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The Kinsey Fire Observation Room


dave ziegler

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Sitting here tonight drinking something very special given me from my friend last summer who was in charge of marketing for Continantal Distilling back in the day!

Time Old Armagnac 30 year old Brandy, its says 30 years aged in Oak in France and bottled in France 82 proof and boy is it good! It is about 60 years old and I wish I had a case of it.

We had so many unusual products back then and time has only impoved it.

There has never been and never will be again a company like Publicker they had spirits for everyone no matter what the product we had it and it was good!

Times like this I wish I had a thousand cases and could ship them to everyone on the sight so they too could enjoy these amazing spirits.

I am very Happy to have this bottle of Brandy and will enjoy every drop, I only have a little less then half of the bottle left but I shall enjoy every drop.

I lift a toast to everyone on this sight may your days be great and may your nights be better then that!

Dave Z

PS wish all of you could go back in time with me to take you through the place back in the day.

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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I almost got a full bottle of Rittenhouse off EBay yesterday but got outbid with 1 second left. It was a green label BIB from the 1960's. Looked like good, dark whiskey! As a side note, I just got a 2 foot tall cardboard Philadelphia Whisky advertisement. It's going to need some help since it's torn in a few places, but I plan on fixing it as much as possible.

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Sitting here tonight drinking something very special given me from my friend last summer who was in charge of marketing for Continantal Distilling back in the day!

Time Old Armagnac 30 year old Brandy, its says 30 years aged in Oak in France and bottled in France 82 proof and boy is it good! It is about 60 years old and I wish I had a case of it.

Dave, that reminds me of something I once read about Winston Churchill. He very frequently drank a bottle (!!) of extra aged (like, 100 years old) French brandy as he was reading, writing, and retiring for the night. I suppose that's great, if you can afford it.

Tim

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Dave, that reminds me of something I once read about Winston Churchill. He very frequently drank a bottle (!!) of extra aged (like, 100 years old) French brandy as he was reading, writing, and retiring for the night. I suppose that's great, if you can afford it.

Tim

Tim I am very fortunate to have been given this bottle and it is so good it is all but gone. I was to get another one but my friend who was high up in Marketing for Publicker is sick right now and most likely will not get to pa from Ca till next year.

There is nothing like a vintage Whiskey or Brandy, for me everything old is better!

Dave Z

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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

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  • 3 weeks later...

On Monday afternoon I took Mike who lived behind the Plant when he was a kid for a tour again through Kinsey and got a few nice Pictures, I started at the Old Kinsey Bottling house, then Warehouse H and then into the 1966 Bottle house. I had permission so we were able to go in some places.

Here are some pictures

1.Old Wooden Platforms in the Kinsey #10 Rye Building still standing. This is where for many years Rittenhouse Rye was made.

2. Stenciling on upright about the Local union doing unloading.

3. Quick Aged Whisky stenciled on wood up right in #10 Rye Barn

4. What is left of the Old Post prohibition Kinsey Bottling House where all Continental Distilling Liquors where made till 1979 when the company stopped bottling spirits.

5. The door to the Power room in the Old Jacob G Kinsey Bottle House.

6. The old Kinsey Security shack at Kinsey moved off its base many years ago.

7. Inside what is left of the old Security shack.

8. The Alarm system in the Old security Shack.

It gets more painful everytime I go to Kinsey but I never know what I can save for History. I got a complete roof explosion proof Light assembly from the Old Bottle House this last trip as someone had taken it down it to steal for scrap it is now saved for History at Kinsey west!

Every time I walk through I think of the People of Kinsey, Ludy just turned 93 Monday I called him and sang Happy Kinsey Birthday to him!

I offten think of my Good long departed Friend Albert Rhoads and my Old Boss John Zuber!

Kinsey was a great place to work and Publicker/Continental Distilling was a great Company.

I will be posting some more pictures from inside the 1966 Bottling house on The My Memory thread soon!

It Seems All The Nicest people Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Dave Z

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thinking today about the Fire Observation room and what a great idea and safety thing it was. How Many companies in the 1940's would have thought or spent the money to build this room on one of the explosion proof warehouses at the high point of the Plant.

When they bought Kinsey Publicker went to work building the 14 explosion proof warehouses which were built from 1946/1947 and the Building that became the 1966 Bottling House was built in 1951 as warehouse U and made into the worlds largest Bottling house starting to be built inside in 1963/64.

