C.W. Stuart’s Extra Kentucky Whisky

C. W. Stuart’s Extra Kentucky Whisky

K

(Embossed K in circle)


Wilmerding – Loewe Co. 

Loewe Brothers, San Francisco, California 

Amber Fifth

Provenance: Stephen Hubbell Collection

The C. W. Stuart’s Extra Kentucky Whisky bottle is pretty rare and is related to some of the bigger names in western whiskey lore. Names like Julius Clute Wilmerding, Calvin Whitwood Kellogg, Louis H., Morris H., Joseph M. and Henrietta Loewe, Liepold and Moses Siegel and Jacques Blum among others. We will focus on the Loewe name here and direct you elsewhere in the Spirits Gallery for related bottles and their stories.

The Stuart’s Kentucky Whisky bottle can be found in an orange-amber glass coloration and has an applied top. There is at least one example with a tooled top. There is a small embossed ‘K’ set within an embossed circle on the back shoulder of the cylinder bottle.

The Loewe name was well established in California for many years. The Loewe brothers got their start in Angels Camp, California, as noted in the 1860 United States Federal Census and were located in San Francisco according to 1863 city directory listings. Louis H. Loewe and Morris H. Loewe formalized their partnership on June 5, 1874, and published their certificate of partnership in the Daily Alta California newspaper beginning on June 6, 1874.

The earliest advertisement for the Loewe Brothers in San Francisco was located in the Daily Alta California (San Francisco, Ca.) on March 20, 1864

Morris Loewe died in San Francisco on July 4, 1876 (Daily Alta California, July 6, 1876). Louis died about a year later on June 24, 1877 (Daily Alta California, June 24, 1877), and willed half of his estate to his wife and one quarter to the children of his deceased brother, Morris. Morris’ widow, Henrietta (Blum) Loewe, continued the business in partnership with another family member, Leopold Siegel, as Loewe Bros., on October 1, 1877.

Henrietta was the widow of Morris Loewe. He was half of the original Loewe Bros., liquor merchants, in partnership with brother, Louis Hirsch Loewe. Leopold Siegel was the primary manager of the new company called Loewe Bros. (Daily Alta California, November 13, 1877). Joseph Maurice Loewe was a son of Henrietta Lowe. He was born in California around 1865 and died in San Francisco on December 20, 1911.

The company known as Loewe Bros. purchased Wilmerding & Co. from its remaining heirs and restructured as The Wilmerding-Loewe Co. incorporating as a stock company in April 1895. The purchase included the rights to the Wilmerding name as well as the various trademarks, both legal and proprietary.

The new Wilmerding-Loewe Co. consisted of Henrietta Loewe, Moses Siegel, Jacques Blum, Joseph M. Loewe, and Leopold Siegel, all of San Francisco, with capital stock of $300,000. Moses Siegel was the husband of Hortense (Blum) Siegel, Henrietta’s sister. Leopold Siegel was the brother of Moses Siegel.

Henrietta (Blum) Loewe, was born Oct 1838, in Alsace, Germany, and died in San Francisco on July 4, 1911. Moses and Leopold Siegel were brothers. Moses Siegel was born in December 1830 in Germany, and died on April 14, 1904, in Spokane, Washington. 

Leopold Siegel was born in Germany in October 1840 and died in April 1915. He is buried at Lower Lake, Lake County, California, where his sister, Sarah (Siegel) Kugelman had been living since the 1880s. Sarah died a month after Leopold’s death.

Jacques Blum was a brother of Henrietta. Born August 7, 1852 in Strasbourg, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France. He died on January 4, 1920, in San Francisco.

From left, Sarah Siegel, her brother Moses Siegel, her brother Leopold Siegel, and wife of Moses Siegel, Hortense Blum Siegel

The Loewe Brothers can be found in San Francisco directories from 1865 to 1895. The company used the brand names “C. W. Stuart’s Extra Kentucky Whiskey,” “Hard To Beat,” “Kellogg’s Old Bourbon,” Kentucky Superior,” “Old Covington Club,” and “S.H.M. Bourbon Whiskey.”

Probably a bottle label, it was not registered in the office of the California Secretary of State until rights to the proprietary trademark were acquired by the Wilmerding-Loewe Co. who received Trade Mark No. 2510 on December 10, 1894.
Wilmerding-Loewe Co. also acquired the Kellogg name from the Wilmerding and Kellogg estates and received California Trade Mark No. 2511 on December 10, 1894.

Support : Research and primary imagery provided by Eric McGuire.

Support Image: Auction Lot #51: C.W. STUART’S EXTRA KENTUCKY WHISKY with K in circle on reverse shoulder. Applied top, Thomas-146 1875-83. According to Thomas the F & P.J. Cassin bottle mold was used to make the mold for this bottle. We have however discovered new evidence of it being a re-worked SHM. The indentation on the back of the SHM is more likely as the design fits better. Basically it was filled in with a slug plate. There is no definitive reason for the “K on back shoulder as to who it references. Probably Kellogg as he was hardly a stranger to liquor wholesaling. Absolutely loaded with tiny bubbles, it almost has a puce look to it, as the amber is reddish. In addition, it is very heavily whittled and has a very strong strike. Once again, the best-known specimen, quite possibly, as we have certainly never seen a better one. Grades a 9.8, there are believed to be less than ten known. Dug by Tony Gospaliditch in either Gold Hill or Virginia City, NV. 1977. Ex Eastley, Mlasko collections. – Jeff Wichmann and American Bottle Auctions

Support: Reference to Whiskey Bottles of the Old West by John L. Thomas, 2002

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