Antique Martin Lynch Cherokee Pure Corn Miniature Stoneware Whiskey Jug 3"

Description

Antique miniature Cherokee Pure Corn whiskey jug bottle by the Martin Lynch Company.

“Born in May 1876, 1877, or 1878 — sources differ — Lynch was the son of Eugene and Catherine Lyons Lynch. His birthplace appears to have been a small Tennessee community about 170 miles west of Bristol. Bristol was a town teeming with saloons, wholesale and retail liquor dealers, and restaurants and hotels selling alcohol. Lynch likely served an apprenticeship working in some of the many. He first surfaced with his own establishment about age 31, owning and operating a saloon on Front Street. He subsequently opened a second drinking establishment on Bristol’s State Street.

Lynch was also a “rectifier,” that is, blending raw whiskeys and perhaps other ingredients in a back room in order achieve desired taste, color and smoothness. He bottled this liquor under his own labels and marketed it locally and regionally through mail order sales. Among Lynch brands were “Green Spring Corn,” “Blue Diamond Corn,” and Parkwood,” the last sold as a bourbon but likely was a blend. His flagship brand was “Cherokee Corn.” He failed to register any of these names with the Patent and Trademark office. Lynch used glass containers for his retail sales, ranging in size from gallon jugs to quarts and pint flasks.

Like many liquor dealers Lynch was a source of giveaway items to favored customers. His were generally mini-jugs. There was nothing to be given away to appease the forces of Prohibition, however, and little by little avenues of sales closed down. The final blow came in 1916 when Virginia voted statewide prohibition of alcohol. Lynch attempted to make a go of the situation by selling “near beer.” One was Reif’s Special, advertised as a “temperance drink” and “a pure liquid food.” Reif’s boasted that it had the “snappy flavor and foaming goodness of the hops with the alcohol left out.” Alcohol substitutes proved unprofitable and Lynch finally was forced to shut the doors of his business.”

Condition

Good Overall - Gentle wear, no stopper

Dimensions

2.25” x 3.25” (Diameter x Height)