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


dave ziegler

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Just a couple of notes I talked to my engineer Friend John today about the Black coatings covers on the Bottle House incoming tanks. I told him exactly what I saw when I looked at them this summer and I asked why this cover was only used on the Incoming Tanks at the end of the 1966 Bottling House. His his best guess was the following not knowing the exact process.

Here is what I saw when I looked at the covers.

The covers were black on the outside and were made of Rubberized Asphalt Pitch , I told him the Inside was a sort of Yellow Red and flexable and here is how they worked and what they were on those tanks for he speculates.

John said the outside coating was made of a combination of Asphalt Pitch and rubber coating, to protect the internal fiberos insulation from UV degridation.

The Coatings Purpose apeared to be, to maintain a stable Liquid temporature for the Whiskey and to Minimize the Generation of Condensation which could Dilute and contaminate the Process batch of the types of Whiskey in the tanks.

This would better control Process Quality throughout external outside temperature variations ie summer , winter temporature extrems.

Dave Z

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It Seems All the Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most magnificent Bourbon

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  • 3 weeks later...

Today I also took some of what may be the Last pictures I ever take in the small Kinsey Bottling house built in the 1930's it was the place that Continental Distilling bottled and blended all their Famous Liquor's such as Caffe lolita and Peanut Lolita. It is now in very bad shape with no second floor to go up as I had done till last Nov when it fell down.

I went today at 11:00 Am to get these pictures and it was a beautiful day the pictures are the following

1.& 2. Looking from back of Old Kinsey Bottle house toward the front near the road.

3. The front room where bottles were put back in their cases to be sent up through the floor to the second floor to go out the top wall by fork lift.

4. Old Equipment that has fallen through the second floor to the first

5. Looking up where second floor has fallen

6. Looking from fron end of bottle house near the road toward the plant.

7. Side door out to the plant and the way you would go in if you were going there to work on Liquor Bottling

8. Two Explosion Proof switches on pole with Caffe Lolita Label on the pole this was where the caffe Lolita was bottled on one of the 3 lines of Old Philip Singer Bottle Machines

9. Power room in Old Bottle house

10. Cathonoic and Anotonic tanks in far back end of Old Kinsey bottle house

11.Old Water treatment tank in far back end of Old Bottle house

12. Looking behind the water treatment tank where dumping room on second floor has fallen down

13. Old dump trough from second floor fallen down

14. Old Barrel rails from DSP-Pa. 10 to warehouse's D&E behind the Old Kinsey Bottle house

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well it Began here on Sept 12 1966 and here are some of the 106 Pictures I took inside the old 1966 Bottling house in Total Darkness on Sept 27 2009!

well here are some of the shots I will post some on the memories thread later today hopefiully and finish up back here tomorrow Here are 50 of my pictures I will try my best to give the place in the Bottle house I took them

1.Sign over door to bottling house Maint where Ludy Worked

2. & 3.Old Cabinettes in maint

4. & 5.Looking both to the front and back of the storage area for cased Whiskey

6. & 7.two of the openings that came through the bulkhead wall to the Shipping area where they put them on pallets at lines end

8,9,10 Pictures of Lines coming out to the end casing area

11.Another shot of Case storgage area

12.Looking back at line from far end

13.Where Line M-11 came out in Case area one of the 11 lines that ran through the bottle house

14.Another Shot of Storage area

15. Part of an old Bottling Machine

16.Overhead Line

17.Another over head lines these were shot in the middle section of the bottle house

18,19.More over Headlines

20.,21,22. More Line Pictures

23. Old Eye safety Area for washing eyes

24. This is an old Antifreeze line in the starting area of the bottling lines

25.More over Head pipeing

26. Another shot of a line

27,28,29.More Line shots from starting point

30,31,32,33. Far back room A where the incoming lines from the Black tanks came in

34. These Lines say Chiller on them incoming room

35. Stair to Tank Platform

36. says Scotch Whiskey only

37.Honeywell controls with paper disc in them for the next day that never came!

