Lewis “66”was a brand of whiskey whose name is derived from a mid-19th century distillery owner named Alpheus Lewis who conducted his business in Clark County, Kentucky under the name A. Lewis & Son. That being said, much of the whiskey produced under the Lewis “66” name was not actually produced by Alpheus Lewis & Son. A history of Clark County, Kentucky entitled the “Clark County Chronicles,” conducted by the Clark County Historical Society and published in the August 2, 1923 edition of the “Winchester Sun,” sets the stage for the Lewis “66” story.
At one time Alpheus Lewis had a large mill and distillery on his place, the latter being conducted under the name of A. Lewis & Son (William Lewis) and the brand of A. Lewis & Son became very noted for its purity and excellence. It is said that on the dissolution of the firm, after the death of Alpheus Lewis (in 1865), only about forty barrels of the brand remained in the warehouse and of this twenty barrels were purchased by a rectifier, who converted it into over fifty thousand barrels by putting a spoonful of the A. Lewis & Son brand into each barrel of cheaper whiskey and selling it all over the country as A. Lewis & Son’s Clark County 1866 and large gilt signs bearing this name were displayed in the hotel bars all over the country.
Many years afterwards a Hebrew firm in Cincinnati built a distillery on the Licking River and made and advertised a brand which they called A Lewis & Son’s Clark County 1866 Rye and sold thousands of barrels under this label, though the goods had never been in Clark County and A. Lewis & Son never made a gallon of rye whiskey in their lives.
As you’ll see, it’s certain that Strauss, Pritz & Company was the Cincinnati firm referenced in the above story. It’s also possible that the company was the rectifier who earlier had diluted the 20- barrel lot into 50,000 barrels.
A wholesale whiskey dealer and distiller, Strauss, Pritz & Co. was established by brothers Solomon and Benjamin Pritz along with their brother-in-law, Isaac Strauss. (Note: at times Strauss used the first initial of “J” in lieu of “I,” a common occurrence with German names at the time).
In 1873 – 74 Cincinnati directories associated both Strauss and Benjamin Pritz with another whiskey dealer, Senior, Strauss & Co., located at 103 Sycamore Street. At the same time Solomon W. Pritz was listed with the occupation “clerk,” at the southwest corner of 3rd and Race Streets, the address of dry goods firm Louis Stix & Co.
Shortly afterwards, the three got together and formed Strauss, Pritz & Company. The announcement appeared in the January 9, 1875 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The above announcement read:
Mr. J. Strauss, late of the firm of Senior, Strauss & Co., has this day associated himself with Mr. S. W. Pritz, late with Louis Stix & Co., and Mr. B. Pritz, late with Senior, Strauss & Co., under the firm name of Strauss, Pritz & Co., and will carry on the Distillery and Wholesale Liquor Business at No. 58 West Second Street, between Vine and Walnut.
The announcement was dated January 7, 1874 however it appeared almost exactly one year later in the January 9, 1875 edition of the Enquirer. As a result, it’s not exactly clear whether the business actually started in 1874 or 1875. Suffice to say the business was certainly up and running in April of 1875 when the manifest of a ship called the “Andy Baum,” on a run from Memphis to Cincinnati, included “two barrels, whisky” destined for Strauss & Pritz. ( 2nd last line). The manifest was published in the April 13, 1875 edition of the “Cincinnati Enquirer.”
A year later, a notice published in several September, 1876 editions of the “Cincinnati Enquirer” made it clear that their inventory of whiskey brands was growing well beyond those two barrels delivered from Tennessee on the “Andy Baum.”
The company’s increasing inventory in those early years is evidenced by this February 7, 1878 feature describing the business published in the “Cincinnati Enquirer.”
Strauss, Pritz & Co., No. 58 West Second Street, distillers and wholesale dealers in Bourbon and Rye whiskies, a firm composed of I. Strauss, S. W. Pritz and B. Pritz have been in the business for several years, and handle whiskies by the hundreds of thousands of gallons annually, the books in the Collector’s office showing a gradually increasing business with each year. Their warehouse is five stories in height arranged especially for their business, and is all the time kept filled with “straight goods” directly from the distilleries. They make fine old whiskies a specialty, a specialty in which they are unusually successful. Among the goods may be found the well known and justly celebrated brands of “McBrayer,” “Bond & Willard,” “Vanausdall,” Mellwood & Taylor,” and many others of less repute, perhaps, but of qualities superior to most of the brands known on the market. And it is well to say that all of their goods are reliable. In this warehouse may be found whiskies, in quantity, from all ages, running from one year old to through all the years up to ten, and even some older, perfect nectars. They do an extensive business throughout the East, West and South, a business built up by the quality of their goods, the manner in which they conduct their business, and the further fact that each partner has charge of a department to which he is specially fitted by experience and education. They are careful, energetic, pushing gentlemen, and bid fair to take a leading position at a very early day. Being cash purchasers they get close bargains, and are able to sell their goods “low down” and control the best that comes to the market. They continually carry large stocks in bond. A short notice cannot do proper justice to this firm, as on which increases the notoriety of Cincinnati goods and its importance as a market.
