Author name: Jack Sullivan

Long before comic book hero Bruce Wayne decided to don the “Caped Crusader” costume to fight crime in Gotham City, a Kentuckian described as being “pulchritudinous in features and magnificent figure” was flying high in Louisville as a crusader for quality liquor.  Shown here in winged caricature is Thomas J. Batman, known to some as “Brandy King of the World.”

Born in Louisville. Kentucky, in February 1853, as Thomas Kirwin, the boy was far from any kingdom at his birth.  His mother, Mary Ann Batman, died within a year, only 22 years old.  His father, Patrick N. Kirwin, an immigrant from Ireland, married again several years later and sired five more children before he died in June 1865 when Thomas was just 12.  Orphaned, the boy then went to live with his maternal uncle, Thomas Batman, who formally adopted him in 1876.  In gratitude, Thomas took his uncle’s surname. 

According to local directories, Stepfather Batman was a printer.  Thomas’s birth father, however, had been employed in a distillery in a city where the whiskey industry was a major economic engine.  The young Batman gravitated toward the liquor trade.  By the age of 23 he had accumulated enough knowledge of the business and sufficient resources to strike out on his own.  With two associates he founded T. J. Batman & Company, Wholesale Whiskeys, located at 37 Fourth Street below Main Street, the latter avenue also known as “Whiskey Row” because of the offices located there of many of America’s leading distillers and liquor wholesalers.

By this time Thomas had married, wedding Elvira Thompkins of Louisville in August 1876.  They would go on to have nine children together over the next 20 years of whom eight lived to maturity.  A photo of the family shown above discloses the middle age couple, with Elvira still an attractive woman, surrounded by a comely group of their children.

Batman’s initial stab at establishing a liquor business apparently was not a complete success.  By the mid-1880s, he had closed the wholesale house and was working as a partner of T. H. Sherley, an established “Whiskey Row” commission merchant at 125 West Main Street.  The Sherley company specialized in the purchase and sale of Kentucky whiskeys, as well as conducted a brisk business in apple and peach brandies, as indicated by an 1888 advertisement.

Sherley, formerly an officer in the Union Army, also owned the Crystal Springs Distillery located the corner of First Street and Ormsby Avenue in Louisville.Listed in Federal records as Registered Distillery #3, 5th District, the plant figures in an 1886 photograph uncovered by Michael Veach, whiskey guru of Louisville’s Filson Historical Society.  Shown below the photo displays the assembled employees of the distillery.  Among other elements, Veach pointed out:  1.  The misspelling of “crystal” on the wall.  2. Employees each seeming to hold the tools of their trade, including African-Americans on each side with shovels. 3. The plant mascots were dogs.  To that I would add that every man and boy is wearing a hat, an interesting display of headgear variety.

Veach speculated about the two men standing immediately left of the date on the wall, believing that the man with the full beard is Sherley and to his right with the handlebar mustache is Tom Batman.  While the author says he is “not sure,” my analysis is that Veach has made a correct identification.  After Sherley retired in 1901, Batman bought out his share of his partner’s holdings.  He seems to have sold off the distillery, thereafter concentrating on the brokerage business from his “Whiskey Row” headquarters.

Given the honorific title of “Kentucky colonel” by the state governor apparently for his business prowess, Batman was pictured and extolled in the influential Whiskey & Spirits Bullletin in 1904:  “Our friend, Colonel Thomas J. Batman, has always had the apple brandy market of the country in his grasp, so much so, on numerous occasions, he has been dubbed ‘The Brandy King,’ but lately he has been spreading out.  He is now posing as one of the heavy whisky brokers of the trade and has been instrumental in engineering some very important whisky deals.  The colonel says brokerage business in the whiskey line reaches into every part of the country, and is now larger than his brandy business.”   As indicated by the caricature that opens this post, Thomas J.’s visage was a familiar one in whiskey circles.

With his growing prosperity, Batman was able to move his large family into an imposing house at 1143 South First Street, shown here.   Still standing in Louisville, the large dwelling is distinctive for its six Ionic columns flanking the front porch.  But sorrow was destined to visit the Batman home.  After 35 years of marriage, Elvira died in June, 1910 at the age of 56.  She was buried in the family plot in St. Louis Cemetery with her grieving spouse and children gathered around.  All of them except the youngest, daughter, Kirwin, 14, had reached their majority.

Not quite four years later, in February 1914, Thomas Batman remarried.  His bride was Libbie Kirwan, born in Louisville in 1868 and 15 years younger than her husband.  From her maiden name we can surmise that Libbie likely was a cousin.  The couple were married in a quiet ceremony in St. Francis Roman Catholic Church by Father Thomas White.  According to a press account, immediately after their marriage the couple left for a trip to the East Coast.