The whole time this was going on in the early 1940's they were also putting sprinklers in every single one of the Old Kinsey buildings, even the maintaince barn. It was alot of work putting sprinkler pipes in all of the old Kinsey wood and brick warehouses, but it payed off in the fact there was never a fire in any of them, and even though abandon and are falling down while Publicker was there everything was always kept up.

Having worked in the yard gang I saw everything that was done on a daily basis to keep the place safe and well kept. Who would ever think that Si Neuman would die so suddenly in 1976 and the people that took it over would run it out of bussiness 10 years after his death 1986.

When I worked there I always thought as long as Si Neuman was in charge Kinsey and Publicker would continue. And in my heart I believe if he had not passed there would be a brand new giant still there today operating and that the plant would have gone on. Si Neuman above everyone else Loved that Plant and place. It was The Park like, beautiful Distillery on the River! In the companies first broshure He speaks of His Beautiful Kinsey Distillery in Montgomery County Pa. on the river.

Dave Ziegler

--------------------------------------------------------------------

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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Thinking today about the Fire Observation room and what a great idea and safety thing it was. How Many companies in the 1940's would have thought or spent the money to build this room on one of the explosion proof warehouses at the high point of the Plant.

When they bought Kinsey Publicker went to work building the 14 explosion proof warehouses which were built from 1946/1947 and the Building that became the 1966 Bottling House was built in 1951 as warehouse U and made into the worlds largest Bottling house starting to be built inside in 1963/64.

The whole time this was going on in the early 1940's they were also putting sprinklers in every single one of the Old Kinsey buildings, even the maintaince barn. It was alot of work putting sprinkler pipes in all of the old Kinsey wood and brick warehouses, but it payed off in the fact there was never a fire in any of them, and even though abandon and are falling down while Publicker was there everything was always kept up.

Having worked in the yard gang I saw everything that was done on a daily basis to keep the place safe and well kept. Who would ever think that Si Neuman would die so suddenly in 1976 and the people that took it over would run it out of bussiness 10 years after his death 1986.

When I worked there I always thought as long as Si Neuman was in charge Kinsey and Publicker would continue. And in my heart I believe if he had not passed there would be a brand new giant still there today operating and that the plant would have gone on. Si Neuman above everyone else Loved that Plant and place. It was The Park like, beautiful Distillery on the River! In the companies first broshure He speaks of His Beautiful Kinsey Distillery in Montgomery County Pa. on the river.

Dave Ziegler

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Nice post, Dave. Wish I could have seen the place in its heyday. It really must have been something to behold.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am back been sick again with the Shingles and not going on line much. Two weeks ago I walked around Kinsey just looking at the ruin of it all. Here are a couple of Pictures of Stenciled writting on the Barrel Elevator in Warehouse K which was open that day.

1.!0-5-1954 with the old Brewery workers Union Logo

2. Smitty Worked Here,Glen Smith the Government man one of the Nicest People you could ever meet!

3. More stencil testing on the wall list of dates 1954.

Walking around I just could hardly come to grips how bad the Place is, I keep saying to my self say it isn't So. Every Building leaking last of the barrels falling apart and Vandels destroying the Place. Having started work there back in sept 1966 it seems so unreal. I keep looking to see stuff going on in my mind. last night I dreamed I was with Jack Rayser and we were looking for Nickname Bookie William Haring his nick name because He ran horse bets for us at lunch time! The Place looked like the old days and when I woke up we had been looking for time cards of all things.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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An old Anglo Saxon poem...The Ruin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ruin

"This masonry is wondrous; fates broke it

courtyard pavements were smashed; the work of giants is decaying.

Roofs are fallen, ruinous towers,

the frosty gate with frost on cement is ravaged,

chipped roofs are torn, fallen,

undermined by old age. The grasp of the earth possesses

the mighty builders, perished and fallen,

the hard grasp of earth, until a hundred generations

of people have departed. Often this wall,

lichen-grey and stained with red, experienced one reign after another,

remained standing under storms; the high wide gate has collapsed.

Still the masonry endures in winds cut down

persisted on__________________

fiercely sharpened________ _________

______________ she shone_________

_____________g skill ancient work_________

_____________g of crusts of mud turned away

spirit mo________yne put together keen-counselled

a quick design in rings, a most intelligent one bound

the wall with wire brace wondrously together.

Bright were the castle buildings, many the bathing-halls,

high the abundance of gables, great the noise of the multitude,

many a meadhall full of festivity,

until Fate the mighty changed that.