The increase in both brands and volume apparently increased the demand for more physical space as well, forcing the company to move twice in the early 1880’s, first to 114 West Second Street in 1880 and again, circa 1882, to 32 & 34 Main Street. By then, the company also maintained a warehouse in nearby Lawrenceburg, Kentucky as evidenced by this November 8, 1882 business card advertisement published in the “Olney (Illinois) Times.”
It was also in the early 1880’s that I can first connect the “Lewis” name with Strauss, Pritz & Co. As early as 1881, the company purchased a lot of Lewis & Sons 1866 sour mash from a dealer named James Boyle. The purchase was noted in the March 4, 1881 edition of the “Cincinnati Enquirer”
Large Sale of Fifteen – Year-Old Whisky
With this I wish to inform my friends that I have sold my entire lot of Lewis & Sons’ Clark County, Kentucky, Sour Mash, distilled in January 1866, to Strauss, Pritz & Co., 114 West Second Street, this city. Parties who desire to obtain some of these goods are referred to them. John Boyle.
We have heard of several extensive purchases of old whiskies that this firm has made, and understand they hold one of the largest stocks of fine straight whiskies in this market.
The above “Cincinnati Enquirer” story certainly identified the lot as an 1866 Lewis product but what’s not clear, at least to me, is whether the story was referencing the 20-barrel lot mentioned in the Historical Society story, making Strauss, Pritz & Co. the rectifier who later diluted it into 50,000 barrels, or a lot that had already been diluted by others. Either way, by 1881 the company was almost certainly selling a diluted version of the original 1866 Lewis sour mash product. Around the same time, but certainly by 1883, the company was also calling themselves the “sole proprietor” of “A. Lewis & Son’s 1866 goods,”as evidenced by this May 25, 1883 item found in “Bonfort’s Wine and Spirit Bulletin.”
Messrs Strauss, Pritz & Co. have been making the handling of old whiskies a leading feature in their business, and buyers looking for old goods will do well to apply to them for quotations. They are the sole proprietors of A. Lewis & Son’s 1866 goods.
As early as 1884 they were marketing a whiskey under the A. Lewis & Sons 1866 name as evidenced by this February 15, 1884 advertisement published in the “Little Falls (Minn.) Transcript.”
A year later advertisements in several editions of the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune” announced you could buy it in South Bend by the case or bottle.
Not long afterwards an advertisement run by a local retailer, was one of the first to shorten the whiskey’s name to simply the “Famous Lewis 66.” The ad appeared in the November 26, 1887 edition of the “Valdosta (Ga.) Times.”
Up to this point it’s still not clear to me whether they’re selling the diluted version of the original sour mash product or had begun manufacturing their own rye under the Lewis name. That being said, their rye was certainly on the market in 1891 when it was included in this menu of whiskies offered by the Savannah Grocery Company’s Liquor Department. The menu, partially reproduced below, was published in the September 4th edition of the “Savannah Morning News.”
So, suffice to say, sometime between 1883 and 1891 Strauss, Pritz & Co. began making the rye referenced in the Historical Society’s story.
On a side note: As early as 1885, both Isaac Strauss and Solomon Pritz were serving as directors of Kentucky’s Commonwealth Distillery, so while they didn’t build a distillery as stated in the Historical Society’s story, they certainly had the resources to produce whiskey, a supposition reinforced by this business card advertisement published in the February 26, 1892 edition of the “Bourbon News.”
In 1898 Strauss, Pritz & Co. moved from their long time Cincinnati location on Main Street to another Cincinnati location at 909 and 911 Sycamore Street. The announcement appeared in the “Cincinnati Enquirer” on March 15, 1898.
The negotiations that were mentioned in the Enquirer, by which the large wholesale whisky house of Strauss, Pritz & Co. was to secure a more commodious uptown location have been completed, and the removal will take place before the 1st of May. The six-story building at Nos. 909 and 911 Sycamore Street, recently erected by Lauretta B. Gibson, is the place in question, it being leased for a term of years. The building is 96 by 46 feet, and will be one of the most complete distilling and wholesale whisky establishments in the city, when occupied. The concern is at present at Nos. 52 and 54 Main Street.
Shortly after the move this Lewis 66 advertisement appeared in the December 28, 1899 edition of Columbus Georgia’s “Ledger-Enquirer.” It caught my eye for its poetic form as well as the historical context.
Much the company’s newspaper advertising in the early 1900’s focused on the southern states, primarily Georgia, Alabama and Florida where in 1912 they ran a series of advertisements under the heading “AWAY ABOVE EVERYTHING” in which they tied their whiskey to some of the most famous people and feats of the era. One found in the August 25, 1912 edition of the “Atlanta Constitution” featured baseball’s Honus (Hans) Wagner – The Flying Dutchman. It read, in part:
When the National League official averages for 1911 were issued, Hans Wagner ranked “King of Swat,” with a batting credit of .334 – for the eighth time the hitting premier of his league. Nobody ever approached the hitting record of the Pittsburgh Pirate – big, whole-souled and modest.
