A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

[dave ziegler]

Have not been to Kinsey for awhile and looks like we are to get a bad strom this weekend. But Every Sunday going by there to Church I am ever amazed at what the vandels and time have done to the place in just the 7 years I have been there walking and looking!

When I look at the bottling house and how it looks I relise how Old I am. When it opened in sept 1966 it was the most modern Bottling house in the world and people from everywhere came to tour it. Now it is nothing more then a ruin that time has passed by. Once the owner closed the gates and turned the power off He doomed it to destruction.

I am just thankful I have been able to preserve some things before the vandels could wreck them.

This time of year in those years we would be running full tilt getting spirits bottled and tax stamped for the coming Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. The docks would have 3 rail box cars being loaded to be sent all over the country and the world.
There would be lines of Trucks waiting their turns to get loaded and everyone would be busy at their job.

Walking through now just the pidgeons are busy there and everything is either falling down or getting ready to.

Fall is coming and I hope to take some more people for a trip through there soon while it is still there to tell the story of.

I wish you all could have seen the glory of those 11 bottling lines all running during the day and afternoon. Running like a fine oiled Clock. People everywhere. And as always the place being spotless.

Sometimes around this time of afternoon Mr Neuman would come driving through in his brown Bentley. He always made me feel my job was safe as long as he was there.
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest people Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[dave ziegler]

Last Night right after work I took my young Friend Mike for a tour through the Plant again.
I took him into the 1966 Bottling house with permission and we took many pictures, He will be Posting here soon and so will I.

The building is leaking water worse then ever, and the Vandels have really destroyed the place.

We looked with sadness at all the broken stuff and all the Old bottle line machines sitting to never run again. Also all the stainless Pump heads stolen by the creep who told everyone in Linfielld at Christmas that he was buying the place so He could go in there any time of day or night to steal stuff! I don't most times say anything but Anyone who was such a creep to tell people he was buying the Place so he could steal all the metal he could get and destrroy Kinsey I hope his luck is down for the rest of his Life!

We went into C building and looked at what is left of the Whiskey Barrels and the roof is leaking bad and they are sitting in water such a shame.

Dave Z
It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[ratcheer]

I'm sorry to hear that, Dave. It is always tough to see something you loved gone to a shambles. You want to go back to see it, but afterwards you wish you hadn't.

Tim

[dave ziegler]

Tim and everyone, it is so hard when I walk through and see what has happened to The 1966 Bottling house. Once about 500 people made their living working there. It was a well paying company and for the most part people were very happy working there. Twenty Five years have past since it closed and not one time did the man who owns the place do anything to save it and now with no way to power any of the buildings and all the roofs leaking it is forever doomed. What an ending for such a great company and place.

When Publicker went under in 1986 the man who then owned Kinsey, just turned the power off and walked away. It is my hope he will never get a cent for it, just like he has done to it.

I offten find myself telling people I see stealing get out or I will call the police. But they go in there at all hours late at night.

Every time I go the vandels are up to something in destroying Kinsey. But for those who worked there it will forever live in our Hearts and minds.

I am thankful to be able to write here and talk about Kinsey and Publicker and will continue taking and getting pictures of Publicker and Kinsey.

I have been sick for a couple of weeks had Shingles last week and a bad head cold but feeling better and will be writting on all my threads and posting some more pictures soon.
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[dave ziegler]

Here are a four new Old Kinsey Bottling House pictures after all the vandels have been working.
1. Looking from the back of the Old Jacob G Kinsey Bottle House to the front road side.
2. Standing at the front where the part of the second floor had not fallen till vandels stole sewer pipes and the floor came down.
3. This is the D warehouse side of the Old Kinsey bottle house or as the Girls called it when they made Liquors there the Happy House! At One time I could not go here for fear it would fall down but the vandels dug out the Old # 1 dump trouth and the rest of the floor back here came down. I am glad I got pictures of the old trougth before that happen..
4. & 5. More Pictures of the back lower and upper dumping room of the old bottle house.
This kills me as I to loved the Old Kinsey Bottle House One of the Most Historic Buildings on the Place it was built at the end of Prohibition by Jake Kinsey and Ran right through till fall 1979. Note Vandels have stolen all the Green shaded Explosion proof Lights from the first floor sealing, glad I saved those old Historic Edison type blubs from most of them. I also got one light fixture they had laying to steal.
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[dave ziegler]

Lets talk about the State Of Art worlds Largest Bottling House in 1966! When all Purpose explosion Proof warehouse U started being made into the amazing Place it became it took around 3 yrs to complete, starting around 1963.

