Back in the 19th century, before the government had a trade mark registration system, the spirits industry would register their trade marks in the trade magazines. Mida’s Criteria of Chicago and Bonforts’s Wine and Spirits Circular of New York were the two major trade magazines that would serve this purpose. The prospective spirits brand would be submitted to the magazine; if there were no other businesses using that name it would be published, most often with an illustration of the barrel head brand or label, but sometimes simply the name. Even after the government started registering trademarks in the 1880s, companies would still send the trademark to the trade magazines for publication. In 1899, Mida’s Criteria published a book with their trademark registrations to the public. This made it easier for people to know what was already registered and in use in the market.
I have a photocopy of this book. An original is in the collection of the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History in Bardstown. This is a very good source of information on brands. The registration gives the date when the trade mark was first used and the company that has registered the trade mark. This information can help date the age of a brand. It is interesting for example that Four Roses dates their brand to 1888, but in Mida’s National Register Paul Jones registered it as being in use since 1869. The Mida’s date is probably the accurate date since he created the brand in 1869 in Atlanta, after the American Civil War. 1888 is the year that they registered it with the United States Government after Congress created a registry. Four Roses is going with the official government registration rather the brand’s creation. They could legitimately claim another 19 years to their trademark.
The book is good for researching other brands for possible use. Many of the brands in the book are long gone from the market. There were many interesting brands in 1899 that would make good names for artisan distillers today. Of course, there are others that are not such good choices. From a random page in the book, page 85, there are eight registrations. They are:
- Walnut Hill Woodford County Pure Rye
- Carlisle Standard Sour Mash Whiskey Frankfort Ky.
- University Club Hand Made Sour Mash Kentucky Whisky
- Crystal Springs Distilling Co. Sour Mash
- Kentucky’s Corn Flower Hand Made Sour Mash Whisky
- Garland O.D. Fire Copper Bourbon
- Old Jug Old Fashioned Whisky
- Original Frazier Hand Made Sour Mash Whiskey
Three of the trade marks, Carlisle, Crystal Springs and Garland are registered by Geo. T. Stagg Co. with Carlisle in use since 1880 and the other two new in 1899. Two of them. University Club and Kentucky’s Cornflower, registered by Nathan F. Block in 1891. C.M. Graves & Sons registered Walnut Hill as in use since 1889, J & A Freiberg registered Old Jug as in use since June 1891 and Mayer Bros. & Co. registered Original Frazier in 1899.
This random page shows the range of names registered and who registered them and how old they were when the book was published in 1899. Buffalo Trace could easily revive any of the Geo. T. Stagg brands and have a legitimate claim to their heritage. The other brands could even be used by new distillers or revived by an existing company. I could easily see Woodford Reserve bringing back a Walnut Hill rye whiskey with its heritage in Woodford County. The book has 203 pages of registered trademarks. Not all are original, as some brands have multiple registrations as they changed designs, but there are still plenty to choose from when researching a new brand. There are also 9 pages of gin trademarks, 12 pages of “Sundries” that include brandies, bitters, tonics, Liqueurs and cocktails amongst other things, 15 pages of wines and 39 pages of malt liquors.
The book is a very good research tool. Whether you are looking for the heritage of and existing brand or looking to revive an old brand, Mida’s National register is a place to start. It is also good for research brands of old spirits companies, but it is hard to use for that purpose. The index is by brand name and not company, which means you have to look at every page and the registration to find the company. However, once a company is found it also gives the location of the company such as Geo.T. Stagg, Frankfort, Ky. This is one of the most used resources in my archive.
Photos Courtesy of Michael Veach
September 18, 2018 at 10:59 pm
This is fantastic; wish I had access to a digital copy. Thanks for sharing.
You state that Carlisle, Crystal Spring, and Garland are all registered by Geo. T. Stagg Co., of Frankfort, but the page shows that Crystal Spring Sour Mash and Garland are both registered by Crystal Spring Distilling Co. from Louisville. Is there a connection between Crystal Spring Co. and Geo. T. Stagg Co.?
September 19, 2018 at 11:21 am
Have you ever considered digitizing your copy in pdf form? It looks like you have access to one of the few copies in existence. Archive.org would be a great place to put it to insure it isn’t lost if something were to happen to the few existing physical copies.
July 17, 2020 at 2:21 pm
Newberry Library in Chicago has one of the few original editions – very beautiful and illustrated in color – I am Mida’s great-grandaughter
July 20, 2022 at 5:00 am
Hello! I found a copy of Mida’s Criterion from 1918 cleaning up my mom’s house. Amazing periodical!
September 4, 2020 at 3:27 am
I am writing the biography o William Gottfried Wehner (1847-1928) of Chicago-Milwaukee and Santa Clara County. On September 18,2003 I found in the display case of Milwaukee County Historical Society the F.W.Heine diaries,begun in 1860 when Heine was 15, and concludes at Heine’s death in 1921. The diaries are the narrative of the panorama company of William Wehner of Chicago whose rotunda was built in downtown Milwaukee. Wehner would remove to Santa Clara County in 1887 and help start the California wine industry. In 1883-4 Wehner , his wife and daughter, and brother in law Hermann Rendtorff and Mrs Rendtorff visited 10 countries in Europe (13 months) to learn about the international panorama business, and to learn about wines and vines. The WEHNER MANSION at Evergreen, Villa Lomas Azules, can be seen on the internet, and the brand name of his wine is LOMAS AZULES. My great aunt, Mathilde Georgine Schley (1864-1941) was an artist connected with Wehner’s panorama studio in Milwaukee. Info to share. Gene Meier 1160 Bailey Road, Sycamore, Illinois 60178 815 895 4099 genemeier@frontier.com