Jesse Moore & Co. Trade Card, E. Chielovich & Co., San Francisco, California – CasperWhiskey.com
A couple of Jesse Moore Old Bourbon questions?
21 November 2012
Two incoming Jesse Moore questions to PRG that Lance Westfall was kind enough to help me sort out. I find it really interesting to look at the eastern and western variants. What is Lance talking about when he says “German blown?”
Facebook Question: You couldn’t tell me for sure more about my J. Moore bottle (see picture below) could ya? Aaron
Incoming e-mail:
Dear Mr. Meyer,
During the early seventies, a friend took me bottle digging, next to an old cemetary in Decatur. He was a few feet down and I was going through the tailings, when I found a J. Moore Bourbon bottle (see picture below). Guess who kept it, and I still have it. It’s in excellent condition, and I am considering selling it. Would you be willing to give some advise as to how I could go about getting it sold at an auction. Any help you give would be appreciated. The bottle is 6 1/2″ tall. (Revised 11/26 to 6.25″ tall)
Sincerely, David
Lance Westfall:
Yes, this is the eastern variant J. Moore (top picture). They rarely have much character and are common, but play somewhat scarce due to the wide appeal of Jesse & J. Moore bottles and go-with items. I believe the applied top variants normally sell in the $350-$550 range & the tooled tops (like this one) are about $100-$200.
I’ll email you a few pics of the western J. Moore which only comes applied, and are fairly rare, highly desirable, and quite valuable $2,500-$6500, with the exception being the $12,500 example Dale (Mlasko) sold in Jeff’s (Wichmann) auction last year.
Lance
JESSE MOORE OLD BOURBON & RYE cylinders in a window – photo Lance Westfall
Close-up of my current example. The “Western” J. Moore. The biggest giveaway is the big & bubbly enbossing. – Lance Westfall
JESSE MOORE cylinder color run. All are western blown with the exception of the one on far left being blown in
Germany — slightly shorter & reddish in color, usually highly whittled. – photo Lance Westfall
These were all Dale’s (Mlasko) at one point. The one on left is THE example. I currently own the dark one in center, and formerly owned the lighter example on the right. There are likely only about 30-35 undamaged examples known. – Lance Westfall
JESSE MOORE flask. Pint strapside, olive old-amber. Western blown. Approx. 35 known. Former Mlasko, now
my dad’s (Larry Westfall). – Lance Westfall
Read More: JESSE MOORE The Bourbon Whiskey King by Gordon E. White
Ferdinand,
The connection of some of the western bottles to Germany, especially during the latter days of the nineteenth century are answered in my book, EARLY GLASSWORKS OF CALIFORNIA.
Lance didn’t pickup on the size .This is a minature which is very rare with only a few known. The last one I saw offered was over 1K.
In fairness to Lance, he did mention that he thought the 6 1/2″ might be a tougher bottle to find. Thanks for the clarification.
Great write-up, Ferdinand! I didn’t expect my lowly pics & I-Phone emails to make it all the way to the popular Peachridge site….but it’s great to see it all put together like this 🙂
I should mention that the numbers and figures regarding thr rarity and value of the aforementioned bottles are off the cuff, approximations based on things I’ve personally read, seen, or heard. I thought that second pic of the Eastern J. Moore looked a bit odd in size, and now that the size is known I would agree with Richard that these are very rare and considerably more valuable than their big brother counterparts.
Richard,
Is there an even smaller miniature sample size of the Eastern J. Moore cylinder, akin the fairly common Jesse Moore sample-size cylinders (3″ or so)? I’m picturing that the 6 1/2″ would seem to equate to a split or pint sized bottle. Do the Jesse Moore’s also come in a “medium” size (halfway between the regular fifth & the mini sample)?
I think the few minatures I’ve seen are all the same size and they were shorter than the 6 !/2 ” .I think Lou has one maybe he could provide the measuement.
Rick Lindgren also has a J. Moore in his minature collection and I believe it is smaller than 6 1/2″
rs
The mini`s are 61/2 inches