38.Pilot Lights above Disc Honeywell Machine

39,40. Pipe Lines

41,42,43.Inlets fromand out lets from Back tanks

44.Platform area

45.Explosion Proof Phone from the 1940's in incoming Whiskey area I got the front cover years ago as it is very wet there and the Phone one of two in the plant is ruin i have the other one at home

46. Equipment in Tank incoming area

47. Pipes along ceiling

48.more pipes on ceiling

49.Stainless tank in the incoming Whiskey area

50.An old Rain coat hangs where it was left the last time the Bottle House ever operated waiting its owners return which shall never be

Well I hope everyone enjoyes these My friend in IT here at work helped me to get these on my Work computer so I could load them quickly. I will post some on the Memories thread at home tonight and then the rest here tomorrow.

It was dark damp cold and yet I loved every second in the Bottling house as in my mind there they all were working the lines keeping them going and bringing in great whiskey from the Warehouse's Dump trough's. It hurts to think back to the awesome Whiskeys we bottled there and for it to sit now and rot yet I want more then anything to let you all see how it was back in the Day and what a joy to work there back then! In those days this building was the highest Tech Bottling House in The world.

Dave Z

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Kinsey The Unhurried Blended Whiskey for Unhurried Moments

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most magnificent Bourbon

Inver House Scotch Soft As A Kiss

Philadelphia The Heritage Whiskey

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Well, Dave, another trip back thru memory lane. Twenty years of my life spent in that bottling house and warehouses! Just looking at the pix brought back so many forgotten memories but also horror at what the place has become. I don't know why, but I keep looking for some sign that I was there, but, of course, there is none. In my mind I see the three parts of the bottling house the way they were in it's heyday. Sometimes I think I do not want to look at your pix but can't seem to stop myself. I want to cry!

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Well Here are 20 more Pictures I will post the other 30 plus on the memories thread later this morning!

51.Tank Far end of incoming area

52.Black Tank incoming area

53.Says heater

54.Lines on ceiling

55.Another Tank

56.More tanks

57.Looking toward Room B wall

58.Ceiling Pictures of pipes

59.,60.,61.Tank Platform at wall to to room B where the lines started

62. Pipe Lines from Platform

63.Going down the stair from Platform

64.,65,66,67.,68.Tank signs two say Ethyl Rubbing Alcohol 10-10-84 others say Dump & Reduction

69.looking up at ceiling near Platform roller line across ceiling

70. Government Tax Strip machine

I will be posting the rest of the pictures this morning on the memories thread I have one picture that shows Tax strips laying in a wet mess in the room where the machine is. It is very hard seeing this terrible thing happen to Kinsey as I will always be proud I worked for the Continental Distilling Disvision of Publicker Industries in Linfield at Kinsey a name i will always reveer.

However so that people will see these pictures in the future years and read about Kinsey I will continue to give as much information as I can while I can as there are not many of us left. And This living History Must go on!

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most magnificent Bourbon

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This morning I printed out all my Pictures from in the bottle house from Sunday and put notes on them and gave them to my Friend Paul who wired my Explosion proof Light sets I built. He is one of the top Electricians where I work and in looking at the pictures he said bet you never noticed on this picture of lines on the ceiling what else is there. Well it turns out that if you go back to #53 on this page and look at picture #40 you will see the end of a early type Explosion Proof Fluorescent light Bulb Fixture. The Big Round ends are what makes it Explosion Proof does not let spark out.

Paul also said he was amazed at how well the plant controls tanks pipes and electrical lines and bottling lines were layed out. And how everything was spaced apart very good for safety from explosion. Also for that time frame being built 1964 till 1966 when it opened sept 12 1966 how good the quality of the equipment was such as the motors which also were made Explosion proof.

He see's these things because he has worked with these type of things his whole life and everyday here at the plant I work at now there are certain places where explosion proof things are needed in chemical area's.

The company that did 90% of the piping and tank layouts and much more was Piersol & Pine corp of Oaks Pa about 15 miles from the plant. Continental always used local companies. Also if you look back at some of my Black tank pictures you will see their name plate on the tanks. They specialized in Stainless steel lines and tanks and put all the Stainless steel dumping lines from warehouse to warehouse up in the air back when the plant was built.

Every Tank and every Line was made of the Best Stainless you could buy and it took 3 years 1964/1966 till Multi Purpose Explosion proof Warehouse U was made into the New Continental Distilling Bottling House. When it opened on sept 12 1966 the Old Bottling house at Bigler Street in Phila closed down for the bottling of Spirits for good.

