Repro update.
The first line
in the prior post read; " It's not western, but it is a bitters - sort of."
In an effort to allow everyone an opportunity to form their own opinion about the current reproduction issue, I managed to place an order for one each of the cabins and barrels currently on the market. They got here yesterday.
Here's where the
rubber meets the road. "It's not western", is an understatement.
Although I have no way to prove it, I can safely conjecture, that these
particular reproductions are, drum roll please,
................................. (you guessed it) - "Made in China"! The
raunchy cardboard boxes with that unique and funky odor and haphazardly placed
staples, that both bottles were packed in (most probably at the factory since they were a perfect fit), were the first clue.
Reproduction Old Sachems barrel / Reproduction Drakes cabin
At first, I felt
comfortable in stating that they were easy to spot as fakes because both the
Drakes and the Old Sachems have tooled tops. That lasted all of about 2
minutes; until I pulled an original tooled top four log Drakes that I've had
for close to thirty years off the shelf. Moving onto individual
deviations from the originals...
St. Drakes / 1860
Plantation / X Bitters;
The repro / fantasy piece that I purchased is a four log variant. The color is
somewhat intriguing and or convincing, and could by some stretch of the
imagination be confused with an original, but that's where the attraction
stops. As stated, the top is tooled. I've seen a couple of tooled tooled top 4
logs in the years that I've been around the figural bitters block. Still,
they are an exception to the rule and nearly all have applied tops, done with
varying degrees of skill.
Fake tooled top
Original tooled top
Original applied top
Let's
address the problems on the fake, line by line;
1)
The embossing is a joke. Not even close. Amateurish at best. Refer to the side
by side photos. "1860" is slanted upward from left to right. "Bitters" is slanted in the opposite direction. On the reverse "1862" is offset far to the left. As mentioned, all embossing is poorly rendered and notably weaker than on the original.
Fake
Original
Original
2)
The bottle was severely under blown, resulting in notably "squashed in" side
panels.
3)
The bottom log is placed significantly up on the base, compared to the real
deal. This in turn, results in a taper of over 1/2" from the base edge to
the bottom of the first log.
4)
Label; it's a mystery, but it's coming apart at the seams. It appears to be a
thin transparent piece of film laid over a piece of white paper. Probably
velum. The front label of this one has a tear through the middle of the top
label, and the rear label is de-laminating and the top layer is peeling at the
edges.
5)
Measurements, the fake is 10 7/16" tall - 3 1/16" across at the
widest part above the top log, and 2 5/16 across the base in both directions.
The base diagonal measurement is 3" corner to corner.
6)
Base mark; the X is pretty close to the original, but a large indented
"dimple" is present adjacent to the X; possibly something to do with
the production techniques employed. The original has diagonal base mold seams present, the fake does not.
Fake
Original
Overall
Impression - Close, but absolutely no cigar. The color is intriguing and could
pass as a variant in a Drakes "rainbow of colors" display, but it's
unlike any I recall seeing. The glass has a different "ring" than the
original. It has an overly bright tone compared to an original when tapped with
a metal object. I suppose a beginning collector could be fooled because it's
glass and looks like a Drakes. It doesn't outright scream "fake", but
it is still significantly different than the originals.
________________________________________________________________________________
Old Sachem / Bitters / and / Wigwam Tonic; The repro / fantasy piece that I
purchased has a tooled top; a dead giveaway. The color can best be described
as a smoky greenish amber. it's an odd duck. As stated, the top is tooled. I only have two
originals to compare against the fake, but both originals are nearly identical
so am using them as a comparison. Feel free to chime in if you have an original
that differs significantly from mine.
Fake on left / Original on right
Let's
address the other problems on the fake, line by line;
1)
The embossing is a joke. Not even close. Amateurish at best. It is chunky and
sloppy. Refer to the side by side photos to compare the two. The bottom line of
embossing intrudes into the barrel ring beneath it.
Fake
Original
2)
The top barrel band is bulkier than the originals. The neck is notably wider.
The base is wider. These issues contribute to making the fake look "less
delicate" than the slimmer original.
3)
Measurements, both are 9 5/16" tall. The fake is 2 1/4 across the base,
whereas the original is only 2 1/16". The original is 3 7/16" wide at
the widest point in the center, the fake is 3 1/2". The fake is 1 7/8"
across the top barrel band, whereas the original is 2".
4)
Barrel bands; the fakes first band begins at the base. the originals first band
begins over 1/4" up from the base. Both have 10 bands beneath and 10 bands
above the embossing.
5)
Base mark; the original has a straight line base seam across the center, the fake
has none.
Overall
Impression - Maybe "kinda close", if you use your imagination. The
glass has a different "ring" than the original. Not "dead" like
modern glass but a notably different sound when tapped with a metal object. Again,
the color is intriguing but it's unlike any I recall seeing. And once again, I
suppose a beginning collector could be fooled because it's glass and looks like
a barrel bitters. It is significantly different than the originals. Unfortunately, unless compared side by side, the differences could be overlooked.
Additional thoughts and comments are encouraged~
A quick PS in response to questions posed; The fake bottles do not have a greasy or slick feel to them. Handled side by side with an original I can detect no tactile difference. Same goes for off odors. None detected once the fakes had a chance to air out after being pulled from the factory packaging.
