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Being a collector of pre-Prohibition spirits bottles, I've noticed that some of them appear to be a bit short on proper liquid measure. To satisfy my curiosity, I decided to do some experimenting to test the accuracy of the old-time bottle makers.

Many common, clear and colored hand-blown spirits containers have embossing in the glass claiming they contain a certain amount of liquid product. Embossed statements such as "Honest Measure", "Guaranteed Full Quart," "Registered Full Quart" and "Full Five" are evident on many whiskey bottles and I wanted to know how much truth there was in all of this. Most of the spirits bottles in my collection have labels and are from the early 1900s when thousands of whiskey brands were available from large, wholesale, mail order, liquor houses. Improvements in the railroad industry had made it possible for customers to receive their pre-paid orders in complete privacy. All liquor was packed in plain, unmarked boxes with no telltale marks to show the contents to curious neighbors. 100-proof U.S. government inspected, bottled-in-bond whiskey had become available and after June 30, 1906, all spirits were guaranteed under the National Pure Food and Drug Act.

A few of Peter's labeled whiskies and a two and one-half gallon “All Month Drink”.

To increase business, many wholesale mail order liquor dealers would offer special package deals. Prospective customers were also enticed with novelties and glitzy merchandise, along with little sample bottles of specialty liquors. The single quart and short quart bottle were top sellers, along with cases of four quarts. Smaller flask-style bottles were also popular and some larger dealers sold gallon and half-gallon glass jugs. It was also a common practice for wine to be sold in whiskey-type bottles.

I've often wondered if these mail-order liquor houses were giving their customers what they had paid for, especially in some of the smaller unmarked bottles.

As a rule, glass companies making liquor flasks would emboss the word "Full" on the shoulder of the true measure bottle. Some of their flasks, such as the unmarked shoofly/coffin flask and pumpkinseed/picnic flask, were made in oddball sizes. For example, a 6-ounce bottle would be a half-pint and 12-ounce bottle would be a pint. It's possible that these off-standard measure bottles were sold as "Full" measure packages to unsuspecting customers.

I was not up the task of measuring every spirits bottle in my collection so I decided to select only those that appeared to be off standard measure. In judging each bottle, I would double-check the measure and always consider the space for the cork stopper. The proper fill level on longneck bottles is just above the shoulder, but not to the cork. On rectangular flask-type bottles the fill line is usually at the top of the shoulder. To be fair to the old timers, my first test measure on each bottle was right to the cork level.


The two labeled, qaurt, machine made Doane's bottles hold correct liquid measure while the clear, hand blown Doane's, “Registered Full Measure Quart” holds only 29.5 liquid ounces.	It's the John H. Walsh & Co., “Kentucky Favorite Straight Whiskey” bottle that won the contest here. The two other labeled, Walsh bottles failed to reach the 32 liquid ounce mark.

The first test subject was a hand-blown, clear, quart cylinder from John B. Doane & Co., Boston, Mass. The bottle is embossed "Registered Full Measure Quart." It failed the test and measured only 29.5 ounces. The H.W. Huguley Co., Boston, Mass. was next in line. A labeled, hand-blown, amber, quart cylinder with company embossing passed the test at 32 ounces. Another hand-blown H.W. Huguley clear cylinder embossed "Full Quart" failed at 30 ounces, and an odd-looking hand blown, tall clear, company embossed cylinder is a true measure bottle.


These flamboyant labels are on applied lip bottles and each contained correct 1/5 of a gallon when tested.	All of these hand blown squat quart, cylinder whiskies hold correct 32 ounce liquid measure.

There are four labeled whiskies in my collection from the John H. Walsh Co., Boston, Mass. I tested three-quart cylinders. The two hand-blown types failed, but an early machine-made bottles with company embossing made the grade.

I continued testing by choosing both quart and fifth-size bottles at random. About 10 bottles were filled and measured before I found two from the same company that were lacking correct measure.

H.F. Corbin & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio put up a lot of product years ago and apparently they were not too concerned about customer satisfaction. Both of their clear, three-piece-mold quart cylinders were short on correct measure by 1.5 ounces.

I have always assumed that the fancy, hand-blown, aqua-colored cylinder bottles from W.H. Jones & Co., Boston, Mass. were fifths. They are somewhere in between a fifth and sixth. I have several of these in my collection — one is from a different mold and is taller than the others. One of the shorter bottles is all screwed-up and the others are off correct measure by various amounts. The taller bottle is a "Full" one-fifth of a gallon. Perhaps W.H. Jones & Co. was selling the shorter bottles as fifths until some disgruntled patrons caught on to this deceit and began to voice their concerns. I wonder if the mold maker at the glass factory held on to his job.