Once in opened here it ended them having to ship spirits ready to be bottled down to phila instead new barrels only came up from Phila to be put in the warehouses to age and whiskey that was ready could be dumped and sent right to the Bottling House on site!

All these ideas and the great construction point to Mr Si Neuman getting the best stuff and People doing it as He always did and always if possible using Local Companies for everything.

An example again was getting all our Glass Bottles from Diamond glass which was about 7 miles from the plant in Royersford! sadly once Publicker shut down Diamond glass closed also not long after.

Publicker had used Diamond way back at the begining of the company in Phila to supply all the glass for spirits.

Dave Z

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Old Hickory America's Finest Bourbon

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well today around 11:15 - AM I went for a walk again at Kinsey from my friends house across the street.

I went into a couple of open warehouses and I got some shots of the black incoming tanks at the far end of the 1966 Bottling House.

Here are 8 different Pictures taken of the black tanks and their area behind the 1966 Bottling House. I will post more of them and some warehouse pictures tomorrow.

Here are some of the Black Tanks and I counted them there are 9 of them incoming! I also got some shots of informamtion plates on them the signs with the Capastiy of them. I also climbed up the stairs again almost to the top I will post some of them shots plus my shots in the plant tomorrow.

I also took a picture of gauges on them.

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 the rest of my incoming tank area pictures for the bottling house!

Here are the last 15. shots I took inthe Black tank area of the Bottling house outside!

1.Another tank sign

2.Two of the black coated incoming tanks

3.Pipes going in from tanks

4.Climbing up platform stairs to top of tanks

5.Up the stairs to the roof level

6.Explosion proof Lightgoing up the stairway

7.Looking at the tin covers to keep rain and weahter out on the bottom of the tank area

8.Walkway to the far side white tank

9.looking up the Platform stairway from the bottom

10.Looking through tank tunnel ground level

11.Tank Lines running along the bottle house wall

12.Lines into black tank

13. Thermometer Gauge on one of the 9 black incoming tanks

14.Explosion proof lights running along the wall of the 1966 Bottling house in tank tunnel

15. Shot taken through port hole in one of the Black incoming tanks

This finishes the bottling tank shots from sunday, I had a grea time just taking my time getting the shots. It was a cool clear overcast day and there were lots of nice river breezes coming through the Plant!

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest people Drink Old Hickory

America's Most magnificent Bourbon

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Well Gene Autry May have been back in the saddle again but I went back in the 1966 Bottling house again at Kinsey today after Church with my friends and got lots of Pictures and my friends that watch the place found something very nice for me in the old Maintaince Shop to?

Here are 13 of the 100+pictures I took today will be posting all week and will post a picture of my surprise things my buddies found and gave me they were the only ones in there

1.,2.3.,4. Maintaince shop in Bottling it was out of Here that Ludy worked and in here that they repaired stuff such as pumps. Last of these Pictures a old Drill press in shop

5.Maintaince again

6.Old Refridge in Maintaince when i opened it there were some old Lunch bags in there. Plus other stuff

7.Shelves in Bottling Maintaince

8.Forklifts just outside Maintaince

9.through 12. The Power Room next to Bottling Miantaince shop

13. Pyrotronics fire safety Control warning Box!

I will be posting lots more on here later in the week as hve around 80 pictures yet. I am now going to post my surprise things my freinds found me on the Memories thread!

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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Well Here are some more of the shots in the 1966 Bottling House I got on Sunday Oct 18.

Here are the Pictures

1.,2. The last Project done for Whisky Bottling buy Continental Distilling a specail boiler for Water heating in the Shipping end of the bottle house. I called Ludy and asked him about it and that is what he told me, it was the last Project done by Joe Trish our Engineer He designed stuff from the 1940's through till the year 1979. I have an old Blue print from the early 1940's called the Potato Project and Joe's name is on that.

