G.H.Adams Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 DaveI 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave ziegler Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 Here are the last of my Pictures. 1. Exposion Proof Light in Elevater 2. Date written on Rack 10/16/52 3. Another shot of the Space to get to the barrels inbetween the racks. 4. First Level section C sections 5&6 I got my Wooden barrel Shock here. 5.Writing on the wall my old friend Shorty Keller who was a Leed men 6. More wall writing on a wall my Old Friend Walt Harrington. It was walt that ran the Kinsey Benifit Club selling chance tickets which had some winners and the rest went into a fund for People out sick. I hope to go back to Warehouse H one last time soon. It was a sad but good thing as I was able to post pictures from my two trips in. Dave Z -- It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Dave,Just picked up a full mini of Dixie Belle Gin. If you want it, it's yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave ziegler Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 I would love to have it for my collection. I was going to call you to see it you want to get down here this weekend and take another walk so I can show you where the Steer Pens were and the Old House by the river if we can get to it. I wish I could take everyone on here for a walk around Kinsey.On a day like today if you walk in any of the Old Warehouses the temp drops down about 20 degrees. It was Hot on Sat when I went into Warehouse H but it was nice and cool in there. I can still remember going up to Workmens Supply an old work clothes store with a paper from the company to get shoes at a reduced rate. The company provided us with Heavy duty green coveralls and WWII Sub Zero Coats. We had heavy duty leather gloves given us so we really were well equiped. Those were some great days for fine Whiskeys and I wish they were still pulling barrels from Warehouse H. Some of the Last of the Kinsey Made Whiskey when I worked there was in H, close to 20,000 Barrels getting ready to be used! When I worked on a dumping gang I tried not to be the one who had the job of making sure every barrel was timed to come up on the trough with its bung pointing down in the place it stopped. It was a real skill timing them and most of the Old Guys did it perfect every time.Dave ZIt Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old HickoryAmerica's Most Magnificent Bourbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Dave,We have Saturday free at this point and it looks like the weather could be decent. Sunday looks to be quite hot and humid. If that works, let me know a time and a place and I'll be there! I'll bring some other whiskies along if you want me to too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave ziegler Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 Well Last night I got a really great surprise as Sandie who worked at Kinsey for 25+ years sent me on disc pictures in the Plant before it shut down forever. She also explained each shot as much as she could after all these years! Another exciting thing for me there is a Picture of The Fire Chief Cal Roberts taking a 340 gal whiskey barrel apart. 1. Sandie breaking Barrels from the racks winter 1980. 2. Barrels in the Racks 3. Fire Chief Cal Roberts Knocking the Hoops off a 340 gal whiskey barrel. 4. Sandie and My Old Boss Jack Razor, note they are wearing the Old Green coveralls they gave us to work in. 5. Barrels coming down the Elevator in one of the explosion proof Warehouses. I have quite a few more picture including the bottling house in operation back in those days! Many Thanks to Sandie for spending the money and getting these old photo's put on a disc and sending me them for History. Dave Z It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory America's Most magnificent Bourbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmckenzie Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Thanks for doing such a great job on this Dave. Any of those 340's down there left? I would love to have one for a yeast fermenter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Those photos bring a sense of life to the place. Very nice collection of snaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Just got back from Kinsey. A small group of us met up with Dave again and went through more of the distillery. It's amazing to see how large the operation really was. You can't fully gain an appreciation of the story Dave is telling until you've seen it in real life. It's incredible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 As a side note Dave, I bought a bottle of Haller's Reserve Blended Whiskey and a bottle of Inver House at the State Store this evening. I had 1 shot from each and they weren't to my liking. If you want them, you can have them for free the next time we meet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 As a side note Dave, I bought a bottle of Haller's Reserve Blended Whiskey and a bottle of Inver House at the State Store this evening. I had 1 shot from each and they weren't to my liking. If you want them, you can have them for free the next time we meet!I am curious how those old bottles would have turned up in a PA State Store?Do they have old stock in warehouses that they try to move once in a while?Were there more than one bottle of each?http://www.abc.state.va.us/Pricelist/BLENDED_WHISKEY.html024078 Haller's Reserve 1.75L 86 $14.95008344 Inver House 375ml 80 $6.90008346 Inver House 750ml 80 $9.90008347 Inver House 1L 80 $10.95008348 Inver House 1.75L 80 $20.95I see them listed on this ABC store list....when were they last made?Evidently they never went away or are being made by others ...were the labels purchased?http://www.inverhouse.com/http://www.inverhouse.com/portfolio-whisky.phpIt may be that the current product bears no resemblance to the old (Haller's Country Fair was the full name...right?