Sunday, March 4, 2012

Wild West Show Closing Down....

Wells Fargo Agent
  
This blog post is not about books; it's not about publishing or editing or any such related topic. So I'll understand if you click on the Back button, or some other fave link, and go elsewhere at this time. This blog post is about my father... Well, not exactly about my father, but rather about the product of one of his creative endeavors.

I spent two of the past four weeks in February staying at my parents' house in Southern California, cleaning the place up so that the house can be sold, while trying to come to terms with the detritus of the nearly 50 years that my parents -- together, and then my mother alone -- lived in that house.

I filled two 80-cubic-feet (each) dumpsters; I made three trips (carloads) to Goodwill, with a fourth trip already set aside which the realtors have promised me they will take care of, because a pickup truck is required; I made two trips to the hazardous waste disposal center; I filled two city-provided recycle bins and one trash bin four times each (with special thanks to the neighbor across the street who graciously hauls the bins to the street for me, and then returns them to the backyard after they are emptied the following day). And yet still there is more to do....

This also explains why there have been few blog posts this month; I wish that my time in SoCal was all that was required of me, but even when I'm home there are phone calls to be made, forms to complete, and, alas, bills to be paid.

My father, Al Halpern, had many hobbies; one might say "passions" rather than hobbies because he often went over the top in his pursuit of these hobbies -- even, occasionally, to the point of what I would call craziness. If you had seen the house right after he passed away -- and the backyard shed that I just emptied a week ago -- you would have understood.

Pictured at the top of this blog post is an example of the fruits of one of his passions. This is a full-size whiskey bottle -- or, to be fancy, decanter -- which depicts in authentic detail a Wells Fargo agent from ye olde Wild West. Note the liquor tax stamp on the back: the agent's head is actually the top of the cork. My father designed these bottles in the '70s for Lionstone Distilleries in Kentucky. The "Wells Fargo Agent" bottle is just one of about thirty or so bottles that I need to find a home for now that their home for the past forty years will soon be sold.

My father was a resident of Anaheim at the time, and the Orange County Register ran a full-page article on his work in Section B (the "Local" news section) in the November 21, 1972, issue. I've scanned the article as best I could and will include it here with your indulgence; since it's a full-page spread, it took four scans to capture all the photos and text. If you click on each section, that section will appear in a larger form in a separate window, and thus should be easier to read. The Register will do a more succinct job explaining my father's hobby than I ever could.


The triptych of bottles pictured at the beginning of the article -- and showcased at the end of the article in my father's hand design -- is the "Shootout at the OK Corral." When I lived at home, I was totally taken with this set: the detail was mind-boggling, particularly the horses on the middle bottle. But I haven't seen these in years and years, decades actually; they weren't stored anywhere at the house, so I assume at some point my father (or possibly my mother, after his passing) sold them.
What I did find in the storage shed was the following set of four bottles, known as the "Bar Scene." This set is a keeper; my family and I have decided that this set stays in the family.

Bar Scene1

So, as I said, there are about thirty of the individual, full-size bottles, and I need to find a home for them. If I can find the right home, I would be more than happy to "donate" the entire set. I have already contacted Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park, but their representative informed me that they already have so many items in storage that they are being forced to dispose of them. I have also contacted the Anaheim Historical Society and the Orange County Archives -- all to no avail. I am hoping to find a home for these in Southern California to avoid packing and shipping them outside the area, which would be very expensive (a minimum of eleven boxes at least), with no guarantee that every bottle would survive the journey.

If you can think of a resource, an organization, an individual, etc. in the Southern Cal area who might be interested, please do have them contact me, and/or post a comment below. There are already offers on my parents' house so I may only have a few weeks at most to relocate these decanters. They are all up for adoption, but I'd like to keep all the children together (at least those that are still left2) if at all possible.

Here's the "Annie Oakley" bottle:


Annie Oakley

And here's a group shot:


I'll close with just one more graphic. If you are a fan of the Gunsmoke TV series, you may appreciate these two photos of the show's cast:


Pictured in both photos are Al Halpern and Miss Lionstone (I believe her name is Regina Shermer). In the photo on the left they are posing with "Doc" Adams, played by Milburn Stone, who is holding the Lionstone western doctor bottle; you'll note that Stone has autographed the photo to my father. The photo on the right features Miss Kitty, played by Amanda Blake, and the bartender, played by Fred McDougall; each is holding their respective Lionstone western bottles. (The photos are actually quite fine; the distortion is due to the glare from the glass caused by the camera flash.)