Far and wide the slain perished, days of pestilence came,

death took all the brave men away;

their places of war became deserted places,

the city decayed. The rebuilders perished,

the armies to earth. And so these buildings grow desolate,

and this red-curved roof parts from its tiles

of the ceiling-vault. The ruin has fallen to the ground

broken into mounds, where at one time many a warrior,

joyous and ornamented with gold-bright splendour,

proud and flushed with wine shone in war-trappings;

looked at treasure, at silver, at precious stones,

at wealth, at prosperity, at jewellery,

at this bright castle of a broad kingdom.

The stone buildings stood, a stream threw up heat

in wide surge; the wall enclosed all

in its bright bosom, where the baths were,

hot in the heart. That was convenient.

Then they let pour_______________

hot streams over grey stone.

un___________ _____________

until the ringed sea (circular pool?) hot

_____________where the baths were.

Then is_______________________

__________re, that is a noble thing,

to the house__________ castle_______"

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Lets say it is a typical start of the day at Kinsey in Early Nov 1969 6:45 AM. I would walk down through where the big metal gates are now, they were not there when I started there. Turn to My Right and walk past the Old Kinsey maintaince Barn built by Jake Kinsey. Turn to the left and go in the Ferrmenter area of Old DSP-Pa-12 to ring in at the Time clock.

Next go down the old stairs to the tunnel where my Locker was, put on my coveralls and Work shoes. In the winter we were always given WWII Sub Zero army surplus coats. Way different the ones today they were light green Sueded heavy coats and I wish I had my old one now! They had giant zippers and were very durable. One thing 90% of us always wore was either an Old Time Style Engineers hat of Welders cap, the old blue stripped ones. They were worn because of the Rust and dirt in the racks that would get in you hair if you did not wear a hat. We got all our stuff at a discount at the Old Workmens supply in down town Pottstown because we worked at Publicker. Publicker gave us our Coveralls and coats and we got a big discount on work shoes through Publicker if you went to workmens supply.

We would sit till starting time and I would listen to the old timers talk about Kinsey through the years, or I would sneak off and explore the still building if I was early there.

Once it was starting time when I was in the yard gang our boss John Zuber would tell each of us what we were doing that day and take us in the Old blue 1947 flat head six cylinder ford pickup to our work area if it was far. Could be doing a last hand mowing of the lawns if it snowed shoveling and cleaning walk ways, or just hauling stuff to the dump down near the river.

One Nov we were given the job of sweeping out all the back explosion proof warehouses fire escape stair wells. What a mess dead Pidgeons and lots of dust and no masks those days we were blowing dirt out of our noses for a week. We did not complain we were thankful we had a great job that paid well! Sometimes a rail car of Coal would come in for the boilers and our job was to unload it. You would climb into the car and knock lose as much sticking coal you could till you could just reach the top of the rail car wall to get back out on the outside car ladder. That was the one Job I Hated!

Sometimes we would haul bronken glass down to the dump or as I have spoken of before gone in a certain building to clean it for use. I still remember fondly going into the Old Jacob G Kinsey Bottling house to clean the floors and equipment for the girls to come over and start bottling Liqours.

The old bottle house and the Still were my alltime favorite buildings! The Ladies always called the Old Bottle house HAPPY HOUSE mostly because they could sneak a drink there easier.

Another job we had on the yard gang was hauling the metal Barrel racks away from the warehouses they were being torn down in. We would take them down to the Old steer pens going to the river and put then under cover there in sections on the Old Wagon pulled by an 8-n ford tractor.

I want to just let people know what the every day life was working there while I am here to tell it. I hope this has been enjoyable I am going to talk about working in the warehouses on my Memories thread.

Dave Z

==============================================

Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey

For Unhurried Moments

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Days Like today in fall, cool and breezy were always nice at The Kinsey Distillery. Clear Crisp Breezes from the river coming up through the Plant. On a Nov 10 back in the day we would be dumping as much as possible for the coming Holidays. The Lead men would have lists of Dumpings for each gang and the 3 old Red 1941 Ford Flat trucks would be litterly flying back and forth hauling Barrels from warehouses that had no dump Trough to ones that did.

We would travel from every warehouse on our list pulling barrels and dumping them or loading them on the trucks. I remember seeing one time one of the drivers went to fast and one Barrel fell off one of the flat trucks landing on its side. Amazingly it did not break and was lifted back up on the truck.

During the Months of early Oct and Nov it was dump, dump and more dump.

