Help me find a Prohibition-era photo of wine bottles.

September 14, 2007 2:57 PM

Help me find a United States Prohibition-era photograph showing a wine bottle of each size, from a standard bottle all the way up to a Nebuchadnezzar.

This is kind of a shot-in-the-dark question, but I've got nowhere else to turn.

I saw a black-and-white photo several years ago showing the inside of a speakeasy, which prominently featured a bottle of each size from the smallest all the way to the biggest. I can't remember where I saw this, on-line, or in print.

The different sizes are depicted here, but I'd really like to see if I can find this photograph, since as I recall it captured the place and the era perfectly.

posted by Brian James to society & culture (5 comments total)

This is embarrassing--answering my own question right after posting it. Well, the photo is on Getty Images here.

If that link dies, the photo is by Margaret Bourke-White dated Jan 1 1933, "waiter serving drink to elegant patrons", Getty Images no#50526228
posted by Brian James at 3:40 PM on September 14, 2007

I didn't know the names of any of the large sizes bigger than double-magnum, so at least you taught me something. Odd how the names get all biblical.
posted by juv3nal at 4:27 PM on September 14, 2007

I thought I was cool because I knew of the Jeroboam, but I wasn't aware of the double magnum, or any of the bigger ones.

Now to see how soon I can work Salmanzar or Nebuchadnezzar into a conversation...
posted by altcountryman at 6:39 PM on September 14, 2007

I have always heard the "imperial" referred to as a Methuselah, which is not only cooler sounding, but, well, cooler sounding. I wiki'd it, and it holds up.

I work with Italian wine, so maybe that is the difference.

Cool Bourke-White image, by the by.
posted by metasav at 11:17 PM on September 14, 2007

Yeesh, now I see the image you share has the same name, except Methuzelah. Color me a bit slow.

Cool in any right.
posted by metasav at 11:22 PM on September 14, 2007