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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:26 pm
by bourbonv
Putting on my archivist hat here, You really should encourage the owners of the property to gather these papers and donate them to a historical archive in the area. These things should be preserved and kept in an enviroment that will aid their preservation, but more importantly, make them available to the public for research. I am not familiar with the institutions in the Philadelphia area, but surely there would be one that would be happy to take the papers into their collection. Distilling papers are often lost due to neglect and end up in a land fill somewhere.

Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:13 pm
by Kinsey Worker
I hate to say this Mike but the Man who owns the Place does not give a dam about anything and that is why I go in there to what i can while it can be saved. When Publicker sold it to him in 1980 they leasted the Bottling House a warehouse and all the tankage. They were bottling Anitfreeze and detergents and other stuff thinking they could with their plants in Phila become like P&G and then He broke their Lease just before they went under by raising it way up. Then When they Closed he shut everything off walked away for more then 22 years now. I have read he is one of the Meanest People in New York city so asking him to save stuff would be that He would rather punish people coming there then save History.

So I will continue to save things and One day will find homes for them in the types of places you have said I have already left papers wittnessed with my Will that all distillery stuff must go to muesums. The papers I posted were laying on the floor with junk. I am so glad i saved them. The Man I talked to that helped run Publicker was himself wishing He could have the Place and do something with it but the guy that owns it wants a ton and is very bad to deal with. He got the Place because of Mr Neuman dieing and the People that bought their way in by stock to force a takeover.

So Mike It is a sad story with a bright stop in that I have made my mind up if it can be saved i will save what I can. In school as a young Man I thirsted for History and this plant and Publicker in phila are as Historic as you can get in pa!
BE WELL Mike
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
For Unhurried Moments
Kinsey The Genial Gin
Join The Swing To Kinsey
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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:24 pm
by mozilla
The tax records show that the man in question pays around $110,000 a year in taxes on the plant. It is appraised at around $4.2 Million. The sale price in 1982 was 2.3 Million.

Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:09 pm
by bourbonv
Dave,
As long as he does complain about you going in and getting the papers, please do and save what you find. Then make sure you get them in an institution before you leave this earth, because you don't know how many stories I have heard about children or grandchildren "throwing away all that junk paper" after the estate was settled.

Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:51 pm
by Kinsey Worker
mozilla wrote:The tax records show that the man in question pays around $110,000 a year in taxes on the plant. It is appraised at around $4.2 Million. The sale price in 1982 was 2.3 Million.


Great work Jeff that is about the only thing he does and it is interesting as when the township tried to buy it He wanted 22 million for it! He is in my book a terrible person letting it get that way Publicker sold him it in 1982 as you said in order to have extra money for capital projects to get new equipment for their try at packaging other goods at Linfield and in the old Bigler Bottle House in Phila. They hoped to take on P&G, As we know it failed and he shut it up without even trying to rent it for storage as He Bragged He was going to do with in.

The Warehouses could have been made into Condo's and the front could have been made into a living History Museum Place, could have called it the Neuman Condo's At Kinsey Distillery or such!
Dave Z
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Kinsey The unhurried Whiskey
Kinsey The Genial Gin
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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:00 pm
by mozilla
Dave,
do you ever remember seeing Wild Turkey bottles being filled there? They did not list Kentucky on their label till midway through the 70's. Just about the sametime that Publicker was heading downhill.

Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:31 am
by Kinsey Worker
Jeff i can't say I can remember WT there but, we were always doing big jobs for other Distillerys due to the fact
1. We had so much aging Whiskey there and,

2. We as I have said and the Man I have talked to who was as high as you could get in Publicker also told Me that we could each day do whatever we needed and at the same time do whatever another Company needed. He used the example of Seagrams and I do remeber us doing some work for them. For me the Funny part was one time a guy I knew was saying to me he would never drink our Liquors only Jacquins, and I said to him well we just got done doing some for Jacquins he said well you used thier products to do it and I told him the only thing that was theirs was the bottles & Labels it was our Whiskeys and mixures making them boy was he mad. Also lots of Companys had us do all their work tthey just had their name on it. So it could be very possible that we did WT there. I want to look at some of my Brands lists I have and see if any of them talk about stuff for other Distiller's. If It was made in Pa it would have been us doing it as there was no one else there that could do that. I would love to look at the labels on one of those old Bottles for clues.

I can hardly wait for spring to talk to this important man about Publicker in the few minutes 2 hours I talked to him he told me he has hundreds of industrial Pictures of Publicker in Phila and Kinsey and of the Loging operation were they got their wood for Barrels somewhere in Ga.
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
Kinsey The Genial Gin
Join The Swing To Kinsey
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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:14 am
by Kinsey Worker
Mike Or Jeff or Both of you can you take the numbers from the Mash bill and turn them into the days production of Whiskey I would love to have an idea of How much the capacity of Old Dsp-Pa-12 was?
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Genial Gin
Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2008 12:55 pm
by Kinsey Worker
Here is a picture of the Old Wooden bridge that went over the river in front of Kinsey from a Post card that fricky told me about for sale! The Year was 1909 and Kinsey is on the right side going toward Linfield. The Building is Old Warehouse A built in 1892.
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For unhurried Moments
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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:37 am
by Kinsey Worker
Here are two Croped Copies of the Copy that Ludy Let me borrow of Jacob G Kinseys aireal Photo from 1937 I crooped one to show all the front buildings then the second one to give a closeup of the Old Dsp-Pa-12 still.
Far Back right the old Kinsey Warehouses F & G, then across from them the Old Dsp-pa-12 still water sistrane on top that says kinsey. Then to their Left the final grain building before going into the still, to its left the big Silo and in front of it smaller silo and the Grain drying Building next to it the Boiler room where stack is and in fron the Kinsey Maintaince Barn.

