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


dave ziegler

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Great action shot!

Here I am loading a barrel into the barrel elevator! Dave has another picture of both of us hard at work rolling some barrels.
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Yea. I thought that shot turned out pretty well, even though it's certainly not my best side.....

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There has been no Whiskey in Barrels there since 1979. Just a couple of surviving barrels on that floor missing the middle hoops they are just staying together. Brought back alot of memories of rolling barrels in the warehouse back in the day. The big difference is no weight if they were full you would be working hard moving those 72 gal barrels.

Dave Z

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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  • 2 weeks later...

In the old days the new 1966 Bottling House was the high point of the Plant. Having around 250 + people per the two shifts with a total of 600 people working at Kinsey.

Inside the 1966 Bottle House was like a city with all of the 11 bottle lines roaring, including Line A-1-F which did 40,000 bottles a day being run by an early generation Computer which used vacume tubes in its controls.

We had enough room to warehouse all products and Docks that could handle 3 Rail Box Cars and 10 trucks at the same time. The Building started as Explosion Proof all Purpose Warehouse U being turned into the Powerhouse it became on Sept 1966 when it opened, and the time I got Hired. When my Dad worked there it was just an all Purpose whiskey storage Building.

The Building was 2 football fields Long and 3/4 of a football field wide. The day it opened it was the largest Spirits bottling House in the world and the Most Modern also. It had its own lab and Nurses station also, and its own Mantaince crew.

People from all over the world traveled to Linfield to tour it. Continental Distilling was the largest employer in Montgomery County, Limerick township back then.

I wish there were some Pictures I could show here of How Beautiful the Plant was back then also. Having been hired to work in the Yard gang I saw first hand how well the Plant was taken care of. Mr Neuman called it His Beautiful Distillery on The river.

It will always be one of my favorite things in my Life and those days remain dear to me till I leave this world.

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

It Seems All the Nicest people Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Dave Z

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One of the saddest things of all is walking in the 1966 State of art bottling house built by Si Neuman. Nature and vandels have totally destroyed what is the newest Building there being built in 1951. It leaks water between its sections, the air is filled with dust, I wore a mask in there and the Vandels Have broken in and stealing stuff again big time.

I still think one day someone doing that will get hurt and not be able to get help as they go in there in total darkness in the late hours of the night to do their evil deeds. And I don't want someone to say times are tough, yes they are but if you are a thief you are just that. There nothing Noble about stealing things.

I walk in there and it is hard to believe people just ruining things just for the so called fun of it. In 1966 about 500 people worked two shifts in the bottling house and it was the worlds biggest and most modern. Now it is just a abandon wreck.

There are not many of us left who worked at Kinsey but I have never met anyone who worked there that did not like working there. And the pay was the best around back then. An engineer who works where I do now saw my old Pay stub from Kinsey 1966 and said I cleared alot more then he did right out of collage.

Years later I would be driving truck for half what I would have made working at Kinsey till the end.

However it would have been terrible to go in to work to find out it closed overnight forever. There are many Refridges in the bottle house still holding lunches never eaten.

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

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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  • 2 weeks later...

The 1966 state of art Bottling house was very inovative and was like a small city having just about anything they needed inside one place. It warehoused all the filled cases of whiskey, all the new Labels and cases and bottles for the whiskeys and also all the shipping of Product out the door. It was as I have said 2 full football fields long and 3/4 of a football field wide. Two shifts ran Monday through Friday with about 520 people in the two shifts.

We had enough capacity that we never ran on weekends. Line A-1-F early computer driven could crank out 40,000 bottles a day. There were 10 other lines of various type running all the time too. Safety was a big issue and even at the end finished hole through the bulkhead to the last room for shipping and storage at the top of each line, a Sprinkler was mounted just in case of fire.

The bottling house had its own modern Lab and Maintaince shop. Also its own on duty Nurse and dispensery. It had a large Lunch room with lots of ARA vending machines, such as Cup soda's Cigs, treats and Sandwichs.

The area was in what was a dock when the building was built and they put a frame work of glass windows so that if you raised the big metal roll door you could look outside on nice days.