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Inver House is now distributed by Barton Imports and Haller's Reserve is now made and distributed by Heaven Hill. It is no longer Continental product. It's the same scenario as Rittenhouse and Philadelphia Blended Whisky- HH has the name and produces it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave ziegler Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 I am curious how those old bottles would have turned up in a PA State Store?Do they have old stock in warehouses that they try to move once in a while?Were there more than one bottle of each?http://www.abc.state.va.us/Pricelist/BLENDED_WHISKEY.html024078 Haller's Reserve 1.75L 86 $14.95008344 Inver House 375ml 80 $6.90008346 Inver House 750ml 80 $9.90008347 Inver House 1L 80 $10.95008348 Inver House 1.75L 80 $20.95I see them listed on this ABC store list....when were they last made?Evidently they never went away or are being made by others ...were the labels purchased?http://www.inverhouse.com/http://www.inverhouse.com/portfolio-whisky.phpIt may be that the current product bears no resemblance to the old (Haller's Country Fair was the full name...right?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave ziegler Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Well here are some more one of a kind shots in the big Bottle House and old one that Sandie sent me. I posted some earlier on the 1966 Bottle House thread so check them out to. 1. Hand Labeling in The Old Kinsey Bottle House known as Happy House or HH. 2. Ludy in the bottle house where he was a machine mechanic. 3. The Old Chevy Van Sandie drove around when her and some of the guys went to work in the warehouses. 4. Antifreeze bottling line using converted Whiskey bottling machines 5. Connie working on a whiskey line with another girl Connie on the left 6. The Strike 7. Whiskey bottling machines converted and bottling Antifreeze 8. Main Line to Apply Special State Liquor Stamps 9. Fire Chief Calvin Roberts left and Frank Kurtas working the Antifreeze line it was Frank all those years before when I started there and he worked in Plant maintaince that fixed my car for me for nothing! 10. My Old Friends Walt Harrinton left our Union stewart and the man that kept the Kinsey Benifit club going for injured workers and Bud Bergey Sandies Father! In the lunch room in the 1966 bottling house. These pictures take me back so quickly to the days of yesteryear and the people I worked with then as a Kid 19 just out of School. As you can see the Bottle House was always fairly clean and very well kept. It is sad to walk in her now and see nothing but ruin and damage from Vandels and Common thiefs who do not think they are doing anything wrong but I was always taught A Thief Is A thief. I wish everyone on this site could have seen the worlds biggest and largest Bottling house in action. Seen the hundreds of people 600 all working in harmony for a common goal the making and bottling of Great Spirits! Dave Z -------------------------------------------------------------------- It Seems All The Nicest people drink Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.H.Adams Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 DaveYour pictures and commentary are the next best thing to being there. I really enjoy your posts about Kinsey.As for the thieves a pox on them.:hot: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave ziegler Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 I will soon have some more pictures as Butch has sent me some more Publicker plant pictures. All day I have been thinking about all those years ago working for Publicker and how proud I was to work for them.1967 was the year and I bought my first good car ever a 1963 chevy 2 door Belair stick on the colume thanks to working for Publicker. It was summer and I was taking the first paid vacation I ever had I taken, taking my Little sister and my Mom down to Atlantic city and I will never forget going over the Walt Whitman and seeing the Publicker Plant and thinking wow I work for them and saying to my Mom we are taking this first ever trip because I work for The Continental division of Publicker Industries. There was the famous neon sign going up the stack of the AA building saying, It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon. And Andrew Jackson in Neon! I said to my Mom I am so Proud to work for them!.I will never forget those days and I am thankful for the great Job I had back then as a young man.In my office I have my pay stub from Dec 1969 and I well remember one of the engineers coming in my office and saying wow you made way more then I did right out of Drexel that year, that was the kind of place it was working for Continental and I have never forgotten or been more thankful to have had that chance as a young man back then!Dave Z====================================================Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave ziegler Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 While looking around Kinsey I discovered a Blue Print from July 1 1963 titled Continental Distilling Corp. half Pint Concave Flask Bottle. Part Number SH-79710 I will be taking a picture of it to post soon and then I will frame it to save for History. It was laying with stuff that it looked like Vandels were going to destroy and ran out of time. I am now going to post some more Pictures inside the 1966 Bottle house showing all the terrible things Vandels have done since my first pictures inside there. Here are some pictures 1. An Old Electric typewriter in the General office. 