historical flasks Masonic flask and history"

As Mason and antique bottle collector, I became interested in the history and origin on Masonic flasks. I discovered that these flasks were made in America during the period 1810 to 1830, when the United States and Masonry were both expanding. Masonry had been especially strong in the northeastern part of the United States, and most of the Masonic flasks were manufactured in that region.1

The early Masonic lodges in the United States usually met in one room of a local tavern. These taverns were gathering places for exchanging news and gossip as well as for eating and drinking. At the taverns it was customary for a Mason to partake of the food and liquid refreshments, but each Mason was responsible for his own drinking habits. During this period of time Masonic flasks or pocket flasks, became common at Lodge meetings. Drinking and fellowship were enjoyed after the Masonic meetings were concluded.2

These flasks were of particular shape and size. It is generally agreed that flasks, as defined by Helen McKearin and Kenneth M. Wilson (authors of American Bottles and Flasks and Their Ancestry), are bottles whose cross section is elliptical or ovate, whose convex or flat sides rise to a shoulder or taper directly into a narrow short neck and whose capacity is rarely over a quart and usually not under a pint.3

Flasks were usually made as a by-product in the early years. The early glass houses in the United States made window glass as their primary product. With leftover glass, the blowers would blow bottles and flasks by using the blowpipe and a mold to put a pattern into the glass.

The principal raw materials used to make the glass at the time were calcium carbonate or pure limestone, sodium carbonate or soda ash, and quartz or pure sand. When this mixture of 100 parts of sand, 35-40 parts of limestone and 40-45 parts of soda ash is heated from 1200 degrees to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit, it will melt to form a clear liquid which readily can be worked into molds or sheets. By changing or adding different chemicals such as borax or lead, the glass becomes harder or softer. By adding iron or iron oxide, the glass becomes green in color. It becomes blue by adding the oxide of cobalt, and purple brown or black by adding oxide or manganese. Some glass blowers used hard coal to get olive green and iron rust to get amber.

The colors of Masonic flasks ranged from that of common aqua to a rare clear hue. The colors varied in shades because the production was not controlled. Individual glass blowers made their own decisions and choices as to chemical additives. A complete list of the thirty-four variations in color recognized by present day flask collectors is included in Appendix A.4

After being formed, the glass bottles were then annealed, or hardened, by slowly lowering the temperatures of the fire or by slowly pulling the bottles from the fire. The fires required a lot of wood, and the later movement of the glass houses from the East Coast was a result of the availability of raw materials. Destruction of the glass houses by fire was quite common, and many were short lived.

During the glass blowing operation, a round glob of glass containing ten to twelve pounds of glass was blown in a mold. The blown glass in the mold was transferred from the end of the blowpipe to a punty or shorter rod. This transfer was made because the blowpipes were four to seven feet long and one to two inches in diameter, and the length of the blowpipe was too unwieldy to continue the glass blowing process.

The shorter rod helped keep the glass in the mold in better condition for handling during the remainder of the forming operation. When the flask was completed, it was then cut off the rod with shears to give a sheared lip. A pontil mark, or scar, was created, on the bottom of the flask, by breaking the flask, or bottle, from the pontil rod.5

Beginning about 1850 the "snap" case was used to hold the bottle during the forming, which caused the bottle to come from the mold with a smooth, hollow base and no pontil mark on the bottom of the bottle. This snap case was a mold that held the molten glass and shaped the flask. Pontil marks then became obsolete. The absence of a pontil mark can be used to assist in dating old flasks and bottles. Bottles usually made before 1850 carry a pontil mark on the bottom.6

Masonic symbols were added to these flasks by the bottle or glass manufacturers.7 The symbols were embossed into the flask from the metal molds used to blow the glass flasks. These metal molds were used over and over by the glass blower, and the symbols were even modified on occasion.8

A list of Masonic symbols known to have been used to decorate flasks is included in the Appendix B.9

Records available of those glass works which provided the Masonic flasks during this period included: Keene-Marlboro Street Glassworks, Keene, New Hampshire; Stoddard Glass Works, Stoddard, New Hampshire; Coventry Glass Works, Coventry, Connecticut; Kensington Glass Works, T.W. Dyott and A.R. Samuels, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; White Glass Works, Zanesville, Ohio; Mantua Glass Works, Mantua, Ohio; Knox & McKee, Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia); Mount Vernon Glass Works, Mt. Vernon, New York; and Murdock & Cassell, Zanesville, Ohio.10

Some flasks have not been identified as to manufacturer; nevertheless, additional manufacturing information is surfacing from time to time. This information is being used to identify further the glass works responsible for manufacturing the flasks.

Some of the employees and glass blowers of the glass manufacturers were Masons. Masonry was strong during this period, so it was not unusual for glass manufacturers to have Masons as employees. It would be easy to speculate that those glass blowing Masons took speculate that those glass blowing Masons took special care and interest in creating Masonic flasks.

The Keene Marlboro Street Glassworks in Keene, New Hampshire, and the local Masonic Lodge were closely tied to each other. The majority of the Masonic flasks found were manufactured at the Keene Marlboro Street Glassworks. Harry Schoolcraft, a member of the Keene Lodge, was superintendent and owner of the Keene Glassworks in 1815 and his initials, H.S., are embossed in the Keene Masonic flasks.

Later, in 1817, Justis Perry became the owner of the glassworks, and he changed the flask initials to J.P. This accounts for two different versions of the Keene flask. One version has the initials H.S., and the other has the initials J.P.11

During the seventy-five year period 1784 to 1859, the Masonic Lodge in Keene had an interesting history.

