Rare Vintage Carstairs Whiskey 1947 Sign with Baseball Schedule Calendar Sheets

Description

Rare Vintage Carstairs Whiskey 1947 Sign with Baseball Schedule Calendar Sheets. Overall the sign measures 11" x 24" and the baseball sheets alone are 11" x 12". The lithograph cardboard sign has some general normal age wear. The baseball sheets have the first bunch gone but is complete starting May 6, 1947 - the season had started on April 15 so there is probably around 21 sheets used and now gone. The very last few sheets for The 1947 World Series games have wear with the very last game 7 sheet quite tattered. Please see my 12 detailed photos. A rare and interesting item for whiskey distillery collectors or vintage baseball collectors. Guaranteed a genuine 1947 era original.
The Carstairs Were Philly Brahmins of Booze
The progenitor of the clan was Thomas Carstairs, born in 1759 in Fife, Scotland, who emigrated to the Pennsylvania Colony as a youth, marrying Sarah Hood Bradford in Philadelphia  in 1775.  Although Carstairs’ advertising put the origins of their liquor house at 1788, data on Thomas gives no evidence of such a  business.  Thomas’ obituary listed him as a “paymaster.”
Like other successful whiskey houses, Carstairs, McCall provided wholesale customers, including saloons, hotels and restaurants, with giveaway items.  They included saloon signs such as the one at left that depicts a wounded Union soldier on horseback receiving a bottle from a nurse — a bottle identified as Carstairs Rye.  Other gifted items were shot glasses and back of the bar bottles, examples to be found throughout this post.
Before 1890 James C. brought his two sons, Daniel H. and J. Haseltine Carstairs, into the firm.
The Carstairs brothers continued the name of Carstairs, McCall until 1909 and then dissolved the company only to re-appear in the liquor trade in a somewhat different guise.  Because Carstairs, McCall had been rectifiers, not distillers, they were dependent for raw product from which to construct their brands on distilleries located elsewhere.  The availability of supply could fluctuate significantly, sometimes through natural causes, sometimes by machinations of “Whiskey Trusts.”  In the late 1800s, the Carstairs attempted to alleviate the shortages by buying into and controlling their own distillery.
The Carstairs family continued to guide the fortunes of the liquor house they had inherited until the coming of National Prohibition.  The last withdrawal in federal records occurred in 1920.  Both brothers died in 1934, just as Repeal was occurring.  Daniel succumbed on January 25, cause unknown, and J. Haseltine the following December 21.  According to his death certificate, he died from cirrhosis of the liver and diabetes.
The Carstairs brand name was revived for a time after Prohibition, attached to a whiskey called “White Seal.”  Said to be a product of the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, White Seal is a blend of bourbon, grain whiskey and neutral spirits.  The product reputedly does not meet the legal definition of whiskey in some states and is available only in limited markets.  It clearly is a “bottom shelf” label and a far cry from the “Brahmin” origins of the brand.  The Carstairs must be turning over in their graves.
The 1947 Major League Baseball season, was contested from April 15 through October 6, 1947. The American League and National League both featured eight teams, with each team playing a 154-game schedule. The World Series was contested between the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in seven games, capturing the 11th championship in franchise history.
On April 15, Opening Day for the National League's Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson was in the Dodgers' lineup, playing first base against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field. His appearance in a major league game broke the baseball color line, the practice of excluding players of black African descent. Later in the season, Larry Doby debuted with the Cleveland Indians on July 5, becoming the first black player in the American League.