Black Elephant Saloon picnic flask from Texas

[ChickenCockWill]

Hey all! I’m somewhat new here. I’m the National Brand Ambassador for Chicken Cock Whiskey, the brand started back in 1856 in Paris, KY! I. Always on the hunt for relics of the brand’s long past. I came across one of these half pint J.A. Miller Houston, TX flasks on eBay and acquired it. I’m curious if anyone has any info on the origins of this bottle, or potentially being able to say the time period from which it came from.

Our original founder was James A. Miller. Miller died in 1860, but they continued using his name on advertisements in the later half of the 19th century, as well as on their labels post-1890. The brand even shut down a copycat in the 1890’s called Miller’s Gamecock for infringing on the brands advertising since it’d been around for over 30 years at that point. So, when I see something that says J.A. Miller on it, my mind immediately thinks this is tied to our brand’s history.

However, the bottle says “Nelson County” under J.A. Miller. To my knowledge, there is no Nelson County in TX, and Houston specifically is in Harris County. Nelson County in KY, however, is in the heart of bourbon production. That said, the original Paris, KY distillery is located in Bourbon County, KY, not Nelson. Chicken Cock, and therefore J.A. Miller Whiskey, was sold in Texas in this era, so there is that to keep in mind.

A few possibilities:

• There was another J.A. Miller producing whiskey in Texas, or who was the owner of a general store/saloon NOT associated with our brand. They sourced the whiskey from Nelson County and shipped it down there.
• Maybe there used to be a Nelson County in this era that they merged into another county?
• This bottle was produced by the distillery in Bourbon County, but distributed via Nelson County and then to Texas.
• This bottle was produced after the distillery sold off to another owner post-1900 who was producing the whiskey in Nelson County, KY, who then shipped it to Houston.

ANY information is helpful, and as always if anyone has leads on JA Miller or Chicken Cock Whiskey relics out there let me know! We are opening a new home base in KY this year and want as many physical relics as we can to show off!

 

[nhpharm]

John A. Miller was a liquor dealer and had a saloon at 1020 Congress Avenue in Houston, Texas in the early 1900's. He imported barrels of whiskey from Kentucky and bottled it in bottles such as the one you purchased. I am not sure if the "Nelson County" was a brand of whiskey he was importing or if he was just calling it that himself, but you see a number of flasks here in Texas that have a Texas proprietor and a brand of Kentucky whiskey embossed on them (Brook Hill, Sweet Revenge, etc.). He has at least 4 variations of flasks (two of which have the Nelson County embossing) and a cylinder (which also has the Nelson County embossing).