Again, any and all thoughts and suggestions on finding a new home for these decanters would be most appreciated.


[Update: April 29, 2012: Wild West Show Rides Again....]


---------------
Footnote:

1. If you've managed to stay with me this long, I figured I would share an anecdote about the "Bar Scene." The last bottle on the right has a painting on the wall, which the "gentleman" on the right is studying. Due to the angle of the photograph, the painting isn't discernible -- it is the painting of Goya's Nude Maja. There's an interesting story here: some states (at least at the time this decanter was manufactured) have laws that prevent nudity to be shown/advertised with liquor. So two versions of this bottle were manufactured: the Nude Maja, and a version in which the Maja was scantily clothed. This allowed Lionstone to market the series in all 50 states, the version of this bottle sold dependent on each state's laws.

2. There are four bottles missing: The Doctor, the Gold Panner, the Young Girl at the Bar, and the Town Drunk. They "disappeared" from the house between September 2 and October 15, when my mother was in her final weeks of care and I was absent from the house. I believe I know who took them because only a handful of people had access to the house during that time, but there is little I can do. Maybe if they read this, they will consider returning them. The Doctor and Town Drunk were always two of my favorites. Now, I have the autographed photo of Milburn Stone holding the Doctor bottle, but no bottle to go along with the photo.

25 comments:

  1. I hope you can retrieve the ones that went missing. Perhaps the rest can go to Lionstone Distilleries. It looks like they might still be in existence.

    http://www.corporationwiki.com/California/San-Diego/lionstone-distilleries-ltd-2862868.aspx

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. how about the Gene Autry Museum?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was going to say the same.

      Also, have you thought about contacting a prop house? It wouldn't be the same as a collector, but a good prop house like Universal Studios Property would inventory, track, and rent out your father's pieces. You might see them in the movies some day.
      https://props.universalstudios.com/

      Delete
    2. Okay, three votes so far for the Autry National Center (formerly the Gene Autry Museum). I've checked out the website but there is no contact info other than the various social media options, so I left an FB post.

      As to the Universal Studios prop house: I worry because of the fragility of the bottles -- extended hands/fingers, guns/rifles, etc. But I'll definitely keep this in mind as a possibility. Thanks for the suggestion.

      Cheers,
      - marty

      Delete
  3. Anonymous:
    I checked on a website with info on California corporations, and below is what I found for Lionstone Distilleries. Thanks for your comment.
    Cheers,
    - marty

    Lionstone Distilleries, Ltd. was a corporation registered in the state of California.

    It was a foreign corporation, meaning it was formed outside of California. In this case, it was formed in Colorado. It registered in California on December 23, 1975.

    All of Lionstone Distilleries, Ltd.'s powers, rights and privileges in the State of California have been forfeited. This could have happened because they failed to file a return and/or pay taxes to the California Franchise Tax Board, or because they failed to make certain informational filings with the California Secretary of State. The specific reason for this forfeiture can be found by ordering a status report from the Secretary of State.

    Lionstone Distilleries, Ltd. was a for-profit entity.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous #2:
    Thanks for your suggestion of The Autry National Center. I'm checking them out now. Thanks again.
    Cheers,
    - marty

    ReplyDelete
  5. I also think that the Gene Autry Museum would be a good place to look.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I recently visited the Tucson Musuem of Miniaturesand they had quite a large collection of all kinds of miniatures from dolls to houses to entire little cities, perhaps they could take them off your hands.
    http://www.theminitimemachine.org/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the suggestion of The Mini-Time Machine musuem of miniatures in Tucson. I've just contacted them....

      I am overwhelmed (and I mean that in a very good way) with these responses, and I thank you all for your suggestions.

      Best,
      - marty

      Delete
  7. The Santa Clarita Historical Society has a western themed museum, and is on the grounds of the WS Hart Regional Park, which also has western artifacts.

    http://www.scvhs.org/index.htm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've sent a query to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society; thank you for the suggestion.
      Cheers,
      - marty

      Delete
  8. That's pretty sick that somebody would steal from a dying old woman, but I guess it probably happens with palliative care workers more often than I'd like to consider.

    If it wasn't part of a very personal complete collection, you might enver have known.

    I hope you can get them back so that whoever adopts your collections will have a complete set on display.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, I didn't want to get into too much detail in the blog post, but since you referred to the missing bottles at length, I feel I should respond.