The bottling plant when it opended was as modern as you could build and many people from the industry came to look it over including ,many distillers we bottled for such as Seagrams.

All Liquor bottling was done at Happy House the old Kinsey bottling house till 1979 when the comany stopped making and bottling drinking spririts.

Walking into the Big Bottle house was like walking in a large city with people everywhere doing their job and everything flowing smooth as silk!

It was a beautiful operation and well managed and it is my belief that if Mr Si Neuman had not died suddenly as he did it would still be operating with a new still on site and much more. There was lots of room and lots of good wells for water and He would have upgraded everything. There was lots of talk while I still worked there of many things to come. And separating the Industrial Alcohol production from the distilling of Spririts Alcohol was thought to be coming to Linfield soon! That was why they kept the Old Kinsey still intact for Grandfathering.

We had lots of water for fire protection being on the River with two large water towers one in front and one at the back and two high pumping systems. And about 200 acres of land.

Mr Neuman loved the Kinsey Distillery and traveled up almost weekly to look around at the plant. Offten he would get out of his old Bently and walk around talking to people. As Long as he lived we knew without a doubt we would have good paying jobs.

I look back now and relise how darn blessed we were working there and the great company we worked for. I well remember the Old water tanks with Continental Distilling Corp and Disvision of Publicker Industries written on them back then!

Dave Z

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

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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Summer is returning and The 1966 Bottling house is getting worse every spring. When it rains water runs between the sections of the building.

Weeds are taking over the Amazing dock that could handle 3 rail cars and 10 trucks. Vandels continue breaking in and stealing and creeps continue writting grafiti on walls. I am sick at heart at what is happening to what was such a beautiful Plant and a great place to work.

It would kill Ludy if he saw how it looks now. He worked there from 1933 through to 1980 except for late 1939 when Jacob G Kinsey went bankrupt.

I think of all my Old timer friends - Shorty 'Harison Tyson' Dickie Phiefer -Eagle Beek 'Warren Eshbach' - Lou Stefy - Big Bitch 'Milt Shantz' and Charlie Seipler. And so many more including My dad who worked there about 3 years when I was a Kid.

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

Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey

For Unhurried Moments

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When Mr Neuman Opened the Inver House Distillery in Scotland around 1964 it opened the door for afordable Scotch for America. It cut the exsise tax way down because it was an American owned Distillery. And When the 1966 Bottling House Opened on Sept of 1966 in made way for Lower Scotch prices because Most of the Scotchs were shipped in Barrels Here and Bottled in Linfield Pa. Then making Scotch afordable to the Common Man. Inver House Scotch sold for around $ 3.95 a 4/5 in the Late 1960's.

The Bottling House was like a gaint Jewel shining in the sun back then. It was built as Explosion Proof Warehouse U and making it into the New Bottle house started in around 1964/65. Once it Opened the old Bigler Street Bottle House in Phila closed from bottling Spirits forever.

Also the Old Kinsey Bottle House ( Happy House ) continued bottling all the Liquors the company made. Ones such as Peanut Lolita, Amarretta Lolita and Caffe Lolita. Also our wonderful Blackberry Brandy and much more.

American made Products bottled in the USA by hard working class Americans. Around 600 People worked at Kinsey once the Bottling House opened and because of the bottling house I got my Job on the Yard gand as some people bumped to go in and work in the bottling house!

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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

Dave Z

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I found a nicer colored Picture of Angelo Myers Offices in Phila before Prohibition happened. Mr Kinsey Used Mr Myers services and name to market his Rye Whiskeys.

His office was down town at 311 n. 3rd street in Phila. At no time during the History Of Kinsey Distilling when Mr Jacob G Kinsey was there did anyone ever own the Plant but Mr Kinsey, and then when he went Bankrupt Continental Distilling bought it at a silent auction in spring of 1940.

Till when the Person who owns the plant now since 1982, and abandoned it in sept 1986 when Continental went out of bussiness, was the place so terrible. I was over walking Sunday and I just get very upset seeing how People just destroy the place for something to do.