As his children grew to maturity Batman began to take them into his business.  Thomas J. Jr., was the first, prompting his father by 1912 to change the company name to ”T. J. Batman & Son.”  Later Batman created a new business involving Junior and A. S. Batman, likely Anna Batman, his eldest daughter.  It was called the Frishe Distilling Company, an enterprise on which little information exists.

In time becoming an elder statesman of the Kentucky liquor industry, Batman must have experienced with concern the growing clamor for National Prohibition as state after state and locality after locality went dry under the relentless pressure of the Prohibition lobby.  It would appear that he continued to do business from his offices in the downtown Tyler Building until 1920.  After that Batman fades from Louisville’s business scene and its city directories. 

In retirement Batman lived long enough to see prohibitionary fervor wane and the impending revival of the liquor industry.  As he aged, he had suffered multiple heath problems, diagnosed as heart disease and hepatitis.  In early 1933 Thomas Batman, while under a doctor’s care, continued to decline and died at home on March 29, 1933, at the age of 80. He was buried at St. Francis Cemetery next to Elvira. 

Note:  This post was drawn from a wide range of sources, from which two stand out: The Whiskey and Spirits Bulletin that regularly featured Batman in its articles and Michael Veatch’s “Images of the Past,” an online article that featured the photo of the Crystal Springs distillery staff.

 

 

The sign left is brim full of confidence.  Goldberg, Bowen & Company  in 1915 were proclaiming the specialty grocery and liquor firm  a “Master Grocer” with a “The World Our Field.”  The claim was backed up by illustrations of goods delivered by ship and rail from all over the globe.  Many San Franciscans, however, could remember when Goldberg, Bowen posted a quite different sign on the burned-out shell of its headquarters.  During the early years of this business few would have predicted its ultimate success and longevity.

The company originated about 1881 with the merger of two established San Francisco firms. Bowen Brothers had started as fruit merchants but expanded into speciality groceries.  Nearby, Lebenbaum & Goldberg were operating as liquor, wine and tea merchants.  Consolidation created Goldberg, Bowen & Lebenbaum. The company was listed local business directories as “Importers of Wines and Liquors and Commercial and Retail Grocers.”  As short-lived as this trio was destined to be, it early contracted with a German glass factory for a series of clear bottles topped by a logo, shown here.

By 1885 Lebenbaum had left the organization, bought out by the Bowens, Charles and Henry.  The new organization was renamed Goldberg, Bowen & Co. Running the enterprise was Jacob Goldberg, an immigrant from Poland, listed in directories as president and general manager.  The company advertised in San Francisco “Blue Book” that their groceries “make food a pleasure worth while….”   A writer for the San Francisco called the two company stores, located at 242-254 Sutter and 426-432  Pine Street “a paradise for the bon vivant.”  A calendar caught the celebratory flavor of the company. 

In 1906, this “paradise” became an inferno as the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 turned Goldberg, Bowen’s Sutter Street headquarters into a burned out shell amidst acres of rubble, as shown below.  The disaster also was reduced to ruins the nearby stables where the partners kept the horses used to pull their wagons and delivery carts.  I can find no information on the fate of the horses, although many in San Francisco are said to have been killed by falling bricks from the earthquake.

The sign visible on the side of the building made clear that despite the blow the disaster had leveled on them, the partners were determined to press on.  It read: “Goldberg, Bowen and Co. Grocers Will Open a Grand New Store, Van Ness & Sutter. Present Location 2829 Cal. St., Cor. Haight & Masonic.”  The second store, apparently untouched by the fire, is shown here, the name in large letters on the side.  

True to their pledge by 1909 Goldberg, Bowen was back in business at the old address, with a building, bigger and better than the one before.  Shown here, it still stands at 242 Sutter.  The company eventually would have four stores, including one in Oakland. Goldberg, Bowen was on its way to “World Reach.”

Goldberg, Bowen offered a full line of whiskeys, featuring imported Scotch brands, well-known American labels like “Old Crow” and an impressive number of proprietary “signature” brands.  The partners were careful to register trademarks for most of their labels after the U.S. Congress progressively tightened the laws against brand infringement.  Their whiskeys with dates of their registration were “Bull Dog Rye” (1906), “Old William Penn Malt” (1906), ”Early & Often Whiskey” (1908), “Pride of the Golden State” (1913),” Imperial Whiskey (1914), “Old Mellow Rye” (1914), and “Traveler Club(1915).”

