My Memories of Kinsey Distilling

[dave ziegler]

First I am back ,Ethan and everyone, been feeling poorly and working in this heat I get very tired. When I was giving tours Sat and Sunday 3 weeks ago Mike found me a very Old Whiskey Thief in the ruins of The Old Kinsey Bottle House and I took to show Ludy. It was not the type he used but He confirmed it was a very Old Whiskey thief so Tomorrow I will take a picture of it to post. PS Jono the tunnel was a section made into a room and was between the Buildings I am standing in the dirt where it was taking the Picture of the door!

We had alot of fun doing the tours and I hope to do more sometime.
Pictures are
1.&.3 a old Bag feed bag maker that fell down from the second floor of the Old Kinsey bottle House The 2 days Mike was with me He took a picture and showed his Dad who had worked there and He said that it was a bag Weaver!
2. The Anatonic and Cathionic Tanks missing all the Pipes to them which have been stolen by the Guy who pretended He was going to buy the Place!
I have some great Broshures I want to scan one is the 1970 Company Report which was given me by My friend who was high up in the Company.
So I will be posting again soon. Thanks to all who were wondering if I was Ok. I love writting here and hope to do it many years yet, to keep the Memory of Publicker Alive!
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[dave ziegler]

Well every time I go to Kinsey I am always looking for something to save for History and the first Picture here will be something new saved for History a very Old Whiskey Thief found under the fallen down back side second floor of the Old Kinsey Bottle House by Mike for me, which was used by Continental to bottle Liquors. Also some pictures never before taken in the second floor of the Grain Drying building for me by Ethan at the end of Our tour when we found an old ladder that was sitting there but to weak and dangerous for me to use but He was able to get up it with out it breaking while I held it.

1. & 2. Pictures of the Old Whiskey Thief
3. Ethan climbed an old Ladder left by Kids to get me some never seen pictures of what is left of the second floor of the Old Kinsey Grain drying Building. It was here Old Charlie Sipler took his shower after work and just below kept his 100 Horse power ford flat head buggy.
4. Second Floor Grain drying building
5. Electric meter on Second floor of grain drying building.
6. Our Old Soda Machine in the Old Lunch room at O building. Ethan and I stood it up after vandels had fliped it over. Many a ginger ale came from this machine to mix with Whiskey! Good days they were!
7. Inside one of the uprights coming down in the Grain process building.
8. Electric controls second floor of Grain dying building.
9. Rickety Ladder to 3rd floor of Grain drying Building to bad for Etham to go up.


I still have some more pictures to post on this thread in a day or two and please look on my other two threads as I have posted stuff on them also.
Dave Z
------------------------------------------------------------------------It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[Parkersback]

Dave, your passionate work in documenting these things is really wonderful and valuable. Cheers, and thank you.

[G.H.Adams]

Dave,

Thanks for what you are doing. It's a shame that our whiskey heritage is being lost on a daily basis. In a perfect world all this would be saved for future generations.

[dave ziegler]

Greg again thanks for your Kind words! Today I want to talk about filling Barrels at Kinsey working in the warehouse. Every Morning each warehouse lead man would get his papers for that days job. But first a Picture of Old letterhead from my collection pertaining to, when
Yesterday I talked about our early use of Floaters here again is a piece of Letter Head where Continental was wanting to try reusing Barrels with ( slabs Floaters ).
1. Letter Head from Nov 1962 shows we thought about extra charred wood 38 years before Makers mark tried a form of this. We Invented the Idea!
Now Continuing my topic

On some days a gang would be given the Job of Filling Barrels from tankage where it had been stored after being trucked or railcared in a tanker up to Linfield to be put in barrels and aged in Our 14 High tect explosion Proof Warehouses. I have posted and have an original filling nossel from Warehouse O the government building and Bonded warehouse. The hose setup came off a large Pipe straight from a storage tank and looked like a giant Gas pump handle even having a lock hold on it. From the stainless tank the whiskey to be barreled, flowed into a heavy stainless pipe,then a rubber Hose and metal nossel We would have brand new barrels rolled up there. You would like filling a gas tank, fill till it got to a certain point on its side at the bung hole where you filled it to the right amount of 48 gal needed and then someone would drive a brand new bung in and it would be stood up stenciled with a seris / Group serial Numbers / date of filling and date of distillation place of Distillation DSP-Pa 1 , type of whiskey ( Bourbon ect ). Also the serial numbers when I worked there were put on sideways smaller so you could read it no matter where the head was turned in the rack with your Flastlight. And lastly 48 gal stenciled on the head. The smell of filling whiskey Barrels was very Nice I just love the smell of Whiskey even new whiskey and of course nothing smelled better then the Blue air coming from the aging whiskey in the warehouses. It was like walking into a giant Whiskey Vaporizer!

