What is a Shot Glass?

What's a Pre-pro Shot Glass?

lProhibition began with the enactment of the Volstead act on January 1, 1920 so, by definition, pre-pro shot glasses date from before that time. Most of them were made in the last few years of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th.

Pre-pro shot glasses are typically about two inches tall, made of very thin glass, and have a label that is white and looks to have been acid-etched. Four typical examples are shown at right.

'Old Deerfield Whiskey', a typical pre-pro glass

'Black and Gold Rye' with the monogram of S. Froelich & Son.

'Chums', a pre-pro picture glass from Scranton, PA.

''Old School Rye', one of several glasses from the Altschul Distilling Co. of Springfield OH.

America looked very different in the days before prohibition. Alcoholic beverages are readily available nowadays, but back then there were saloons on every corner and it was quite usual for a working man to retire to his local establishment every evening for a drink or two with the regulars. During the day, women and children often dropped in at their local saloon carrying a pail known as a "growler". The growler was filled with beer and taken home to be consumed. Beer was as popular then as it is now but the consumption of whiskey back then was far greater. Whiskey production was concentrated in Kentucky and Missouri, but even smaller cities had their own distilleries. Philadelphia had a total of five! Although the idea seems taboo now, whiskey and bourbon was heavily marketed and sold via the mail. Popular literary magazines such as Munsey's and The National Magazine were filled with advertisements for whiskey right alongside those for Jell-o and patented cures for baldness.

An advertising page from a 1904 edition of 'The National' magazine.

Whiskey could be bought through the mail by the bottle, by the case, and by the barrel, shipped in plain unmarked boxes so that their contents were disguised. These boxes often contained the shot glasses that collectors now treasure.

last updated: October 16, 2009

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