Goldberg, Bowen were not distillers.  They were buying raw whiskey from distilleries elsewhere in America and shipping it into their headquarters.  There they employed “rectifiers” who blended the products to achieve a particular taste, smoothness and color.  The multitude of brands meant that their crew of blenders was highly skilled.  The company apparently was not particular about the quality of bottles used.  Shown here right is a clear flask, possibly a pint, that displays poorly blown glass.  An amber quart is more presentable.  The small bottle below was called a “Quiet Smile” flask; three of them filled with whiskey sold for 50 cents.

The profitability of the business was indicated in 1905 when Jacob Goldberg moved his wife, Kate, born in New York of Polish immigrants, and their five children, Sol, Harry, Cherney, Renne, and Zelda, into one of San Francisco’s most notable frame mansions at 1782 Pacific Avenue.  Built in 1876, the house from the street appears to be two stories but because of the slope on which it was built, is three stories at the rear.  Purchased by the Goldbergs in 1905, Jacob added a new wing, replaced the carriage house with a larger one, and remodeled the interior.  Undamaged by the 1906 earthquake and fire, it was owned by the family until 1936.  Today it is a San Francisco landmark.  

Jacob Goldberg lived just long enough to see National Prohibition imposed on the United States, dying in 1920 at the age of 76 or 77.  He was buried in the family mausoleum in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park (Section F, lot 555) in Colma, California, just outside San Francisco.  Other family members over time would join him there.  Because of its trade in a variety of speciality groceries, Goldberg, Bowen successfully continued in business despite the loss of its liquor sales.  With Repeal the company again sold alcoholic products.  It shows up in San Francisco directories at least until 1974.  Having survived the San Francisco earthquake and fire, National Prohibition was just another bump in the road to “World Reach.”

Note:  This post was drawn from a variety of sources.  Among them was the blog western whiskey.com and its post of December 1, 2009.

 

Foreword:  Of the various nationalities that made up the distillers, liquor dealers, saloonkeeper and other whiskey men of the pre-Prohibition era, the majority of immigrants were either Irish or German.  Italians were a distant third, often selling liquor in connection with a grocery business.  Here are vignettes of three men born in Italy, each of whom in his own way climbed the ladder from penury to prosperity while contributing to their communities.

In 1859, an immigrant Italian boy of 16 stepped off the S.S John Simon onto the dock at Memphis, Tennessee. It would be his home town for the rest of his life and upon his death he had created a liquor and mercantile family dynasty that survived until 2010.  Shown here, his name was Domenico Canale.

Canale’s first employment was in a liquor and wine business owned by his uncles.  Saving his money, he struck out for himself about 1866.  He began selling fruits and vegetables from a push cart while continuing an interest in the liquor trade.  Within seven years Canale had graduated from his produce wagon to selling from a warehouse at Eight Madison St., near Front Street. Called D. Canale & Co., his company sold wholesale vegetables and fruit and also a quality bourbon whiskey that he named “Old Dominick.”

The D. Canale organization first showed up in Memphis business directories as a liquor house in 1885. Old Dominick whiskey rapidly gained a local and regional customer base, advertised lavishly by Canale in large signs in downtown Memphis.  He sold his liquor in stoneware jugs as well as in glass bottles with his name prominently displayed, Canale also became known for his giveaways to saloons and other favored customers, including paperweights and shot glasses.

Meanwhile, the italian immigrant’s continued success was drawing attention in Memphis business circles. A 1905 book entitled “Notable Men of Tennessee” featured him among the notables.  His biography stated:  “Today [he] stands at the head of the fruit business of Memphis and, perhaps, of the South. It added that: “Mr. Canale is what is rightly termed a self-made man, and has won his position in the social and commercial life of Memphis by his industry, his native ability, and the exercise of correct business principles.”

Canale died in 1919 just before the advent of National Prohibition.  Because whiskey and beer were only part of D. Canale’s business, the firm weathered the temperance “storm” by concentrating on fruit and vegetable sales. With Repeal the Canale family continued to market Old Dominick whiskey for a time, but eventually dropped their liquor business to concentrate on produce.  

Ernesto Bisi arrived on American shores in 1880 as an impoverished Italian immigrant with limited education.  After getting a start selling groceries and liquor in Pittsburgh, he went on to become the largest pasta producer in the United States.  But he did not do it alone.  Under highly unusual circumstances, Bisi in 1895 married Emilia, a woman who became the mother of his children and his valuable partner in business.  

