June 2005 > Sports > Boxing
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Lot 1644: John L. Sullivan Whiskey Bottle with Pourer
ITEM DESCRIPTION
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Astonishingly rare half-pint whiskey bottle etched with a transparent image of John L. Sullivan in his fighting stance and branded at the top by a 2-sided color button ad depicting the great bare-knuckle champ and the slogan "John L -- "The best bet for every round." The button is part of a pourer attached to a cork that is still in the bottle. The John L. private label was made in the early 1900s long after Sully's career was over. Finding a surviving bottle with the pourer intact virtually unheard of, and its overall value is increased by an incredible irony -- at the time it was being sold Sullivan himself wouldn't have touched a drop, having given up his boozing ways to become a temperance lecturer. It was too late. He died in 1918 of health problems caused by his earlier alcoholism. Clear bottle is EX-MT with just a few flecks of whiskey staining. Grat metallic pourer and button ad also EX-MT, with the latter's colors still vibrant.
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