BASEBALL HOUSE, WASHINGTON, DC PICTORIAL WHISKEY FLASK / BOTTLE, colorless, rounded rectangular form embossed on flat front slug-plate panel: "BASE / *pictorial two-seam baseball with DONOVAN'S inside* / HOUSE / COLUMBIA / CLUB / *pictorial of a wooden bat* / 1528 / 7TH ST. / N. W. / WASHINGTON / D. C.", tooled double collar mouth. Remnants of tattered paper label at reverse, mostly gone but with legible remnants suggesting the bottle was reused by bottler "P. J. Cook" at a later date. Late 19th/early 20th century. 6 7/8" H.
Catalogue Note: We can find no previous sales records of this unique bottle, or its twin in lot 267 in this sale. But there is ample information filling in the blanks around Washington, DC's pre-Prohibition "Baseball House", a popular early baseball-themed sports bar run by William J. Donovan, and his proprietary rye whiskey brand "Columbia Club". Local-interest/cultural preservation organization Ghosts of DC published a thorough article about this bar in January 2014, although no mention of related artifacts was made, let alone a bottle. Seemingly one of one. Thank you to Ghosts of DC for the research. View article here: https://ghostsofdc.org/2014/01/13/donovans-baseball-house-finest-bar-country/

Collection of the late Al and Billy Steidel, Alexandria, VA.

Undamaged with light routine wear and a couple rough spots at upper edge of lip, as made.