    My mother wasn't living at the house her final few months, but rather in a very special care facilty. She had a tendency at the time to offer pretty much anything she had to whoever asked for it. She was generous to the very end; not the way most elderly get, such that they don't want anyone to touch anything of theirs, ever.

    A literal handful of friends and family had access to the house during those few weeks, and it is quite possible my mother told one, or all, of them to take whatever they wanted; or possibly they even asked for something specific -- as other items from the house were also missing from that same time period. Nothing of extreme value, mind you, but that's when the four bottles disappeared.

    Cheers,
    - marty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (I am the same AC poster as 20min before Marty)

      Ah, well that changes things a bit. It's quite possible that they were given away or taken with permission.

      I would suggest not worrying about it until you find a home for them. Assuming you find a museum or collection for them to go to, try to put out a friendly call for the missing pieces. Send word out through those friends and family members who you expect might have ended up with them.

      Asking, not demanding, for the 4 bottles to be returned with specific information about where they will be going might yield better responses.

      Hopefully, if they were relatives or real friends, they will also want your fathers complete collection to be together on display wherever it ends up.

      Good luck!

      Delete
  10. Oh My God!
    I don't know how you could part with that collection.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Bruce,

      It's difficult, to be sure, which is why my family and I have decided to hang onto the set-of-4 "Bar Scene." (Wish I had found the "Shoot Out at the OK Corral" set!) But the others, alas -- there are more than 30 of them, full-size liquor bottles, and it's like: Where would we even put them? A minimum of eight to as many as a dozen boxes might be needed to store them, and I don't even have room in my garage for that. And what good does it do, anyhow, to box them up and store them away? They are, as you have responded, meant to be seen.

      Cheers,
      - marty

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Marty:

    I'm a Museum curator. I think the Museum already suggested are excellent and I hope one of them offers to take the collection. A way to hedge your bet t oassure your collection is acdepted into a Museum is to offer a cash donation along with the bottles to offset the cost of curating the items.

    Good luck! If you have any other questions, feel free to email me. pamela.kruse.buckingham@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. teddy bears: Thanks for your kind comments.

    Pamela: I appreciate your suggestions; I'm keeping fingers crossed that I find a museum or similar organization that would be interested in the collection.

    Cheers,
    - marty

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Marty, While I know you said local in Socal and don't want to ship, (Im in Socal as well and also collect whiskey) this would be a great spot: http://www.whiskeymuseum.com/ The Oscar Getz Museum is well known to whiskey enthusiasts around the world as the top place for history about american whiskey. Primarily Bourbon and Rye whiskey. This would be great there I would think. Maybe they will pay for shipping?

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  15. FC: Thank you for your suggestion regarding the Oscar Getz Museum of Whisky History. I've checked out the web link, but I'm just not sure that these Lionstone decanters are "antique" enough for their requirements. Then too, there is the packing and shipping for long-distance transit. But I will certainly add the museum to my list should all of the SoCal resources fall through. Thanks again.
    Cheers,
    - marty

    ReplyDelete
  16. Marty,

    I met your parents at the opening of the Disney-MGM Studios, and on each subsequent trip to FL, I'd go shopping with him so he could use my Disney employee discount. He was a great guy and a true character! For some reason, today I just happened to think of him and started Googling his name and came across your site!

    Kindest regards,

    Mike Bounds
    Windermere, FL
    sothere@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi, Mike,

    Funny that you should think of my father at this time and thus find my blog post. And I will agree with you that, yes, my father was "a true character." Thanks for sharing this little anecdote.

    Best wishes,
    - marty

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  18. Marty,
    Thank you for sharing all of these images. Your dad was a wonderful man and I had the privilege of meeting him while I was in Junior Achievement and working with him to help promote his bottle collections.

    What a trip down memory lane to see the Gunsmoke photos. I am the "Miss Lionstone" in the images and I treasure all those memories. I have continued to think fondly of both he and your mom. He had a great influence on my early entreprenuer days.

    I called your mom's house several years ago and heard of his passing. I will never forget him.

    Thanks again for sharing,
    Regina Shermer Reed

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  19. Dear Regina,

    Wow! It never occurred to me that you might find your way here to this blog post about my father's Lionstone bottle collection. (I'm glad I got your name correct in the notes on the photo!) By the way, you may be surprised to learn that the Gunsmoke photos are also part of the collection at The Autry museum! So I guess that photo -- and the collection -- will be around as long as the museum remains extant.

    Thank you for taking the time to share a few thoughts and memories here. It's much appreciated.

    All best,
    - marty

    ReplyDelete