When I was in the yard gang we would have a list of dump sites for the next week and we would go and sweep the floor all around the troughs that dumping was going happen. We would also dump the old char out of the trough Screens into trash barrels.

Nov and Dec were very exciting months and good days at Continental Distillings (Kinsey Distillery).

Dave Z

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Join The Swing To Kinsey

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Here are a couple of shots in what is left of Happy House the Old Kinsey Bottle House where every Liquor we ever made was bottled till Sept 1979.

1. Rod climbed over the pile of bricks to see what the Old door sticking out of the burned down Plant office went to and we discovered it is an Empty Vault room with the handle that worked steel bars to lock it. Most likely kept cash and pay money back in Kinsey days in there.

2. & 3. Lookind down from both sides what is now left of the Old Jacob G Kinsey Bottling house.

4. The Door to what was the power room in the Old Bottle House.

5. & 6. The old treated water tank and its capacity 3100 gals. Vandels have stolen all the pipes and anything else they could. The little powerhouse of a Liquor bottling house once had 3 Mighty Lines doing all the Liquors that ever came out from Continental Distilling!

7. & 8. The old cationic and anotonic tanks and filter tank shot in Sepia and then in color.

I will keep visting the Old Building as long as it stands for the fond memories of sweeping the floors for the girls from the big bottle house to make and bottle liquor's when I was in the Yard gang so many years ago around 44 years ago.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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Here are some more shots from Last Sunday!

1. Old Jacob G Kinsey Warehouse B built 1892 says Continental Distilling Warehouse B

2. More rotting Barrels Kinsey Warehouse F

3. Warehouse F Old Barrels

4.,5,6. Warehouse P

7.,8. Old Bottling Machine O warehouse

9. Weird barrel warehouse P

I hope to go back to Kinsey this weekend to explore some more and get more pictures of what has happen to the place.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just scaned two pieces of new paper work I got at Kinsey both are about our barrel plant in Markus Hook Pa the Knebb barrel works the company when they bought it in the 1940's I think, kept the original name as they supplied many other distillers with barrels, there and our barrel cooperage plant in St Louis MO.

1.Inspection report for barrels.

2. Barrels to be sold.

The Knebb barrel works was one of the earliest barrel makers. Sadly when Publicker/Continental Distilling and Kinsey went under so did the Knebb Barrel works. Ludy went to the Knebb Barrel plant to go to cooperage school and learned to build barrels and put them togther. To graduate he built a 6 gal barrel which he still has.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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  • 2 weeks later...

So far Exploring the Plant I have found at least 7 places where Pyrotronics warning lights were used, one at the power room in the bottling house one in the incoming room one in the old fire house and serveral units on warehouse docks.

With all the explosions they had in phila when they built The modern Explosion proof warehouses at Kinsey they also made every Building as fire proof as possible in the 1940's.

Also in the Old Secruity Shack there is a unit for Security to monitor. I will always be proud to Have worked there and Lament that the man who bought the place destroyed it by walking away. This morning one of my friends in electronics where I work and I talked about the old Place and he told me if the Man would have kept things closed and protected it would not matter how many years it sat the sealed explosion proof boxes would be able to be turned on. Sadly the guy just left everything to be opened and robbed of wires meaning none of the Old warehouses will ever light up or be used again. It is heart breaking for me.

Dave Z

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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey

For Unhurried Moments

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  • 1 month later...

Well it is to be a Nice weekend and I think I may just go to the Plant on Sunday afternoon.

Been thinking about all the people who worked there and how much product we made in the 13 years the Bottle House ran. When It opened it was a thing of great beauty and very High tec. Now it is just a memory in my Mind of what it was. Back in the late 1960's People thought wow you work for Publicker you should be proud because they were the Biggest employer in Limerick Township and one of the very best paying jobs around. In Dec of 1969 I was clearing $101.20 a week big money for those days. And I will give you an example of how good they paid, in 1979 I was driving a truck for $3.00 an Hour for Pottstown Plating where I worked 18 years Hating the Place, people working at Kinsey in 1979 were making around $7.50 an hour and up. I was paying for leaving there when I did because My neigbor talked me into going where He worked which was horrible too!

Publicker was a great company and I was lucky as a young man to have worked there in the glory days of the Plant.

During the winter Cal Roberts and Harry Martin the fireman at the Plant would travel all through the Plant opening Hydrants to make sure they were not frozen Stan stafoniwitz was also a member of the Fire man at Kinsey. They would check every Hydrant on the property and run the Old Mack Fire truck around at least once a week. We had our own fuel pump up front and it was Sinclair Dino Gas back then! I now work in one of the Safest Chemical Plants in the world and when I look back the Linfield Publicker Plant was then one of the Safest ones for that time.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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  • 1 month later...