3.,4. The Warehouse Part the little four sided things in the picture are caused by Moisture in that part of the Building and is the apeture of the camera showing in the picture

5.,6.,7. Shipping Offices in area

8. Cage area I believe this was used to keep imported Whiskey that were bottled when they arrived in to keep them safe

9.Safety Signs on Piler

10.Bulkhead wall looking at Line M-11 Room C

11. Different Lines at end in Shipping warehouse Room C I did not post all as 11 total lines note all lines coming into room C had a sprinkler above the end wall over the line for safety

12.Lines in the Middle opening in wall coming into the shipping / Warehouse area

13.Looking again at warehouse area

14.the Middel lines on other side in Room B

15. The Next pictures are all of an Old upstairs office in the General office area. Note 1985 Calender with vacations marked, also calender with the last year of the Plant doing Antifreeze and home products 1986 Sept

16. Little Closet area with Coffee maker with Coffee and suppiles still there for coffeee never to be made!

I am hoping that Sandie can tell me who was in the little upstairs Office as I have no clue.

I have many more shots all mostly in the Incoming and tank area's of lines and equipment and also the time clock area and much more to be posted soon. i will also post a few things on the Memories thread later today.

Dave Z

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It Seems All the Nicest people Drink old Hickory

America's Most magnificent Bourbon

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Well I have been thinking about Kinsey all day and now taking a break at work to post some more of my Pictures from inside the 1966 Bottling house from this past Sunday.

1.Down stairs in the General Offices in the 1966 Bottling House

2.Engineering room in offices Blue Print Desk

3. Old Word processer in General office

4.,5. Rooms in General office

6. Very Old early Computer in General Office

7.,8. Dispensary Old Medicines still on cart and in cabinet

9.Locker Room

10. Tank Platform behind wall to room B

11. Bottle Line going through wall to room B

12. I climbed up the platform for the Whiskey Heaters and Water Surge tanks which are square in shape in this picture Whiskey Heaters No. 1.2,3

13. Whiskey Heater # 2

14.Pipes running out of area

Tomorrow I

will be posting lots of Pictures in this area including the Water Surge tanks!

Dave Z

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Philadelphia the Heritage Whiskey

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Well today is a nice fall day and it brings back so many memories of this time of year working at Kinsey! This was always the time when we shipped so many good Spirit Products for the Holidays ahead.

I can still see all those rail cars coming across the Companys rail bridge to be put in front of the 1966 Bottling House! And the ever flowing in trucks to take products out for all the USA and abroad too!

So In the spirit of the Old days here are the rest of my Sunday Oct 18 Pictures inside the State of Art 1966 Bottling House.

1.,2.Water Surge tanks on platform I climbed up to get these shots.

3.Surge Tanks on Platform from the floor

4. Low Voltage Emergency Light a very new thing for those days on ceiling incoming spirits area for safety in case of lost power or fire, My safety friend here at work tells me it was unhread of for a company to put them in back in those days but Publicker Did.

5.Old green Job area desk sitting in Incoming Spirits area.

6. Scotch Chiller

7.Blender tank all these shots are in the Incoming Spirits area the Black tanks are on the outside of the wall to this area

8.Black No. 1 Water heater

9.,10,11,The room that houses all the Power circuts a shot looking in, one shot of the Large structure and one of the boxes holding switches

12.Another Tank

13. A second large tank with stairs going up to them

14.Long row of Pumps in the incoming Spirits and water area

15. Explosion Proof control boxes of some sort

16.Another shot from the other side of the Old Green Job desk

17. One of the Bottling Lines starting in room A start area

18. Another picture of Pipes from the water Surge tank Platform

19. Large Open area in Room A dark but big

This is it for the Sunday Pictures I am going back soon for some shots I have not got yet as it is such a big building. Two Football fields Long and over a 1/2 football field wide.

Everytime I get in the Plant is such a remembering thing as memories just jump out to my mind. I can almost see the people there even though they are long gone in my Mind I remember and remembering is great Joy seeing it like it is now is very Hard and sad!

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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Early this moring I spoke to Randy Our safety officer where I work I showed him some of the Pictures of Safety equipment that were in the 1966 Bottling House.

Then I asked him since he is a safe work place Expert what he thought, he said the emergency Lights the tags to lock out electric Boxes and machines I have shown him in my Pictures and even to have sprinklers above the hole in the wall at the lines end to prevent a fire in your Whiskey cased storage area were way ahead of the times 1966 through 1986.

He told me He was amazed at the forthought that was put into the building of the bottling house from Old all purpose warehouse U and He said when it opened by looking at my Pictures it had to be one of the all time safest Bottling house in the mid 1960's.

He said those days people tried to get by with as little as they could and our saftey equipment was why there was never a fire in the plant explosion or Bad injury from either.

