Thursday, June 11, 2015

Davy Crockett - King of the Wild Frontier

David "Davy" Stern Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo.



 
Crockett grew up in East Tennessee, where he gained a reputation for hunting and storytelling. After being made a colonel in the militia of Lawrence County, Tennessee, he was elected to the Tennessee state legislature in 1821. In 1825, Crockett was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he vehemently opposed many of the policies of President Andrew Jackson, most notably the Indian Removal Act. Crockett's opposition to Jackson's policies led to his defeat in the 1831 elections. He won again in 1833, then narrowly lost in 1835, prompting his angry departure to Texas (then the Mexican state of Tejas) shortly thereafter. In early 1836, Crockett took part in the Texas Revolution and was killed at the Battle of the Alamo in March.
 
 
What a fantastic name for a brand of bourbon. Back in the day anyone that could relate to this rugged frontiersman and statesman would most likely jump at the chance to try a taste of good ol' Davy's whiskey.
 
If you are looking for an example of the Davy Crockett Bourbon there is a nice light tool top variant  listed and available on ebay right now:

6 comments:

  1. Something is fishy about this auction. I've never seen a tooled example break $100. Usually you can find them sitting on sales tables for $40-$80 all day long. What gives here?

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  2. I am not really up on the tool top market but this does seem to be a bit high for a Davy Crockett. Then again a bottle is worth what someone will pay for it.
    What say the Western Whiskey Gazette
    rs

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  3. I too, am a bit baffled by the run on this bottle. I recently sold arguably the top tooled example of a Davy in existence a short time ago. It was hammer whittled, and far cruder than any of the glop tops that I've encounter. As many bubbles as glass, with barber-pole swirled color changes in the body. It may not have been quite as yellow (and color is king these days), but it was a solid "10", and brought in the $100~ range.

    The seller clearly states that it is a tool top under "questions and answers", although it's not called out in the main description. The "1880's" listing probably is what lit the fire in the first place. The two bidders who are running up the numbers both have decent amounts of feedback, although it's hard to tell what their buying focus is. Looks like 1***1 with 74 feedback really wants it as he plugged in a high bid, and then topped his own high bid yesterday.

    It hammers in a little over five hours. Time will tell just how bad c***s wants it.

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  4. Just a casual observation but...

    The seller also has an amber African Stomach Bitters listed. The photos appear to show a standard amber example with typical crudity. It's the plain reverse variant with a nice top and "shinny clean glass". It is currently at $255~. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't similar examples normally sell for $100~ +/-? ABA has sold four similar examples with the hammer being $60~ to as much as $140~ at auction.

    The eBay example is already at $255~. The high bidder is C***S with a 226 feedback; the same ID as the under bidder at $350~ on the Davy Crocket.

    To quote JF Cutter; " Something is fishy about this auction."

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  5. Thanks for sharing, Bruce. Yes, I agree. The African & the lighter colored Davy are selling for 2-5 times their value. I'm calling B.S. No one could be dumb enough to buy common bottles like that for WAY MORE than they should fetch, even in an auction setting.

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  6. PS; the African closed a short time ago. Item number: 111689005959.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/1870s-Amber-African-Stomach-Bitters-Bottle-/111689005959?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1a012efb87

    Hammer price; $435~. Yet another new worlds record!

    But heh, the shipping is only $6.70.

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