Old Mr. Boston Time line

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Old Mr. Boston Time line

Unread postby bourbonv » Wed Jul 27, 2005 7:38 pm

Here's a time line for our New England members.

Mr Boston Distillers Inc.

1921 - Ben-Burke formed a chain of retail outlets to handle
malt syrup and bottling supplies (Welcome to the World
of Mr Boston).

1927 - The company is founded by H C Berkowitz abd Irwin
Benjamin as Ben-Burk Incorperated. (Beverage Media Blue
Book, History of Mr Boston Distillers Inc.)

1932 - "Connoiseur Cordials" are introduced as fruit flavored
syrups for self mixing (Welcome to the World of Mr
Boston).

1933 - Mr Boston Dry Gin is introduced with the repeal of
prohibition. (Bev Med Blue Book, History).

o - It was decide to enter the liquor industry with Gin
because it would take the company four years to acquire
aged whiskey stocks (Samuel Berke, "Old Mr Boston": The
Story of a Trade-Mark).

o - The Boston Herald publishes an article about the
reopening of the Readville, Mass. distillery by Thomas
J Hughes. It is said to be the largest distillery in
the east (U D Archives, History File).

1935 - Mr Boston Bartenders Guide first published (Welcome to
the World of Mr Boston).

1939 - Paramount Distillery is opened in Albany, Georgia. It
is the first legal distillery in Georgia. There are
only two legal distilleries in the state at this time.
(Spirited Times, April/May, 1992).

1942 - Ben-Burk Incorperated and Mr Boston label sold to
American Distilling Co. (Bev Med Blue Book, History).

1945 - Trademark and business is purchased by H C Berkowitz
and other family members and Berke Brothers
Distilleries Inc. is formed. (Bev Med Blue Book,
History).

o - Samuel Berke becomes the President of Berke Brothers
(Who's Who in the Liquor Industry, 1966).

1953 - Company changes its name to Mr. Boston Distiller Inc.
(Bev Med Blue Book, History).

1954 - Corrado's Handbook of Liquor Marketing - 1954 list the
Readville, Mass. distillery as being owned by Mr.
Boston.

1957 - Paramount changes its name to Viking Distillery.
(Spirited Times, April/May, 1992).

1962 - Mr Boston purchases the Viking Distillery. (Spirited
Times, April/May 1992).

1966 - Mr Boston Distiller, Inc. is listed as having plants in
Boston Massachusetts, Readville, Massachusetts, and
Albany Georgia (1966 Red Book, p.41).

1969 - Glenmore purchases Old Mr. Boston. (Spirited Times,
April/May, 1992).

1971 - Mr Boston first introduces the "glass can" packaging
for their cocktail industry (1971 Glenmore Annual
Report).

1973 - Mr Boston introduces the "Snowshake" line of dairy
based cocktails (1974 Glenmore Annual Report).

1975 - Glenmore changes the name of the company to Mr Boston,
dropping the "Old" (Kovel's Bottles 9th Ed., Old Mr
Boston).

1985 - The 50th Anniversary edition of the Mr Boston's
Bartenders Guide includes both a video cassette version
and a computer disk version (1986 Glenmore Annual
Report).

1991 - United Distillers acquires Glenmore. (C Morris,
18/9/92).

1995 - United Distillers sells the Mr Boston labels and the
Viking Distillery to Barton Brands (M. Veach, 9/1995).

Mike Veach
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Unread postby bourbonv » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:11 am

Moving this forward to answer the Old Mr. Boston question.

Mike Veach
Mike Veach
"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
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