So called “Pint” shoo fly/coffin flasks vary from 11 to 13 ounces in liquid measure. The pumkinseed/picnic flask holds only 10 ounces liquid measure.	“Guaranteed Full Quart” doesn't mean much with these hand blown labeled spirits bottles. Only the “New England Rum” bottle is anywhere near correct liquid measure.

I was not surprised when I measured my so-called "Pint" shoo-fly/coffin flasks. They are all from the time period, 1890-1902 and are not true pints at all. I tested measurements of 14 flasks; eight of them are from W.H. Jones & Co., Boston, Mass. The measure varied from 11 to 13 ounces. A so-called "Pint" pumpkinseed/picnic flask held 10 ounces up to the top of the shoulder.

Next on the list were the rectangular "Guaranteed Full Quart" bottles. I filled four hand-blown examples, and only one held correct liquid measure. That bottle was actually over measure by half an ounce! It came from the Ginter Co. of Boston, Mass.


“Warranted/Guaranteed Full Pint”, hand blown, labeled whiskey bottles. Only the “Happy Smile Whiskey” holds correct liquid measure. The best that “Old Home Whiskey” could do was 12.4 liquid ounces.	There is only one honest 8 ounce half-pint bottle in this display. It's the amber colored “Monogram Pure Rye Whiskey” flask.

I picked out four of my hand-blown, labeled "Guaranteed Full Pint" bottles for the next experiment. They are all a bit different in size, and after being tested, only one held correct liquid measure. All are clear rectangular-type. A label-only "Lenox Club Rye" held 15 ounces; a label-only "Superior Bourbon" held 14 ounces and a label-only "Old Home Week Whiskey" measured 12.4 ounces. This bottle is a weird one! The winner was the label-only "Happy Smile Whiskey" at exactly 16 ounces.


Of these three W.H. Jones & Co., Boston, Mass. bottles, the taller cylinder on the left is the only true fifth. The others are off correct measure by as much as two ounces.	H.F. Corbin & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio cheated their customers with these three piece mold bottles. Each bottle is short on correct liquid measure by 1.5 ounces.

I have quite a few of these in my collection, but I tested only eight of the hand-blown type. I assumed my machine-made bottles to hold correct measure. Seven of my half-pint whiskey bottles are private mold type. These bottles were made for a wholesaler's particular need, usually a better or high-grade product. There were no real surprises when I tested the half-pints. As suspected, the private mold bottles held exact measure, while the others didn't fair too well. Two clear, private-mold bottles held exact measure, while the others didn't fair too well. Two clear, private-mold flasks from the Petts Co., Boston, Mass., are not true half-pints. They hold exactly 5 ounces each and most likely were intended to be sold as such. A cute little amber flask from New York holds 8 ounces. The brand is "Monogram Pure Rye Whiskey" and is embossed on the back panel, "Ritterman & Kramer / Full 1/2 Pint / New York". One aqua flask, embossed "8 fl oz Full Measure," tested to be a half-ounce off full measure, while four clear, stock-type, rectangular, "Guaranteed Full 1/2 Pint," label-only bottles varied in liquid measure, but none were correct.


Two early machine made, Bottled in Bond, labeled whiskey bottles. Both hold correct 32 ounce liquid measure.	Two eye-catching, “Private Mold” spirits bottles. The early machine made “Port ine” bottle is a fifth. The cute little “Rock and Rye” is a hand blown, half-pint. Each bottle holds accurate liquid measure.	An 18 ounce, three piece mold, “Specialty” bottle made for the Jewish Trade. The labeled “Hub Punch” bottle has applied lip and holds 24 ounces liquid measure.

My efforts have given the suspected results. As far as I'm concerned, the words "Full Measure" embossed on many of the old hand-blown bottles really mean the bottle is full of liquid product, but not necessarily an honest and correct measure. The problem with all of this is that it is probably not going to end here. I plan on acquiring more whiskey bottles and I'll bet that I measure every one of them. This is not good, as I really don't need another unusual habit. Years from now, I will think back to all of this and laugh. Oh well, what else does a fellow do when he lives alone and the snow is still 35 inches deep at the end of March, 2008.

Now it's time to clean up the mess, dry out all my bottles and put them back on the shelves.....

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