I am very Proud to have worked there and even more proud of our saftey record back in those great days of yesteryear!

Dave Z

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Old Hickory America's Finest Bourbon

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As I walked in Kinsey on Sunday I noticed that the weeds and trees are starting to die off for the winter and you can slmost see the front Dock of the Big 2 foot ball field long 1966 Bottling house again.

Here are two shots of the Bottle house front first and the back side second. I thought right away when I took the dock picture of how this time of year back in the day there would have been 3 box cars sitting there to be loaded with our many Spirits being shipped out for the Holidays coming!

Sadly there are no trucks and no box cars and not even a rail bridge anymore but in my Heart and Mind they are all there with the hustle of hundreds of people with one goal in Mind making and shipping the Best spirits out for Thanksgiving and Christmas and of course New Years.

Dave Z

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It Seems All the Nicest people Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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  • 3 weeks later...

When I walk by the 1966 Bottling House I always have to wonder what if

Mr. Neuman had not died. I know one thing the man that owns the plant now would never have gotten it to destroy it.

Anyone with some sense would have kept things turned on and tried to market the bottle House for Home products again and did some work on the warehouses, all they would have had to do to make them useable would have been to put new frieght elevators in place of the Barrel Elevators. They had such thick walls they would have made great Frozen food lockers and at one time before Publicker sold to him they almost got some of them leased to Oscar Mayer I found a paper to that effect but Oscar Mayer pulled out at the last moment. What a shame This destroyer Of Kinsey Would never have got his hands on the Place. He bought it for about 3 or 4 Million and now in ruin he wants 20 Million he is a modern day Pirate in my book. It will go down History that this man was totaly the cause of destruction of The Kinsey Distillery

But sadly He shut it all down and left a sign and phone number and let it fall apart now 23 years later. I wish so many times I would have had lots of money so I could have saved the place back when it was saveable. I in my heart can see the front Buildings the still the Old Bottle house and silo's and wood and brick warehouses a living museum and the Bottle house and the rest of the Explosion proof Warehouses made into Codo's if there was no Industrial use to make them into. I even have Names "The Kinsey Living History of Distilling Museum of Pa" and " The Condo's At Kinsey Distillery".

Many people each year could have come to take a tour of the Historic Distilling area and the grounds would have made a lovely park around the Condo's the 3 Houses could have been sold and other homes could have been built in the Back for those who wanted the peacefulness of being miles from the road traveling in by a large private Cement Road that runs in through the plant. The River area could have had docks for Boating and Picnic tables. The grounds were perfect till He got the place.

Even Q Warehouse with the fire tower room could have been marketed as having a lovely roof room that was heated with beautiful views of the area for those who chose to have a condo in that Building.

So there sits the 1966 bottle house 2 foot Ball fields Long and 1/2 a foot ball field wide rotting away, as are all the warehouses.

The year 1986 was a good year for most bussiness and I am sure if he would have stayed there and tried sell it he could have it but no He went back to NYC and lets it rot for 23 yrs while he collects loss that kind of a person is far worse then some one who does not work at all, in the fact that he could have done something with it back then that would have created jobs but He chose to destroy Kinsey!

I know I am a dreamer but If you ever saw what Kinsey was back then you would agree so much could have been done but Now it all sits falling apart.

Oh That Kinsey Distillery Could go back to what it once was

A Place To Work That you Could Really Love!

Dave Z

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Join The Swing To Kinsey

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  • 1 month later...

No y6ear can end without a trip to Kinsey! Here are some pictures I shot this afternoon Dec 28 in the Continental Distilling 1966 Bottle house.

I took 64 piictures so this is just 9 of them I will be posting the rest in the next couple of days.

1.The Bottle House Laboratory

2.Looking down through room B

3.Looking the other direction in room B

4,5,6, In the Laboratory

7,8,9 The Nurses station in the Bottle house

I had lost lots time so I have shots of all kinds of things to post yet, as I was finishing my Flashlight started to go dead so I had to use my last one to get out. The Place is so bad and so damp and dusty I had to get out and get some air but I had a good time just being there. I have shots of tanks Platforms machines all kinds of stuff to post here yet.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Niicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here are five more of the Pictures I took the last time I was in Kinsey a couple of weeks ago. Everything is so ruined in the Big Bottle House it breaks my heart seeing it so badly off. I wish I could save Kinsey but time has taken its toll and the days of old are gone but the memories continue for me!

