A 1954 Whiskey Bottle History Lesson!

This post has nothing to do with the home renovations we are going through right now.I guess that is not really true since the post is about a whiskey bottle my brother found while in the crawl hole running some wires through the house.

 That would be the hole my brother had to crawl into and where he found the whiskey bottle.I don't know how he did it either?     

      Here is the first picture of the whiskey bottle.It was made by the Gooderham and Worts Distillery Company,which at the time that this was made was owned by Harry C Hatch who purchased the company in 1923.In 1927 Hatch purchased the company Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd and combined the two companies to form the Hiram Walker-Gooderham and Worts Ltd.Try saying that 5 times fast!

As you can see the whiskey was made in 1954.Unfortunately there was no whiskey in the bottle if there was it would have been nicely aged.I think it is safe to say that this belonged to my grandfather and probably threw it in the hole to get rid of the evidence not wanting my grandmother to found out about his secret love for whiskey.Although to be honest I think she kind of had an idea.What other secrets does the crawl hole have?? I don't know, but I can tell you I am not crawling in there to find out!

The company Gooderham and Worts was originally founded by James Worts who came to Toronto(York at the time) in 1831 from Suffolk, England where he owned a flour mill.He built a windmill at the mouth of the Don River the next year and then was joined by his brother in law William Gooderham.Their business prospered processing grains and then shipping out then grain until Worts wife Elizabeth died during childbirth. James Worts would commit suicide two weeks later by jumping into the windmill's well and drowning.Gooderham would manage the company solo until he made Worts oldest son James Gooderham Worts co manager.With a surplus of wheat in 1837 the company got into the business of distilling and then it really prospered until of course prohibition! They did build a new distillery complex in 1859 and this building was used up until it was closed in 1990.The building still stands in what is now called the Distillery District in Toronto which is located on Trinity street.

There you go your history lesson for the day, but if you do want to read up more on Gooderham and Worts Ltd just click the link it will take you where you need to go.