The 1966 Bottling House is the newest building on the propery and also the worst for destruction. Water pours in from the ceilings due to vandels stealing metal edging on the roof. Daylight comes in from between the sections of it. Mould everywhere and thiefs stealing everything they can. As for them I hope for every dollor they get stealing they lose $10.

Vandels are now painting weird things on buildings and tanks, I am so glad I started this back in 2006 as I got lots of pictures of everything before those things happened. My one great regret is that I did not get there before 2002 so I could have got Pictures inside the Old DSP-Pa-12 Still.

It was so neat when I swept in there back in the yard gang, and the feeding of Wonder Bread to the fish in the one cyprus wood Fermenter next to where we clocked out is such a great memory.

I remember those days fondly and love to share those times with my Friends here on SB!

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It Seems All The nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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Dave Z

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Parkersback thanks for kind words I want to keep the memories of the Plant and Publicker alive while I am here to do it.

When I was hired in Sept of 1966 it was the result of many years of planing and designing and building of the 1966 Bottling house, when it opened it was truely the best sprits bottling house in all the world. It was decades above the Old Bigler street bottle house in Phila.

Publicker also paid to have busing of people with long service years at the old Phila bottle house to Linfield every day 5 days a week. It was one of the first bottling houses to sport an early Computer driven bottling line number A-1-F could do 40,000 bottles a day that was unheard of before 1966. And there were 10 other bottling lines and lines to repair leakers and fix labels too!

The 1966 Bottle House was a living city of People, about 520 and state of Art equipment and its own Laboratory and nursing station. Also those years it was unheard of, but the bottle house had battery powered emergency escape lights in all the important areas. My friend here in safety where I work was very impressed when I showed him pictures I took of the Old Excide emergency lighting units. To look at it now you would never know what a glorious place it was.

There never a fire or explosion and no one ever hurt bad there! We did alot of custom bottling for Large and small disitllers. We did lots of work for seagrams, Brown Foremen and many others including Liquors for Jacquins. All Liquors where bottled at the Old Kinsey Bottle house.

The time line for the new bottling house started in sept 1966 and ended in Sept 1986 20 years to the month.

Everytime I walk around I find things that were short cutted by the management People who ran the place after Mr Si Neuman died.

I am always thankful that I worked there in those glory years and nothing can take away my Memory of how the Plant looked back then. It was a shining star with its flower beds and Dog wood trees and manicured lawns.

The buildings were always kept up and the place just plain looked awesome!

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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 am always thankful that I worked there in those glory years and nothing can take away my Memory of how the Plant looked back then. It was a shining star with its flower beds and Dog wood trees and manicured lawns.

The buildings were always kept up and the place just plain looked awesome!

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

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Dave Z

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Unclebunk most of them are very old that are still living, but none of them have a bad word about working there. I try when I talk to old timers like Ludy to get as much information as I can.

We made very good money and for the most part we had a good time working there. We did hard work but hard work makes you thankful for what you Have!

And it was a great a Company and a great place to work!

Thanks for asking!

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

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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Unclebunk most of them are very old that are still living, but none of them have a bad word about working there. I try when I talk to old timers like Ludy to get as much information as I can.

We made very good money and for the most part we had a good time working there. We did hard work but hard work makes you thankful for what you Have!

And it was a great a Company and a great place to work!

Thanks for asking!

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

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

I'm glad that you can look back on those years with such fond memories. Lots of folks can't and in their twilight years wish that things had turned out differently in their careers. You were blessed, by the sounds of it, and we benefit from hearing about your experiences. Thanks for sharing, Dave. I always read your posts with great interest.

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I'm glad that you can look back on those years with such fond memories. Lots of folks can't and in their twilight years wish that things had turned out differently in their careers. You were blessed, by the sounds of it, and we benefit from hearing about your experiences. Thanks for sharing, Dave. I always read your posts with great interest.

Thanks Unclebunk I sure am glad I worked there then and where I do now as my longest job driving truck was very bad. But when I got down sized I got the job I have now and it is awesome and the best thing today we had kids from the local high school getting tours of the plant and everyone who took a kid through the plant brought them by my office to see my switches and old time stuff from Kinsey and my WWII pictures.

