Wooden Bottles

[whiskeyman]

anyone collect (accumulate) these? I've picked up 3 over the years. All have wood-burned lettering.

1st is a souvenir ( actually they're probably all souvenirs).
MOONSHINE-Cherokee NC 2"
2nd
Full O' Corn-Mammoth Cave. KY 3"
3rd (I like this one best)
Old Rye - Meadowview, VA. 4 3/4"

 

[woodswalker]

Wow those are to cool!!! I have never seen a wooden bottle before....
This might be a silly question but I'll ask any way....
the Mammoth cave one that says "full of corn"...it probably wasn't full of corn really right? Isn't whiskey made from corn?

 

[Wangan]

Whiskeyman,check with Red Matthews.I know he owns some,and maybe he has enough,but I know he is always interested in oddities,especially to do with molds.I almost think his were made so that a cast could be made to produce molds for real bottles,more like the one on the far right.Those are cool and would take some work to make.

Yes corn can be made into whiskey Amanda.Many other items can be made into various alcohols.Rice wine/Saki,Barley& Hops/Beer,Potatoes/Vodka,Agave Cactus/Tequila,etc..One of the crudest forms of Corn squeezins were the fermented drippings from the corn silo.Nasty stuff,but Ive heard of cows getting tipsy from silo bilge,or was that cows getting tipped over from drunken farmers?[]

 

[surfaceone]

Hello Charlie,

Thanks for putting these up! I know I can't be alone in wishing for larger, closer up views...

Are they all turned, and drilled out? That middle guy, "Full O' Corn" looks like he could use some TLC to prevent further checking. Is that some bark on the "Old Rye"? Are they Basswood?

I'll echo Amanda, "Too Cool!"

 

[whiskeyman]

Glad you folks liked the pic. They are all turned and drilled down into, but for just a short distance. And yes, that's bark still clinging to the sides. The handles are inserted into small drilled holes and extend inside the drilled out shaft. I don't know what kind of wood they are, nor do I know how to keep the one from splitting further...maybe wood glue and clamp it till it sets-up?

 

[surfaceone]

I don't know what kind of wood they are, nor do I know how to keep the one from splitting further...maybe wood glue and clamp it till it sets-up?

Hey Charlie,

They are looking like they were turned from limbs, perhaps. They may not have dried thoroughly, before being worked. The checking or splitting is part of the drying out process. Can't clamp and glue, would not work for you. It's probably split as much, or close, as it's going to. A little tung oil would "rehydrate" the surface of the wood. They don't appear to be sealed or lacquered. The tung oil would initially turn the pieces darker, though that seems to fade after a while.

 

[swizzle]

I believe I've seen some of them before in some of the Kentucky gift and rock shops along the way and back to Mammoth cave in the mid to late 80's when I lived down there. Probably in the same shop as the fake arrowheads and the Turd Birds. Swiz

 

[woodswalker]

Turd bird???? Fill me in here...[8|]

 

[swizzle]

They use to make ,and probably still do, little birds with sticks and cow poop. It was set up on some type of little stand maybe a bigger stick I can't remember exactly. But it was more or less a silly decoration for your desk or office. An official Kentucky Turd Bird. I never tried googling it. They may even have them online now. I know Canada sells Moose Turd Earrings and Pendants for your necklace. Of course they dry them good and then Shellac them. I know a lot of cool crap man. Swiz

 

[woodswalker]

That is pretty interesting swiz...and you can never know to much cool crap!! It made me think of a walk I took a while back when I found that arrowhead...nearby was this tiny little tube shaped rock with a weird design on it and we joked and called it a fossilized bird turd....Now I wonder[:-].....and I can't remember if we kept it or where it is if we did!!