# Gin Competiition?



## beendiggin (Dec 27, 2008)

Was America competing with England for the gin market when they made this Gordon's Gin knockoff? I dug this last month along with different case gins and some Gordon Gins...It's called "Gayoso Dry Gin / America / America "on two sides.  The label is still partially readable. Dump site dates toc. Any info?


----------



## beendiggin (Dec 27, 2008)

Partial label reads  "Distillery  / America"


----------



## tigue710 (Dec 27, 2008)

I've always wondered that myself...  Must of had something to do with heavy importation of gin...


----------



## TROG (Dec 28, 2008)

Hi,
 This bottle is definitely from around 1900 and does appear to be English made /Would like to see a base shot to be more certain.

 David


----------



## beendiggin (Dec 28, 2008)

> This bottle is definitely from around 1900 and does appear to be English made /Would like to see a base shot to be more certain.


 
 Base shot


----------



## cyberdigger (Dec 28, 2008)

Yeah, the fact that it simply says "America" is ..well, a bit un-American, if you ask me.. maybe the Brits were either trying to sell us our own "homemade" gin or trying to stir up some international interest in their own market?


----------



## tigue710 (Dec 28, 2008)

I dont know, I've a dug a few, one was clear...  clear is very uncommon for Brit bottles, also the lips are tooled in a period when almost all the Brit bottles have applied lips, add that to the smooth base with no glass house mark or dimple or circle and it gets more and more American...


----------



## cyberdigger (Dec 28, 2008)

one's on the bay:

 http://cgi.ebay.com/AMERICA-GAYOSO-DRY-GIN-ANTIQUE-BOTTLE-BLUE-AQUA-RARE-MT_W0QQitemZ370101234768QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Dec 28, 2008)

This is an American Gin, only about 40 yrs earlier. London Jockey/Clubhouse Gin, deep emerald green and hammer whittled to death.


----------



## Dabeel (Dec 29, 2008)

Mike,

 Quit showing off!..........[]Just kidding

 That bottle is beautiful!......You know the other Mike had me drooling over the three Wister's Clubhouse gin that he has in his collection.(Here's a photo of them below)

 I hope I can dig any one of those some day....one can dream can't he?

 Doug


----------



## sandchip (Dec 29, 2008)

Killing me!


----------



## bigbadhonu (Dec 29, 2008)

here is a hawaiian gin with the same kind of features as beendiggin`s


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Dec 29, 2008)

The "classic" English Gun lip is usually a definite indicator of British manufacture. Those are similarities shared by Booth's, the everpresent Gordon's, and any other UK gin bottle. Those were often applied lip as late as the 1910s, but to a lesser extent, depending on manufacturer.

 American gins have the typical chamfered corners and tapered top, a characteristic often copied by European companies. The horse and rider of the London Jockey only adds to the beauty of this bottle. The beautiful Wistar's Club House gins that we so often dig in the Gold Rush camps of the Sierra are another fine example of American glass container for the popular alcoholic drink that it was during those few years that the gold seekers pored over the streams searching for riches. Piles of discarded bottles were so prevalent that camps were named after them. Bottle Hill, in El Dorado County and Bottle Gulch and Botilleas, in Amador, are a few that come to mind.


----------



## beendiggin (Dec 29, 2008)

> here is a hawaiian gin with the same kind of features as beendiggin`s


 
 Interesting...So were English Gin makers producing bottles with American names on them, filling and importing them to America to try and fool Americans into thinking they were buying American Gin?    Or were American companies importing empty English made Gin bottles because of their easily recognized shape and filling them in America?  The bottle I have states on the label
  "Distillery, America".  Was this an outright lie? Were there any American Gin makers at the toc?  Questions, questions.....


----------



## cyberdigger (Dec 29, 2008)

If they were making the gin in America, why wouldn't they say WHERE in America?? How many other products are just labeled "America" without the city or state? That's what makes me suspicious!


----------



## sandchip (Dec 29, 2008)

Man!  That London Jockey bottle is just eat up with character!  Beautiful glass.  Is it iron pontiled?


----------



## RED Matthews (Dec 29, 2008)

Hey guys,  Don't tell the Chinese about this.  RED M.


----------



## beendiggin (Dec 29, 2008)

> Now does that sound like something an American would say?


 
 I agree, something's not right with that. When I first read that , I thought, weird, no city listed?  I have to admit you said it first Lobey, it screams English.  I guess the Limeys were not opposed to deceit to sell gin. I guess there was too much competition from Holland.


----------



## cyberdigger (Dec 29, 2008)

Looks like you've cracked the case, Lobey! []


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Dec 30, 2008)

> ORIGINAL:  sandchip
> 
> Man!Â  That London Jockey bottle is just eat up with character!Â  Beautiful glass.Â  Is it iron pontiled?


 
 No, it is not. It was dug right along with iron pontilled examples that were nothing compared to this one, so must've been blown in a glasshouse with more up-to-date techniques.


----------



## DustyTreasureHunters (May 13, 2021)

Gayoso Dry Gin was a product of the Clarke Bros & Co Distillery in Peoria, Illinois. I'm late to this party by about 17 years, but for future folks this is the answer. I dug one today, managed to find one online with an original label, and at the bottom of the label it read Clarke Bros & Co. Turns out this bottle is local to me, and will be added to my collection! "Clarke Brothers & Co." 1870-1919 when the nation "went dry." Reappearing after prohibition as a part of Arrow Distilleries and lasting until the 1940's I believe. Hope this helps people past or present. I love this website, and this is my first time putting in my "2 cents."


----------



## 102viadeluna (May 15, 2021)

I have two Gordan's Dry Gin bottles, both different. 
Both have sloping shoulders.
The first one has sloping shoulders with 'Gordan's Dry Gin' embossed horizontally and in large block letters on the front. 'Gordan's is embossed on the right-side panel, with 'England' on the left-side panel.
The back of the bottle is concaved slightly with the following embossed at the top - REGd 610617.
A Wolf's head is embossed on the bottom, with the numbers 5 7 embossed around the Wolf's head. The Wolf's head is looking from right to left.

The other bottle also has sloping shoulders. Gordan's is embossed on the left front side (vert), with DRY Gin (Vert) embossed at the bottle of the front side. "London" is embossed at the top of the panel, with 'England' at the bottom. This embossing is on both the back and the front of this bottle, There's is an embossed 'Boars' head on the bottom, with an embossed 'B' looking from left to right. 

Both bottles are light green and roughly 9 7/8 inches tall with 4 panels.


----------



## Harry Pristis (May 16, 2021)

*Here are a trio of American gins:










*


----------