I feel very blessed! Thanks agian for the kind words I try to put as much interesting stuff here as I can, I want people to feel like they are at Kinsey back in the day. And most of all I want the memories to go on after I am gone.

Dave Z

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I feel very blessed! Thanks agian for the kind words I try to put as much interesting stuff here as I can, I want people to feel like they are at Kinsey back in the day. And most of all I want the memories to go on after I am gone.

Dave Z

Well said, Dave. I think that is what we all want.

Tim

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Sitting here tonight drinking some of the last original Inver House Scotch I have. And I'll tell you what it is a real good blended Scotch for $4.95 a Quart! The new stuff can't compare to it. One thing for sure once Mr Neuman built the still in Scotland and bottled the Scotch in Linfield he ended all the extra government taxes and made it possible for the common man to aford Scotch!

Mr Neuman Believed that all spirits should be afordable to the common working man. And because of what he did they are! He was the Henry Ford of Spirits!!

Till the day I leave this world I will be proud I worked for Publicker Industries!

Dave Z

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

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On Saturday I walked around in the 1966 Bottling house and I could not believe my eyes. Every single whiskey pump at the back incoming wall have been stolen. I will say it again I hope for every dollar they made in the stealing I hope they lose four! Water is leaking in everywhere and the air is full of cement dust. It is so sad to see this once proud and newest of the buildings at kinsey in such a state. It is in a state of total loss.

I am glad I got in there and got the pictures I did of the pumps and all the tanks before the Thiefs and Vandel went crazy. Those pictures are here for History and what a great History for 14 years 1966 through 1979!

Because of the Bottling house I got a job at Kinsey and had a good life while I worked there and so did 600 other People!

That first day in Sept 1966 When the bottle House opened it was the most totally modern and largest Bottling house in the world. It had 11 lines and line A-1-F could do 40,000 bottles a day. A-1-F would clean the bottles with air, fill and cap them, Label them and put the bottles back in the case they started from at lines beginning. It was an amazing thing to see. It was driven by a early type of Computer that had Vacume tube Power!

When the bottle house opened people from all over the world came to tour it, now people go there to wreck it and steal a very sad ending to the Kinsey Distillery which Opened in 1892 a year before My Grandmother was born.

I will take some destroyed shots in there soon and get shots of what is left for History soon.

Dave Z

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

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thinking back to the years I worked at Kinsey there is one thing that sticks out in my Mind and that is the fact that everytime I drink some Scotch I can thank Mr Si Neuman for being able to get Scotch at a fair Price in the USA.

When Mr Neuman Built the Inver House Distillery as a American owned Distillery In Scotland He opened the door to reduced Prices for Scotch because it cut the import taxes way down. It made Scotch an afordable drink for the common man in the USA. The biggest reason being it was aged and Bottled in Linfield Pa at Kinsey.

Because of that the price was so good that it became the rage! In magazines you would read Ads saying Inver is in and then the places like London,Ny, phila, Pairis and so on. And the Name became the most well known Scotch around. Also for a resonablely priced Blended Scotch it was a very Good Scotch for the Money! Also Inver House Scotch suported auto Racing and sports for Years. I have an old America Road racing Calendar for the 1968 races Advertising Inver House Scotch as the Sponser.

The Next Time You decide to Have a Scotch say Thanks To Si Neuman and his vision to make the Product available to the Working man because it was his ideas that made it Happen.

Dave Z

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Inver Is In New York, Inver Is In London

Inver House Soft as a Kiss

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  • 2 weeks later...

I picked up the base for my Last Distillery parts lamp I am making I will be getting the lamp back from the electrcian this week some time and will post the complete Lamp them. Thanks to Rod for Climbing up in the old Grain process building to get me the last lamp of this early turn of the century Type.

1. The Base made for the Lamp

2. The Small Green Porcelen shade for the lamp

3. The Lamp when I started building it, it now has a securtiy check box with a key from the old Warehouse C on top of the switch, which when I get it back I will take a picture of the whole thing and post it.