1. Incoming Chiller Lines

2. In the state of Art Labortatory

3. The Lab

4. The Lab

5. The Lab

It used to be one of the very best inplant distillery Labs it now is in total Ruin a sad and terrible thing.

Dave Z.

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Kinsey The Unhurried Whisky For Unhurried Moments

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  • 3 weeks later...

Earler today when I wrote on the Memories thread I forgot about a Picture I took of something special I have in my garage. So I am posting it here as it sure belongs here.

1. Picture one the 1966 Bottling house time clock and its cover

2. The time clock with an old card in it.

I was fourtune enough to have my friends get me the original time clock from the 1966 Continetal Bottling house, I have not had a chance to clean it up but boy does it bring back memories!

There were two of these one in the Old Dsp-Pa-12 still where I rang in and this one in the bottle house. And thankfully it is saved and safely at my home Kinsey west!

When I look at it I think of all my friends that rang out at it every day. Ludy spent many a year ringing out at it. Bud Berky Walt Harrington in his years in Bottling and so many more. I am so glad it will not be smashed by vandels! I hope to make a stand and mount it and put a card in it like I did for the picture after I clean it up.

If I could have I would have moved Dsp-Pa-12 to my back yard that is how much the place meant to me. But by writing I can give all of you the feel of working there.

Dave Z

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Kinsey The Unhurried Whisky For Unhurried Moments

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  • 4 weeks later...

To look at the 1966 state of art bottling house today is to never know what an amazing place it was back in the day. When it opened in sept 1966 it was the most modern, highest output bottling house in all the world. There was nothing in Spirits we could not do. So for me it is shock whenever I get to go to Kinsey and see it as it is now. Time, it closed forever in fall 1986 24 years ago and vandels have destroyed. What was in the year 1966 something the Distilled Spirits world was talking about excitedly, it was the crown jewel of Kinsey. Now all that is left is ruins.

There are times I get so mad at the guy who owns the place for leaving it get like this, and it to be at the mercy of vandels I just shake my head. Millions of dollars of bottles never to be used smashed by punks. Stainless tanks sitting when some other distiller would love to have them for more capacity it is mind boggling. Its a good thing Mr Neuman can not see this as it would have been horrifiying to Him.

Every day I get a little older I realise a bit more that Kinsey's days are numbered and so I keep adventuring there in hope of pictures I have not gotten and things for History to save!

In 1966 600 People worked at Kinsey and 90% of them in the 1966 State of the Art Bottling house. There will never be a place like Kinsey again and I am glad I worked there in those exciting days from 1966.

Dave Z

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

Join the Swing To Kinsey

The Unhurried Whisky For Unhurried Moments

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am hoping soon to get back in the 1966 Bottle house for some more pictures, I am posting 3 pictures today

1. These were our Old Hickory Coffee carfe's which came with an owners manual on how to use them once empty to make Hot Toddies!

2., 3. This was a special Blend of straight Only whiskys that was distilled in Belguim and shipped to Linfield and Bottled there. This past winter a friend found an Old one 1970's bottled in Linfield. It is a full Bottle and it was his dads and he gave it to me I have opened it and find it to be very GOOD smooth and flavorful.

We had so many brands that there are times when I find ones new to me. Somewhere on this site someone was talking about light whisky's bought by brown Forman back in the Old days and I can tell you where they got that Whisky it was Ours we gave up on the so called Light Whisky and when I get a chance I will look for that thread and connect the dots so to speak. But It was Continental Distilling's Light whisky they bought for that project!

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 a couple of Pictures of the 1966 Bottling House without the weeds and snow, plus some pictures of Warehouse H from both sides and a shot looking down along the 1966 Bottle house from the back far side of warehouse H.

1.,2.,1966 Bottling house from Dock which could handle 3 box cars and about ten trailer trucks at the same time. 2 foot ball fields long, 1/2 a foot ball field wide.

3.,4.,Back side of Warehouse H looking at Bottle House, and back side of warehouse H this is the warehouse pictured in the Old Aerial shot I posted from 1936 and was the last wood and brick warehouse ever built by Jacob G Kinsey.

