Once upon a time, the appearance of a pre-pro glass from Denver, CO on eBay was a guarantee of a no-holds-barred bidding war and a 3-figure payoff for the seller.
Why? Back in the day, CO was a sparsely populated state. The US Census for 1900 shows the city’s population to be less than 140,000, so there were relatively few working saloons and liquor dealers, let alone dealers who were handing out shot glasses and other freebies to encourage their patrons to consider a return visit.
By 1920, the city population had almost doubled, driven by mining interests, industrialization, and investment in its transportation infrastructure, but the number of documented shot glasses from the CO in general and Denver in particular remains paltry. By way of example, Barb Edmonson was only able to track down 6 CO glasses for inclusion in HSG and OASG.
The database here at pre-pro.com records a total of 23 CO glasses as of writing but, while this is a definite improvement, their rarity still makes CO one of the States that are most desirable for any serious Western-glass collector.
The sales database contains 43 unique examples of Denver glasses as of a few weeks ago. CO glasses show up for sale infrequently, none of which could be considered “common.”
Enter sanjuanslim, who maintains an eBay store named “The Mine Shop” that specializes in Western antiques. The seller has assembled or acquired a collection of CO glasses and has been dribbling them out on eBay over the past couple of weeks. So far, around 28 glasses have listed, including several that I’ve not seen before. All have been selling for bargain-basement prices, so if you have an interest in CO, then this would be a good chance to add to the collection. A few choice offerings are shown below.
A previously unlisted glass from Sam Barets & Co., of Denver, CO. It sold for $69.72.
An “Evergood” from the Pleus Miles Merchantile Co. I’ve seen a handful of these glasses previously: this one sold for $106.26.
An “Old Forest Grove”, from A. Friedman & Co. An unlisted glass and the auction has yet to close.
“Compliments of The Levy & Lewin Merchantile Co.” A handful of these glasses have listed over the years. The highest price realized was $262.87; this example sold for $31.02.
A previously unlisted glass from Phil. Lewin, featuring a crude liquor jug with grain stalks in the background. A true steal at $34.33!
A classic from Sunnyside Liquor Co. that sold for $74.19. This is one of the more “common” Denver glasses (if such a term can be applied here) that had fetched $228.75 in previous years.