There has been no let-down in the long quality record of Lewis 66 Rye, which for nearly fifty years has ranked as America’s premier whiskey.
Another, found in the Constitution’s January 12, 1912 edition, focused on New York City’s Woolworth Building, then under construction.
Fifty-Five stories and a big tower rise 750 feet above the sidewalk. Main building, twenty-nine stories high is to be equipped with thirty-four elevators. The foundations rest on solid rock 110 to 130 feet below the sidewalk level. The task of building will be completed late in 1912.
Towering away above the many brands of ordinary whiskey, ranks Lewis 66 Rye. Its tremendous sales are founded on the rock of quality. It is the accepted “Standard Whiskey of the South” – best for any and all purposes.
If we use their newspaper advertising as a guide the popularity of Lewis 66 Rye likely peaked between 1906 and 1914 after which it appears looming prohibition began to take its toll. Beginning in 1915 Strauss, Pritz & Co. newspaper advertisements dropped off sharply and over the next three years the company reduced its capital stock three times. The first was announced in the June 10, 1915 edition of the “Cincinnati Enquirer.”
The Strauss, Pritz Company has reduced its capital stock from $750,000 to $633,000. Papers to that effect were filed with the Secretary of State at Columbus yesterday.
Later, additional reductions were announced; $633,000 to $408,000 in January, 1918 and $408,000 to $51,600 in June of 1918. By this time the company had apparently moved from their long-time 909-911 Sycamore Street location to what appears to be simply an office suite at 703 (later 102) Union Trust Building.
Ultimately in June, 1919 the company scheduled a stockholders meeting for the purpose of dissolving the corporation. That announcement appeared in the June 28, 1919 edition of the Enquirer.
I don’t see the company listed in the 1919 – 1920 Cincinnati directory.
While production of Lewis 66 ceased during the prohibition years, the whiskey did make the newspapers from time to time. This story of one surviving bottle of Lewis 66 appeared in Greensboro, North Carolina’s “News and Record” on October 23, 1925.
BOTTLE OF LEWIS 66 SACRIFICED IN SEWER
Poured Out With 25 Gallons of Evidence – Sixty More Gallons Locked Up
The contents of a genuine bottle of “Lewis 66” went down the lavatory pipe at the police station yesterday, poured out with about 25 gallons of liquor that had been seized.
It was real Lewis 66, several persons testified. They were permitted to smell the empty bottle and they said they knew. Some would have been made a present of the pint, with its bonded certification, but liquor is neither given away nor sold at the station, so down into the sewer it went.
It brought back old memories to some of the bystanders. It had been a long time since they had seen anything like it.
This particular bottle was found in the possession of A. F. Jones, of Proximity, who was tried yesterday on a charge of possession but the charge against him was not pressed upon payment of the costs…
Prohibition proved to be the end of Strauss, Pritz & Co., however, it was certainly not the end of the Lewis 66 brand. Immediately after its repeal barrels of Lewis 66 made by Strauss, Pritz & Co. in 1916 and 1917 resurfaced, were bottled and apparently sold to wholesalers. The notice of sale appeared in the “Cincinnati Enquirer” on November 18, 1933.
Not long after, a whiskey was being produced and sold under the Lewis 66 name by The Great Western Distilling Company. The company’s incorporation notice appeared in the May 15, 1934 edition of the “Cincinnati Enquirer.”
Three years later they were selling a three-year old bourbon and rye blend as Lewis 66, as evidenced by this July 28, 1937 advertisement that appeared in the “Selma (Alabama) Times-Journal.”
Newspaper advertisements suggest the Western Reserve Co. sold Lewis 66 for at least ten years, with one of the last ads I can find appearing in the March 7, 1947 edition of “The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph.”
That being said, the brand name went on to survive for another 20 plus years as “Lewis 66 Reserve.” In the early to mid 1950’s advertisements associated the brand with the Rocky Ford Distilling Co. of Frankfurt, Kentucky.
Later, in the late 1950’s to early 1960’s, advertisements associated JTS Brown’s Son, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, with the brand. Lewis 66 Reserve continued to appear in advertised liquor store price lists as late as 1973.
The six-story building at 909 and 911 Sycamore Street that housed Strauss, Pritz & Co. from 1898 to 1917 apparently remains to this day. It currently houses a mental health clinic. The following photos of today’s version are courtesy of “Google Maps.”
The bottle I found is a half-pint, mouth blown flask with screw threads and a ground finish. Clear glass, it exhibits a purple tint suggesting that the glass was decolorized by the presence of manganese dioxide. According to the Society of Historic Archeology’s bottle web site manganese dioxide was used for this purpose prior to World War I, likely dating the bottle to 1915 or earlier, a time when Lewis 66 Rye was heavily advertised.
The cap is long gone but must have been almost identical to the one pictured below that I found on a similar whiskey flask from the same era.