5. standing beside Warehouse H at the back looking toward the back side of the 1966 bottling house and the 3 explosion proof warehouses on the right behind the bottle house. My fathers nickname is written on one of the Old wooden racks in H building says Ziggy was here 1952.

Everytime I go to Kinsey I get feeling so sad at what has happen to it but life is this way and so you just have to remember what a great place it was.

I will be posting some Pictues of the rods for the warehouses never built on the memories thread later today.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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This past Sunday after all the rain I got to go in the 1966 Bottling house and it is very sad how much water leaks into it. Here are a eight Pictures I took in there.

They are mostly pictures looking in differant directions of the Bottle house and there are two of the Old safety sign both sides and the last shot is of the point where the Old A-1-F computerised Line came out to shipping. This line could do 40,000 bottles a day and even put the bottles in the cases! It is veryhard for me seeing the Bottle house like this.

When it opened in Sept 1966 it was the worlds largest Spirits bottling house and the most modern one in the world! People would come from far away to tour it, and now it sits and rots, how sad life can be.

It is for its memory that I continue to write about Kinsey and my happy days there. Now when It rains it rains inside the Building what a sad thing it is and I feel the rain in my heart.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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  • 3 weeks later...

So little is left of what was once the worlds Largest Bottling house and also the worlds most modern one. Water leaks in everywhere and Vandels have destroyed as much as they can yet I still love the old place.

Here is a picture of a bundle of Skol Gin Labels I got years ago one of the many products that flowed out of the 1966 bottling house. Also a picture of one of the many explosion proof hookups typical for charging the Raymond fork lifts we used.

Note the Labels were made in KY!

Everytime I see it in ruin it breaks my heart but I continue to try and write and put pictures in here whenever I get the chance not very offten any more.

During the years 1966 through early 1979 about 500 people worked in this 2 football field long bottling house. I have a new project now I am going when I can to the local Pottstown Library to look at micro flim to get all the write ups the Pottstown Paper has had about Kinsey when I get them I will post them~

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 pictures I took yesterday at Kinsey. And even after all these years it still seems hard to believe this is the way it looks.

When I left Kinsey in late 1971 in my wildest dreams I never would have thought this could happen to her.

Also most of the people are gone so I have to keep working away at finding out all I can

1. One of the very last signs left at Kinsey R warehouse

2. Looking from the front down toward Warehouse M.

3. Flagin is what Ludy calls this stuff that goes between barrel staves and parts of the heads only if they leak. Ludy said new they did not put anything beween them but if they leaked the Cooper would have to dump all the spirits in the trough pump it into a tank then take the barrel apart fix it by putting this flagin in and refill the barrel all over with the dumped whisky. Ludy said he thinks the strips were made of Bam Boo.

Dave Z

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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most magnificent bourbon

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The sadest of things is what has happen to the 1966 Bottling house at Kinsey. From being the worlds largest and most modern it has fallen on such bad times it is hard for me to believe!

It rains inside snows inside and lights just fall off cealing. Everything is rotting there is no way to bring power in as vandels have cut every wire they can get their hands on and the Man who ownes Kinsey just lets it rot.

In fall 1986 He just told Philadelphia Electric cut the power walked away and left it to rot and to this day I have been told he thinks the place could be reopened easy! He just does not get what he has done and it kills me seeing it like it is.

I can not see anyway anything there will ever be used again but I don't want to think of the day someone would go there just to knock stuff down. The Old Days can never come back but I can from memory tell you of them and they were as the song says

( Those Were The Days my Friend We Thought Theyed Never End )

Those days 600 people had a great Job at Kinsey and 500 of them worked on two shifts in the bottle house, if you could only see the Box cars full of great whiskey's rolling out during the days before Thanksgiving and Christmas.

There were two rail lines coming in Kinsey then, the Pennsy and the Reading one came in over the river right side facing the plant by our Company owned Bridge, and one came in by the front side of the game lands. on the left side facing the plant from the road, both could serve the Bottle house and there was room for about 3 box cars and many trucks also.

We would get so busy one of the jobs that would happen for the yard gang would be the taking of broken cases of bottles to the dump. Those 11 Lines just kept on pumping out Spirits! And Line A-1-F cranked out 40,000 bottles a day by itself.

Dave Z

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

The Best Old Fashioneds Are,

You'll Find

The Mellow Made With Kinsey Kind!

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