The explosion proof fixture on top of the shade is from the very early 1900's.

I have made a place in front of my bottles next to my other 2 lamps. These lamps when I am gone will forever be a part of the plant and what it was like working there when I did.

Dave Z

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

It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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I decided to take a walk around Kinsey today on fathers day and I am truely amazed at the ruin there now! Vandels painting weird stuff on the warehouses like they do in the city. Buildings leaking lots of water.

And as far as weeds and trees, you can hardly see the 1966 bottle house. Some of the warehouses docks are disappearing with weeds and Virginia Creeper. I took a couple of pictures I will post this week.

The whole walk through is awful, and unbelieveable. In my wildest dreams I would never have thought this could happen to Kinsey. I am all the more glad I have saved what I have from there. There is not much left to save and not to long before all the buildings start to fall down.

One Thing I want to state for History the Man who owns the Plant is the one and only one to blame for this. May his name be thought of as the name of criminal and

a terrible person in history!

Jacob G Kinsey started the Plant, Si Neuman bought the plant at auction and loved it and the man who owns it now destroyed it. What he did to the plant is a crime and he should hold his head down in shame.

Dave Z

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

Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

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  • 2 weeks later...

Today I went over the see what had burned yesterday at Kinsey and I was very sad! They completely Knocked down the Old DSP-PA-10 Rye Barn, to get to the fire, I am so glad I saved the side of the Staircase. Also Warehouse D is completely gone and more then half of warehouse E. Also Historic 1892 Warehouse B is competely gone. 1892 warehouse A survived and some of the Old Bottle House is still there, On a strange twist of fate, You have to go in from the road and the back side of the old bottle house that was partly down is gone. In another strange twist of fate in walking into the Old Bottle house today I found a scew on cage I had carried from the old #10 Rye barn building about a week ago and forgot, so in taking it there it is the only surviving one I brought it home to Kinsey west!

I took many pictures and I am going to get many more tomorrow which I will post on the Fire Observation tower thread!

In another sad twist of fate Warehouse E had a heavy lock put on by Continental many years ago and no one not even me had ever got in it. It turns out after seeing half of it still standing that the roof was good on it and had not leaked and the floors had been ok all these years till the fire spread to it. The wood on the last standing racks looks almost like new. makes me wish I could have gotten in it before this happened. Looking at the fallen brick walls they were 4 and 3 bricks thick, I never knew that so I guess when Jacob G Kinsey built them he was trying in his own way to make them sort of explosion proof!

It was in warehouse E that I had the very first rye whiskey I ever had and there was where the whiskey was for the 20 year old Old Hickory Bourbon!

Dave Z

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

Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

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Im guessing that fire extinguisher that we found still full, last time I was up there is under rubble. Im going to have to sort through the pictures I have taken there and start a new thread with them. I'm probably going to be planning a trip up there for late August or September.

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Yes Mike it is under tons of bricks and sadly about two weeks ago I looked at it and sort of wished I had pulled it out of there and put it some where. I took a explosion proof light srew on cover with the glass broken out from Dsp-pa-10 rye barn into the old kinsey bottle house a week ago and forgot it, and because I did it survived and is home with me.

The person who ran the excavator knocked down stuff he did not need to. The fire never got into warehouse E nothing was burnt in that building but they still ripped the wall down and tore some racks down when there was no need and I hate to say it but I hate them for doing that when there was no need to. I can't help it I loved those old Kinsey warehouses and the most amazing Bourbon came from that warehouse the 20 yr old Old Hickory Special bourbon. Tonight I climbed all the way down in warehouse D to take a picture of the Elevator in warehouse D. It was sort of scary as I went there by myself but I wanted a picture of what was left. I climbed down loose piles of bricks way down not even thinking of how I would get out. I made it back up thank God with out falling but it was scary. I also got my last floor lamp I built back from the electrican today and I am going to post some pictures of it tomorow.

PS look at my other 2 threads for the pictures I posted of what the fire did to the old warehouses!

Dave Z --- Ps Look forward to getting together with you Mike!

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

It Seems All the Nicest People drink Old Hickory

America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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