On Sunday I walked around Kinsey for the first time in months, and it was heart breaking. I walked up through and found that once again one of the most neat Warehouses ,Warehouse Q the one with the Fire Observation tower has suffered again. When the Rotten man who owns the Plant was using it while Publicker was there had a large square Hole put in the lower wall and another bulding to move warehoused stuff in and out.

However instead of putting a door He just put a large square wooden rack wall just pushed in and nailed. Well now not only does the building have the hole up on the third floor from vandals having set a fire, it has a big open hole in the lower wall to make the building get ever more weak. Why it had to happen to the Fire tower building I don't know but I am going this weekend to get some Pictures.

It appears to me that Kinsey's day are numbered by all these years of letting everything go by this Terrible man who owns the place.

If Mr Neuman saw this he would turn over in his grave seeing His Beautiful Distillery on the river, as stated in the Companies first Brosure when they went on the stock market.

Mr Neuman made trips up at least 2 or 3 times a month to look things over and this is just so Sad.

Dave Z

===================================================

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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Well we had a nice day at Kinsey yesterday and I will be posting pictures on all 3 threads. Here are six of the Pictures taken in the Old #10 Rye Barn and the Old Kinsey Grain Silo.

1. Quick Aged still on the suport post in the Old Dsp-pa-10 Rye Barn

2. Another qucik aged on a old Falling Beam in te barn.

3,4,5 All shots in the Old Large Kinsey Grain Silo. The weeds were dead and I was able to climb in.

6. An Old Weather Proof switch in the Silo from the 1930's

We hd a great ime and when I get to the Memories gthread I have a couple of Fun shots for there. I am going to post pictures in all 3 threads.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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...can't wait to see the barrel rolling action shot at the elevator and the group photo...

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  • 2 weeks later...

When I was at Kinsey on Sat past weekend I was very sadened to see how bad Q warehouse has gotten. Now that the wooden wall insert Put in by the man who owns the place has fallen out the building has not only that hole in the wall, but the one punched in by the fire company many years ago on the third floor to put out a fire started by vandels in old Corn whiskey barrels that were on that floor. It got so hot that the glass in the windows of the Fire tower melted and ran down the walls. Warehouse Q was special because not only did the room in the Tower act as a watch place to look around the plant, since it sits on the High point of the Kinsey Plant.

The tower room also was used to test fading on Whiskey labels. They would put groups up on the sills for the Sun to shine on them to see how they held up.

Publicker was always trying their best to make the Best Whiskeys at prices the working man could afford. we were always trying new things such as the Wooden floaters as we called them, in barrels started in the early 1960's long before Makers Mark did the toasted sticks thing.

It is a sad story writting about the end Of Publicker and If Mr Neuman had Lived it is my belief there would have been a brand new Still built at Kinsey, there was much talk of it back then. When Si Neuman died Publicker Industries and Kinsey died. Ten years after his death Kinsey and Publicker where gone!

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnicient Bourbon

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Rod and I went back to Kinsey on Sunday afternoon. My Lamp parts had a core that could not be used. We got a complete one in the Old Kinsey Bottle house, " Happy House" and were able to take it apart there. I am now cleaning it up. The first one at the top the coupler was rusted into the metal housing and not removeable. This one is fine but needs lots of Wire Brushing to clean the white corosion off it. But it is Rust free.

Rod Climbed up in the old Grain drying building and got me some shots which I will post on the My Memories thread. Vandles have totally destroyed the Old Kinsey Bottle house so I am glad to save the explosion proof Light housing for History. This unit was right in front of the old Anatonic Tank.

When the light was working Mr Jacob G Kinsey was walking around in there so it is saving not only Continental Distilling History but actual Kinsey History.

I will put it together and take a picture of the complete unit once I get the dirt off it. The Green enamel shade is from warehouse L.

_________________________________________________________

Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For

Unhurried Moments

Dave Z

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  • 2 weeks later...