After arriving in Pittsburgh in 1884, Ernesto joined in a grocery business with Civil War veteran Frank Bonistalli and Bonistalli’s vivacious young wife, Emilia. Eventually Bonistalli took Bisi as a full partner.  They added a full line of spiritous beverages, advertising widely.  In addition to featuring wines, E. Bonistalli & Bisi claimed “…A full stock of Guckenheimer, Silver Seal, Crystal Wedding and other whiskies.”  Many of the brands were Pennsylvania-made and would have resonated with the Pittsburgh clientele. As one biographer put it:  “It was clear that Ernesto possessed a remarkable business sense.”  Within a few years the store registered gross sales of over $100,000 — a fortune in the late 1880s. Goods were being sold in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and further west.  

All was not well, however, at Bonistalli & Bisi.  Emilia was the cause.  As a “silent partner” in the store she was constantly on the scene. Known to fudge her actual age, Emilia was 18 to possibly 26 years younger than her husband and virtually the same age as Bisi.  In addition to her business savvy, Emilia, shown here, was talented.  She spoke three languages in addition to Italian, was noted for a fine singing voice, and performed with the Pittsburgh Opera Society.  She could see the promise in Ernesto and the two became lovers.  Their liaison produced a son in 1891, baptized as a Bonistalli.  Four more years elapsed before Emilia sued for and in 1895 was granted a divorce from her husband.  Ernesto and Emilia soon married.

The liquor business subsequently was taken over by Carmelio Bisi, a younger brother whom Ernesto had brought from Italy in 1889 to assist him. This move allowed Ernesto and Emilia to concentrate on macaroni, spaghetti and linguini.  Together they established a large pasta factory at Fort Pitt on the periphery of Pittsburgh.  Shown here is an illustration of the plant. Situated on fifteen acres of land, the couple employed 150 employees.  The Bisi United States Macaroni Factory eventually would be accounted the largest in the Nation. Ernesto was president; Emilia was corporate secretary, in charge of all communications with suppliers and clients.

When he died in 1907, Bisi was eulogized as “one of the most prominent Italians in the eastern part of the United States.”  Floral tributes and condolences poured in from all parts of the country.  Beginning in America as an impoverished, poorly educated immigrant, because of the opportunities presented, his own “remarkable business sense” and his marriage to Emilia, Ernesto Bisi had risen to become a wealthy manufacturer and nationally recognized Italian-American leader. 

In 1893 Benjamin “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman, Governor of South Carolina and a man of dictatorial instincts, in order to enforce his hold on the sales of alcohol in the Palmetto State decided to make an example of a self-educated Italian immigrant Charleston saloonkeeper and liquor dealer named Vincent Chicco.  In targeting Chicco, shown here, Tillman had picked the wrong man.  

Trying to placate prohibitionist forces in South Carolina, the wily Tillman, shown left, had proposed a halfway solution:  Saloons would close along with all liquor dealerships but whiskey, wine and beer would still be available through a state dispensary system.  In protest, speakeasies called “Blind Tigers” became rampant throughout Charleston.  Tillman was outraged.  He vowed that if residents did not comply he would make the city “dry enough to burn” and would send sufficient compliance officers “to cover every city block with a man.”  In July 1893, Tillman’s officers made their first arrest.  It was Vincent Chicco.

The Italian immigrant’s arrest occasioned a near riot as local supporters rallied to protest the action.  Taken to court, he faced a friendly judge who freed him immediately to return to his establishment, shown below.  Overnight Chicco became a local hero in Charleston, dubbed as “King of the Blind Tigers.” In short order Chicco had become a public nemesis to Tillman, who called him “a kind of Dago devil.”  Hauled into court repeatedly over the years, Chicco always walked away a free man.

Tillman’s attacks on Chicco heightened into a personal battle, one that the Italian immigrant seemed to relish.  He introduced a line of cigars he called “The Two Determined.”  They came in a box with his picture and Tillman’s on the lid.  Chicco explained the concept to newsmen this way:  Tillman was determined that he should stop selling liquor;  Chicco was equally determined to continue selling it.  He also used his Charleston popularity to be elected to four terms as an alderman.

Tillman’s dispensary scheme in time became so corrupt that it was abolished by the South Carolina legislature. In 1915 the state went “dry,” however, and the Italian immigrant was forced to end his liquor trade.   When Vincent Chicco died in 1928, wrote one Charleston observer:  “The city nearly shut down for his funeral, as well it should have. The “King of Blind Tigers” is someone we can all draw inspiration from. He was an underdog, a free spirit, an independent thinker….”  

Note:  Longer articles on each of these whiskey men may be found elsewhere on this website:  Domenico Carnale, November 26, 2011;  Ernesto Bisi, June 2, 2020; and Vincent Chicco, July 4, 2020.  This blog featured a post about Ben Tillman and the South Carolina Dispensary on November 20, 2013.