I can't remember how many we did a day but time flew by! Barrels would be racked by another gang and moved to what rack and floor the paper work stated. Another gang would be on an upper floor if the Barrels where going up on the Barrel elevator.

It was a big job and a fun job barreling Whiskey which if you worked there many years you would some day pull from the racks to be processed and Bottled and Know you helped to make this special Product! A very rewarding Job for sure and a Job I loved very Much!
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[dave ziegler]

When I was at Kinsey last night I got a few more letter heads with company bussiness on them. I want to try and get my scanner working and post them,I also found some letters from customers about some bad Governors club whiskey. When I walked up to the open gates which normaly are closed it brought back so many memories, I just had to stand there and in my mind put things back to those great years there!

I looked to my right and imagined the old Maintance barn like it used to be and one of the Old 1941 Ford trucks was sticking out of Dickie Phiefers repair bay,and ahead of me was the Old #12 and I was a young man of 20 years old walking to clock in the year was 1967.

Then I walked slowly down the road into the plant which is now mowed and I looked to my left expecting to see 3 box cars and many trucks at the bottling house docks.

Then I walked into the old 1966 Bottling House and my friends were closing roll doors, and the rolling down of the doors made a whisper like the sound of a bottling line starting up.

But sadly I went back to reality and the bottle house looks like a bomb hit it and the stainless pump heads and many motors and three 200 gal stainless tanks have been stolen last Christmas Holiday by that creep who told everyone in Linfield his dad was rich and helping him to buy the plant. All a game so he could rob and destroy the Plant. I hope some day he gets caught stealing somewhere and I see his picture before a trip to Jail.

I later walked into J Warehouse to see that piles of cased brand new bottles never to see whiskey had fell over into a broken mess with Mold and dampness.

In my Mind Kinsey will always be the beautiful place it was and. As I left my mind went back and I could Hear the Old 1941 Ford Flat Head trucks roaring down through the Plant and I left just remembering those days and People. One thing that hit me going in was the smell of the cut grass not pretty like the old days but still the smell,and also how big and beautiful the Pine tree I mulched back then 44 years ago and The Plant and The Company and its wonderful people will live in my heart forever!
Dave Z
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kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

[dave ziegler]

Well here are some company bussiness leters I found today
1. Letter head about a tanker of whiskey going to our Lemont IL bottle house. Note S S. Neuman on top of Letterhead
2. April 10, 1979 Our Daily dumping papers. Each Lead man some listed on this one have there jobs for the days dumping. Boy was I thrilled to find these as tell the amounts to be dumped each day on each one.
3. Feb 27,1979 dumping papers Some of the lead mens names Al Rhoads, Bob McGinley, Joe Machukas. Jack Raysor and Many more
4. April 6, 1979 more whiskey dumping papers boy are these historic!
5. More company paper work
6. Point of Sale paper holding papers for Scotch, Straight and Gin found these today in O building. They Say Publicker Distillers on the side of them.
7. Paper billing for whiskey sold to Paramont Distillers Cleveland Ohio 6-1-1977.
8. Inver House Scotch and Neutral spirits to be shipped to Linfield from Bigler Street.7-30-1976.

Boy am I glad I was able to get these and some more to save for Company History. Every time I can save something for History of Publicker/Continental and Kinsey I am thrilled.
I hope everyone who looks at these threads enjoys my work on all 3 threads today.
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[G.H.Adams]

Dave

Thanks for all your doing. I have learned a great deal from your posts and look forward to learning more.

[dave ziegler]

Greg I am going back to Warehouse H this weekend for one last picture shoot.

I wish everyone could have seen what it was Like when we filled and piled those 340 Gal barrels. First you filled them with what looked like a giant gaseoline handle on their side, then rolled them on the lift so we could flip them up right. Then teams rolled them into place.
After the floor area was filled came the real hard part we would be putting sheet after sheet of heavy Plywood on top of the barrels.

Next fill the next ones on their side, get them on the lift and lift them up on one of the Old Electric Cable controled lifts which were not made to lift 340 gal barrels and get them just above level of the Plywood and a team of about 6 to 7 Guys would have to lift the barrel off one edge and roll it on the Head band to its spot. Sometimes we used and Long wooden handled dolly to pull as others pushed.
It was dam hard work and I wish you could have seen those 340 gal barrels they looked Like giant pot belly stoves! They only went 2 levels high.

And Boy did they Leak sitting on their Head, the floor always had some whiskey laying under them. They were a night mare!

But the memories are great of those days and we hoped that this would work out for the good. The 120 gal barrels were not to bad but they got stacked also but in 3 levels with plywood.

Talking about it makes it seem like yesterday even though it was almost 40 years ago.
Dave Z - It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon
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[G.H.Adams]

Dave

I cannot imagine dealing with those barrels on a daily basis. It either made for some strong boys or a lot of bad backs or hernias.

Again thanks for what you do. I look forward to reading your posts from the old days.