2. On side of the Old Safety Sign next to the Lunch room. 3. Old Candy Machine in the Bottling house Lunch room. Mike told me years after the place closed his dad walked in there and found coins in all the machines, that is how quick it closed and the Guy who owns the place abandoned it. 4. Rotten candy bars in the machine 5. Old Hot drinks machine 6. Wall fell down knocking the Cold drinks machine over. 7. An Old Computer in the Main offcie may have been the one that drove the Old Computer driven A-!-F bottling line which could do 40,000 bottles a day! 8. Nurses station in bottling house cabinet. 9. Old Cotton packs nurses station. 10. Table with old medicines 11. Markers on B wall start of Bottling lines stating what came through them. Whi for whiskey, scotch, and the proof coming through that line. I discovered these Lines on the platform with Mike somehow I never saw them before. 12. Another marker for type and proof. 13. Tank marker Rub Alcohol 14. a ruined 1939/40 Explosion proof Telephone like the on I have but sadly ruined on the back incoming spirits wall. I found a blue print for a 1/2 pint flask which I will take a picture of and post soon, also I posted some more pictures on the fire tower thread today! ============================================ When the place closed nothing was taken just locked and abandon, wish I could have gone there sooner as someone else got all the office papers with the brand listes but I am glad to be able to save what I have from Kinsey it is a work of Love! I have some more pictures yet to post next week. ==================================== Dave Z ------------------------------------------------------------------ It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Met up with Dave today and got a complete barrel from Continental. A huge thanks to Dave and the guys at the landscaping business in town! Here is the barrel before any work is done to it. I hope to fully refurbish the barrel so it is fully preserved for the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I am curious about the "Whisky" and "From Rye Mash"...is that correct?Could this have been a barrel for scotch refill? Or was Whisky the spelling used for the Continental barrels...rye, bourbon etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 My guess was this was destined to be a flavoring whiskey for Canadian whisky and not Scotch since there is no rye mash whisky in Scotches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Right, that makes sense. I was thinking that maybe the barrels were being sent to Scotland after having rye in them and the head reflected different stampings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 We'll have to wait and see if Dave can solve the mystery for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Met up with Dave today and got a complete barrel from Continental. A huge thanks to Dave and the guys at the landscaping business in town!Here is the barrel before any work is done to it. I hope to fully refurbish the barrel so it is fully preserved for the future!That's a great-looking barrel. I am jealous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethangsmith Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Thanks! I'm going to take good care of it. I started cleaning some of the greenish moss off of it. Since the weather is getting cooler quick, I may have to wait until spring to sand and repaint the rings and lacquer the barrel. It still needs to dry out a bit too. It hasn't stopped raining for more than a few days at a time so it's still quite wet where it was laying on its side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave ziegler Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 Ethan it was my pleasure to get you that Barrel and today it brings back memories of one of the Jobs I did in the time I worked in the warehouses.I have posted on one of my threads a picture I think somewhere of my filling hose and handle, which was like a very large gas pump handle and I would stick it in the bung hole and pull on it the way you fill a gas tank. It was a tireing job when you did 100 barrels. Alot of this was done at O building in the back closed in area always with Government Men there to keep watch. And that is where I got my handle and hose from.Unlike a gas pump you had to keep close watch filling the barrel as no auto cut off to prevent spilling. Once it was filled a bung was pounded in and gang members would roll it away to be racked.Once it got to the warehouse it was to go it would be marked on a chart which section and rack it was to be put in with its serial number. And before it was racked after filling it had its distilling and fill dates and a serial number stenciled on the head.Once racked the records would be kept for future proof checking and moving around and the date it would be aged to what was needed. If It was Old Hickory it would be aging for 6 and 10 years.And I will always remember looking at the old 1950's Kinsey and Phila distilled and barreled whiskey in warehouse D out front by the river which would one day be the Aniversary Old Hickory 20 year old Bourbon Whiskey. Boy would I have loved drinking some of that. I have an empty bottle and box given me by my friend who was the top guy in Marketing but never had the chance to drink some.Dave Z-------------------------------------------------------------------Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now