One of the rarest Masonic flasks ever found was manufactured by Coventry Glass Works at Coventry, Connecticut. On one side of the container is the letter "G" along with a square and compasses. The "G" is reversed and appears to be a mold error. On the reverse side of the flask appear the crossed keys, which could represent the treasurer's office. It is believed by this writer that the designs on the flasks represent various degrees in Freemasonry. Some of he Keene Marlboro Street flasks have the letter "G" embossed while others do not have it, which could represent the several degrees. The designs of this period on the flask are clear, and the workmanship was good, especially in the making of the molds. The outlines and details of the Masonic symbols on these antique flasks are clear and sharp, and the work on the eagles especially shows finer details as compared to newer flasks with eagles.

The glass industry expanded rapidly in the 1860's, and the type of bottles and flasks manufactured changed from ornate to plain with the addition of paper labels. Also, the larger bottles, quart and fifth gallon size for whiskey or spirits, became more popular.

Flasks may be classified into four categories: decorative, Masonic, historical and pictorial. Some flasks may be classified as members of more than on category depending on which design is chosen as most important. Historical flasks are those which have portraits of heroes such as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Franklin and General Lafayette. These flasks usually have an American Eagle on the reverse side.

Debate exists concerning classification of flasks; the Masonic flask is usually defined as one embossed with Masonic symbols. Some have Masonic symbols on both sides, but the majority have an American Eagle on one side. Many of the men depicted on historical flasks were Masons, meaning that a discussion of Masonic flasks would not be complete without reference to historical flasks as well.13

The first advertisement for Masonic flasks was on 4 March 1822 in Aurora General Advertiser of Philadelphia. The Masonic flask offered for sale (2,000 dozen) had the USS Franklin on one side and agricultural Masonic symbols (sheaf of rye, shovel and scythe and also non-Masonic symbols, rake and pitchfork) on the other side. They sold for 62 1/2 cents per dozen. These were manufactured by T.W. Dyott-Kensington factories, located at the corner of Second and Race Streets, Philadelphia.14

The popularity of Masonic flasks rapidly declined around 1840 and they eventually ceased to be manufactured because of several factors. One incident concerned William Morgan, an obscure and derelict stonemason. Morgan disappeared outside the jail at Canadaigua, New York, on 12 September 1826 after serving time in jail for failing to repay a debt of $2,69. He had also just finished writing an expose' of the secret rituals of Freemasonry. He claimed to be a Mason and a member of several Lodges. This claim has never been verified. His disappearance started a period of unrest and fostered bad publicity for Masonry in the Northeastern United States. The Morgan Affair also had a serious impact on Masonry throughout the nation. One result of this bad publicity was the development of the Antimasonic party, which was active from 1826 until 1843 and campaigned against Masonry. According to William Preston Vaughn in The Antimasonic Party in the United States 1826-1843, it was really an anti-Jackson party as well as a movement of social protest.15

Another factor was the temperance issue, which became a national movement in the 1840s. Masons did not want to be associated with flasks, which promoted the consumption of alcoholic beverages. It may be that the Morgan unrest alone caused the sudden cessation of the use of the Masonic flasks and played a major role in ending their manufacture, or it could have been a combination of factors.

IN MEMORIAM

The wines they drank from you, old flask, before the revolution

Would fill full many a keg and cask with vigorous solution;

But now you're empty and alone,

Exiled from liquidation,

And not a drop to call your own,

That's dreamed of fermentation;

The household flagon used to be

The cheer of every minute,

But now it's party of history

That there is nothing in it.

Stephen Van Renssaelaer (1926)16

Ironically, one of the first persons to write a book on bottle flasks was Stephen Van Renssaelaer, a descendant of a Past Grand Master of New York during the antimasonic period of the 1820s and 1830s.

Masonic flasks are found today in old barns and buildings, cellars, cisterns, privies, and the older dump sites. The old glass manufacturing sites furnish pieces of old flasks which give us added information about the flasks which give us added information about the flasks manufactured at these various locations.

The majority of the verified Masonic flasks are now in private collections, and care should be taken to preserve and expand the limited number now in public museum, where they may have a permanent, safe home for wider viewing and historical research. There are two Masonic flasks in the Masonic Grand Lodge Library and Museum of Texas at Waco.17

APPENDIX A

Masonic Flasks - Colors

Amethyst Golden Amber

Deep Amethyst (black) Amber

Clear Green Clear Amber

Emerald Green Deep Brownish Amber

Clear Deep Green Citron

Peacock Green Blue, Grayish

Light Green Blue, Pale

Yellow-Green Violet-Blue

Very Pale Green Pale Amethystine

Dark Olive Green Clear, Almost Crystal

Deep Bluish Green Deep Sapphire Blue

Deep Yellowish Green Greenish Blue Puce

Clear Green-Yellowish Tone Clear with Bluish Tint

Light Yellow Green Clear Bluish-Green

Aquamarine Cornflower Blue

Olive Green Colorless, Smokey

Olive Amber Black-Dark Olive Green

APPENDIX B

Masonic Symbol on Flasks

The Masonic Pavement

A Two Column Archway with Keystone in the Center

Radiant All-Seeing Eye

Radiant Triangle

Letter "G"

Open Bible

Square and Compass

Trowel

Skull and Crossed Bones

Jacob's Ladder

"Cloudy Canopy" or "Star Decked Heaven"

Radiant Quarter Moon Surrounded by Seven Stars

Blazing Sun

Beehive

Crossed Level and Plumb Line

Paschal Lamb

Ark of Covenant

Scythe

Comet with Tails

Hourglass

Five Pointed Star

Sprig of Acacia

Coffin and Spade

Seven Lighted Tapers in Triangular Form

Setting Maul

Naked Heart

Past Masters Sign

Crossed Keys

Star of David

Sheaf of Rye

Star-Crescent Moon

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