as far as the quality of bottles goes ~ there is some talk of a machine that will completely make a bottle with out the aid of a glass blower. Ah yes, impersonal ~ every container looking absolutely the same as the other.
I paused to take a picture ~ That would be Mr. Joseph Souther on the left ~ Dr. Thos Hall on the right & the old gin merchant (identity still a mystery) in the center.
We appreciate the unique in old glass. 'Colorific & Bubblicious'
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