Far right front The little Building was the Company Office behind it toward the road the Old Kinsey Bottling house before it was enlarged double in size. This was used till the day they quit making whiskeys for Liqours after Continental Bought Kinsey. then to the back right is the Old Dsp-pa-10 Rye Building a barn, and behind it round roofs the old 1892 kinsey Warehouses A & B then the Newer Kinsey Warehouses D & E with Elevators towers on roof. The Old A & B had from what Ludy told me a hoist with two special Hooks you put on each barrel head side and lowered or Lifted the barrels up by a chain.
Also on the Left side of the Bottle House was the Old Company Home that Kinsey stayed in when there once he had bought a Home in Phila in the Parkside section Of Phila. Later Goerge Dill lived in the upper floor and the Plant Nurse used the Lower floor.
I just added a shot closer yet of the Old Still #12
One more note I am hoping that the pictures come through ok as using a smaller resizer to make them not come through so darn big on the page this is the first time so I guess I will find out. I just looked and works great an Idea from Jeff so thanks Jeff!
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
For Unhurried Moments
Kinsey Gin The Genial Gin
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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:40 am
by Kinsey Worker
When I started working at Kinsey in 1966 I worked on the yard gang it was our job to mow the lawns and keep all the flowers and grass perfect in the Summer and do snow removing unload coal cars sweep out and clean the buildings including the ones not used even upstairs in the old Number 12 Still.

Looking at the still in these pictures we would ring out at night in the front of the building and while we waited would feed the fish that someone had put in the old Mash tanks still having water in them on that floor! There were carp and suckers and they were giant in size guys would drop loaves of bread down and they would jump to get it.
Down below was a tunnel along the bottom where we took our lunch break when I was on the Yard gang. Our Boss was John Zuber and he was a great guy to work for.

We always had plenty of work to do as Mr. Neuman wanted things clean and kept up. Days went quick and we were always busy. We had an Old Ford Farm tractor and wagon we used to haul the racks when they were being removed from the warehouses And we had a 1950 Ford Pickup we used to haul mowers and trash to the dump down back where many old cars and trucks were junked.
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
For Unhurried Moments
Kinsey The Genial Gin
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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:01 am
by Kinsey Worker
I went to Kinsey on Thanksgiving day as by myself that day and when I found the Old Mash Bills and loss Chart I posted on that Thread I was amazed to see laying on the Floor in the Old Government Mens Locker room the Old artificial Christmas tree that they put up every year at around Thanksgiving it was a sad moment for me looking at part of it laying there and Thinking Of Sam Lipkin and Bob Smith and the Other good Guys that were Government Men back then.

There it lay never to be put up again it was there and they are all gone. That is why it is so important for me to tell all I can about Working at Kinsey and the People there and the Whiskeys we made and of Si Neuman a Man with so much Vision and such a Leader of men!

I then thought of Charlie Seipler roaring out of the old Grain drying Building on a cold morning like it is today in pa. On his old Model A frame with no windshield no fenders and a home made flat bed on the back with just a seat bolted to the frame and 100 Horse Ford Flat head for power that Dickie Pfeifer put in it for him. He would Pull out and Punch grears with Smoke blowing out of his old time style Corn Cob Pipe! And the Tires would spin I loved to get there early and watch Charlie Roar out. Charlie was our Electric guy in Plant Maintaince and he was good at what he did and he was one of my Favorites back then.
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments
Kinsey The Genial Gin
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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:32 pm
by Kinsey Worker
When I started working at Kinsey I was very surprised to see some of the old Fermenter tanks in Dps-pa-12 still had water that was put in them when it was shut down in 1951. In the tank in the far left front corner of this picture I am posting one of 3 of the only pictures I have of old #12 got them from someone else as When I went there it was already gone was full of Large Fish that some of the Guys had put in there through the years. We would be waiting to ring out and tosing Loaves of Bread in to feed them. There were Carps,Suckers and all other kinds in there.

They would jump up to get the bread it was an amazing sight for a Kid of 19 to see such a thing! When I was in the Yard Gang I always voluntiered to sweep in there I loved exploring it very much. The Old Honeywell disc's were put in the quality controler the night before dated for some day in 1951 which it never got to run as shut down forever!
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
For Unhurried Moments
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Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 1:12 pm
by Kendall
Kinsey Worker,
Thank you for all your post, please keep up the great work.

Re: My Days at Kinsey Distillery

Unread postPosted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 12:18 pm
by Kinsey Worker
Kendall and Everyone else here are some more Pictures from Kinsey I took on on Saturday it was very cold and I got a great full length shot of the 1966 Bottling House which is 2 football fields long. and some shots inside the big whiskey incoming Black tanks enclosure and also a couple of shots of some of my collection of Kinsey / Continental Distilling stuff.

Including my Explosion Proof Switches with matching Pilot lights from there a Electrian friend Jim F. wired to give me a living example of what we had to have for safety there. If i ever get to give a speech again i can plug them in and show and explain the reasons that the had these types of electrics there. One shot taken with flash to show them and another without to show them lit.
Also some of my Bottles my lacquered Barrel Staves and my Signs and cased Labeled Bottles all saved for the sake of History they will one day be in museums and the Limerick Historic society building!
Dave Z --- Kinsey Worker--
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey
For Unhurried Moments
Kinsey The Genial Gin
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