Today I will tell some stories and information about Kinsey. When I first started going back to Kinsey after being so sick in Feb 2007 that I almost died. I was sick in bed lookig at an old Brosure of the Plant from 1980. In it there was a Aerial Picture of the whole Plant and I spotted the Fire observation Room on the Picture. Memories flooded my mind. I thought of the great idea of making this fire escape on the High point of the plant a place to put a room to do fire watches for safety. When I was able to get out of bed and travel very weakly I made my Childhood Friend Don help me to get to Kinsey and check out the Fire observation room. He also climbed the dangerous side ladder to the room on top for Looking across the roof. Discovering that the floor had fallen in leaving a sealed pit with no escape if you walked through the door, and He took pictures of the upper room for me.

Also I found labels there and in wondering how they got there I found out later something I had forgotten from Ludy. We would place labeled bottles and Labels on the window sills in the sun to test there ability to hold up from fading. This was a tipical type of thing for Publicker, they were aways doing inovative things in every operation they ran.

Q warehouse like the rest could hold 333,333 barrels per floor and was one of more used warehouses in my days in the warehouse gang.

On any given day we could be racking barrels in the afternoon and dumping barrels in the morning. We would ride on the back of one of three flat trucks to warehouses any distance, and walk to close ones.

At Lunch the Lunch room at O building, the Government building was the Place to be. Also a truck with sandwiches from a local mobel catering service would drive up most days and we would buy treats or sandwiches. Also we could leave at lunch and come back as the flat trucks would drop and pickup people leaving and coming back at the front gate.

Our Little soda machine was very important to the guys who liked to mix their whiskey with soda and the Ginger ale was always well used out of the machine. The machine carried A Treat Sodas from the Allentown area.

Our machines back in those days were run by ARA services no longer around this area. And for the smokers even though you had few places to smoke,we had a cigarette machine filled with the days best brands!

We had really nice heavy wooden picnic benches to sit at and a large round sink to wash up. Also some lockers and the only in Plant warehouse area bathroom.

They were wonderful days for me of youth and my memories are very fond of those days and friends still here,and those gone!

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Dave Z

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As I get parts to save for History from Kinsey I find how bad it got there after Mr Neuman died and the lawyers and outsiders took over. An example is a switch I got from Warehouse M. When I pulled it from the wall I discovered that the plug on the other end had never been turned in tight. I put my Finger on the driver slot and screwed it riight out. A bad seal in that high Vapor area could have blown them into eternity. Nothing on the newer special line was tight or sealed good.

When Publicker was run by Mr Neuman things like that were built right and no hurring or short cuts by Shorty.

1. This is one of two late 1940's/1950's style switches and both had a loose Plugs in the bottom part of the Box and fully conected to Power.

It is sad for me to see how the place went under but I learn more everytime I go there.

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Dave Z

post-1964-14489817859042_thumb.jpg

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Everytime I walk around Kinsey memories come back to me. How well I remember days back dumping at the back end of the plant at warehouse #38 the only numbered warehouse due to it pumping whiskey to the scale house across the road. Many times there would be rail tankers of Whiskey coming up from Phila pulled behind the scale house. The whiskey would be weighted and pumped down by pipes to the large tanks down in the woods near the water Pump house that supplied the back water tank!

Those tank in the woods were 1/2 million gal tanks like the ones mid Plant are. From What Ludy remembers. The tanks would say Publicker Industries on the sides and the Blue and white colors.

After #38 warehouse the road became stone and ran down to the Old House by the river. How well I remember doing the Lawns down their. Mr Bryant had an above ground swiming Pool and the Old House was beautiful.

Now it is in complete Ruin with half of it fallen down. It was one of the most Historic Houses in Limerick township being originaly built by William Evans and sold to Jacob G Kinsey in around early 1891. The Distillery Opened in 1892. It survived for 94 years. Mr Kinsey Lived to be 94 years old having reopened the Distillery in 1933 after Prohibition at the age of 75 Years old.

The Name Publicker Industries ended 94 years after starting in 1913.

Strange how these things turn up.

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Dave Z-

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I just got the wired part of my Explosion Proof Lamp back today completely wired by a professional Electrian friend of Mine. Now once I get my Base from Rod the lamp will sit in front of My Bottle collection shining up on some of my bottles and Plant signs. I will post the finished Lamp soon! Here is a Picture of it a friend in the office held it for me to take the picture.

1. The Inner wired shaft is from the Old Jacob G Kinsey Bottle House ( Happy House ) as the girls called it. The inner Bayonet glass explosion proof scew in housing is also from the old Bottle house. The Green Shade and bell which I will be mounting when finished are from Explosion Proof Warehouse L second floor Barrel elevater area. This is a dream come true to have this to remember those great old days!

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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Dave Z

post-1964-14489817889637_thumb.jpg

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