It had 11 Lines and one of them was A-F1 that was actualy computerized and could do 40,000 bottles a day, blowing them out, labeling,filling caping and boxing all the cases ran on it. End of line at warehousing and shipping.

Quite a feat those days, opening day mid Sept 1966. Warehouse U was 2 Football fields Long and 3/4 Football field wide, and a real Powerhouse of a bottling Plant!

It prepared the spirits bottled them, warehoused them and shipped them all from one building. People from other companies came for tours of the place and many including Seagrams had us bottle for them.

I only got in there in a rare time or two but it was like walking into a city 250 people a shift all 11 lines running at once for a 19 year old it was Highly amazing to watch. It had its own Lab, nurse, lunch room warehousing, shipping and whiskey receiving, and its own maintaince section where Ludy worked out of.

There was nothing in Spirits it could not do. At this time of year in 1969 the place was rocking everything was running maxed out! 3 Rail cars at a time being loaded at its giant docks and sometimes 8 or more semi trucks too. The Holidays were a exciting time at Kinsey and our spirits went all over the world.

The bottling only ever had two shifts day and second and the people working in there were a team. Everyone worked a different Line each day to keep from monnotany. And that way everyone knew each line in case someone was out.

I wish that everyone on this sight could have seen it in the glory days.
I was and always will be proud to have worked for Kinsey Distillery a subsidiary of Continental Distilling corp which was a wholy owned part of Publicker Industries as our old Plant paper work stated.

The two old Water towers used to Say Continental Distilling Corp a Subsidiary of Publicker Industries.

Those Were The Days My Friends
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[dave ziegler]

The months of Nov & Dec were very Busy times in the Big 1966 Bottle House and the Old Kinsey Bottle house doing Liquor's. If you walked into the Big bottle House at 8:00- Am you would see a city of People all 11 Bottle Lines running wide open. We would be bottling 1/2 pints,pints.4/5's and Quarts also 1/10 Airline mini's. Lots of Old Hickory,Hallers County Fair BIB and Governors club and Philadelphia Blended Whiskey. Also tons of bottles of Inver House Scotch would be being bottled. Every Product we made would be sheduled for bottling for Thanksgiving and Christmes.

The Docks out front on any given day would have 3 Rail Box cars and 8 to 10 semi trucks being Loaded, and while that was going on cases off the 11 lines would be moved into warehouse area of the building.

Those months it was really a sight to see. The bottling machines would be thundering away rapping out their steady sounds as bottles were blown out filled, and capped and seals put on. There was also a quality area were bottles that needed labels fixed or other stuff would be tended to by Ladies at Tables in the area and then put back into the outgoing flow.

The whole time whiskey would be flowing in from the High black incoming tanks. Whiskey and Distilled water would be flowing down from The Government Building warehouse O and the place was a very exciting Place to be. The air would be filled with the smells of great Whiskey.

I myself and everyone had a great feeling of pride working there then and seeing the great products we made. Those Were The Days!!
Dave Z
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[dave ziegler]

Well Sunday Nov 13 I took a walk in the 1966 Bottling house, with Rod and had a good but sorrowing time. It was sorrowing in the destruction done by People who do nothing with theirs lives except steal and break things for no reason.
I sadly saw where some rotten person went up in the upstairs office to bring the old coffee pot down so they could smash the caraf and throw the coffee maker what sick joy they get from that I haven't a clue.

Anyway I got some cool shots and here are some of them. Also the dial of the phone works smooth and all the buttons work smooth,I am going to get my friend who worked for AT&T for forty yrs to rewire it to work!

1. Here I am at the snack Machine in the 1966 Bottle House Lunch room.
2. My latest thing saved and restored for History is the old Multi Line rotory Phone from the General Office in the bottling house. I also saved the sign from the office.
3.Me with the Phone
4. The Old Drink machine in the bottling house lunch room.
5. Calender for 1986 the last year the Plant operated closing in sept 1986.
6.An Old Cart from the Old blending Line area
7. End of the middle Bottle repairing Line
8. Looking down the line
9.The Place I am going to keep my Phone. I took it apart cleaned it and I am now going to see if my Old friend who worked for ATT&T will rewire it so it can work.

I go there to save things like this before the trash People destroy them. I can not understand what someone gets out of standing in an abandon historic building in the dark smashing things. I am glad I was taught the right way to be as a Kid! I had a Mother & Father who taught me right from wrong!
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

[ratcheer]

Great memories, Dave!

Tim

[Jono]

Pictures 6 and 8.....dust orbs floating all over...don't tell the local ghost hunters as some will say the place is haunted!

Wow, your desk is really decorated now with lighting...just in time for Christmas.