J. A. are the two middle initials of Carl Joseph Aloys Gilka who according to familysearch.com was born on May 15, 1812 in Beesdau, Dahme-Spreewald, Brandenburg, Germany. Along with several generations of his family, Gilka operated a distilling and liquor manufacturing business in Berlin for well over 100 years from the early 19th century up through the mid – 20th century. Today the business operates in Kettwig, Germany under the name JA Gilka KG.
His signature product, “Getreide Kümmel” or Grain Caraway was described as a sweet, colorless, liqueur flavored with caraway seeds, cumin and fennel. Popular in the United States and Canada around the turn of the century, the subject bottle matches exactly the Getreide Kümmel bottle pictured in this January 26, 1907 advertisement found in “The (Montreal) Gazette.”
The advertisement went on to provide the company’s turn of the century sales pitch.
Gilka Kümmel is one of the oldest brands on the market, and is for sale the world over.
Gilka has long been popular in Royal Circles and among the leading families in Europe. It is also a great favorite with all connoisseurs and bon vivants.
The exquisite flavor which particularly distinguishes the Gilka from all other Kümmels lies in the fact that the producers make this their one particular specialty, and have attained this perfection after long and careful study in the preparation.
If you have never used the Gilka before, we ask you to give it a trial, and we are confident you will agree with us that it is by far the best Kümmel you have ever tasted.
According to an excerpt found in the “Official Special Catalog for the Exhibition of Prussia and the North German States,” at the 1867 Paris Exhibition, the Gilka business started roughly 70 years before the above advertisement was published. Courtesy of “Google Translate,” the excerpt read, in part:
Gilka, Carl Joseph Aloys, factory owner (J. A. Gilka), Berlin… The business has existed since 1836 and manufactures spirits, liquors, essences, and vinegar. Using Savalle steamers using approximately 60 horsepower, 40 types of alcohol at 96 percent are produced daily, some of which is sold and some of which is further processed into the aforementioned products. The business’s annual turnover amounts to approximately one million thalers. A specialty of the business is the widely known Gilka Grain Caraway. Sales are made directly and indirectly throughout all parts of the world.
Later Gilka advertisements, like the one shown below, suggest they were producing their Kümmel at the very start of the business. Found in the October 27, 1927 edition of “Illustriert Zeitung,” the ad stated “Underändert Seit 1836.” or “Unchanged Since 1836.”
That being said, Gilka was certainly producing it by 1856 when the first mention of Gilka’s “Berliner Getreibe Kümmel” that I can find appeared in the February 1st edition of a German newspaper called “Magdeburgische Zeitung.”
The first paragraph of the ad reads, courtesy of “Google Translate:”
Berliner Grain – Caraway from J. A. Gilka, old Nordhausen grain brandy and the finest Dusseldorf Punch Syrup are recommended by Ulrich & Pflugmacher…
In January, 1877 J. A. Gilka submitted an application to trademark their Kümmel’s label in the United States.
A month later, on February 13, 1877, a certificate for the trademark was issued by the U.S. Patent Office. That being said, Gilka’s “Berliner Getreibe Kümmel” was making its way to the United States as much as 15 years earlier as evidenced by this advertisement found in the December 23, 1863 edition of a Baltimore, Maryland German language newspaper called “Taglicher Baltimore Wecker.”
The ad reads, courtesy of “Google Translate:”
Purely kept 1862 Rhine wines $1.75, $2.00 and $2..25 per gallon; its Northern wines $5-$7 per box of 12 bottles. Agency of the famous Berlin Grain Caraway from J. A. Gilka in Berlin.
G. L. Boss, 31 Pennsylvania Avenue
Subsequently, in October 1871, an item published in several editions of the “New York Herald” announced that Anthony Oechs of New York City had been appointed as J. A. Gilka’s sole agent in the United States..
The item lead off with a note from J. A. Gilka himself which read:
In consequence of the constantly increasing imitation of my well known BERLIN KUMMEL, by parties in Europe and shipped by them to the United States of America, I consider it my duty to caution the public against this imposition and to inform them that I have appointed Mr. ANTHONY OECHS, 73 New Street, New York, as sole agent in the United States for the sale of my BERLIN KUMMEL…J. A. Gilka, Purveyor to H.M. Emperor of Germany. Berlin, September 24, 1871
The ad then followed with a note from Oechs.
NOTICE. – I am now prepared to execute orders for Mr. J. A. Gilka’s celebrated BERLIN KUMMEL on most favorable terms…ANTHONY OECHS, New York, October 9, 1871.
How long Oechs served as J. A. Gilka’s agent in the U. S. is unclear. Primarily a wine importer who ran a lot of newspaper advertisements, after the initial 1871 announcement I can’t find any mention of J. A. Gilka or his Kümmel in any of Oechs’s ads, and by 1896 another importer, Wm. G. Moehring & Company had taken over as Gilka’s U. S. agent.
William Moehring was an established importer who up through the early 1890’s was serving as a principal with the firm of A. Stephani & Co. Shortly after Stephani’s death he changed the name of the business to Wm. G. Moehring & Company. An item announcing the change appeared in the January 2, 1894 edition of the “New York Times.”
As early as 1896, the New York City directory listing for Wm. G. Moehring & Company recognized them, among other things, as the importer of Gilka Kümmel.
Moehring continued to use this description in the New York City directories up through 1914 suggesting his company served as Gilka’s U. S. agent during this period, a supposition confirmed by this September 1, 1908 advertisement found in “The Wine and Spirit Bulletin.”
I suspect it was during this time that the Gilka Kümmel achieved its peak popularity in the U.S. In fact, by 1900, according to a March 22nd advertisement, found in New York’s “Evening World,” you could even pick up a bottle at Macy’s Department Store in New York City
In Canada, Gilka advertisements naming the firm of Fraser, Viger & Co. as sole agent began appearing around the same time. The first Canadian ad I can find, announcing the arrival of fifty cases, appeared in the May 4, 1893 edition of “The Montreal Gazette.”
Wm G. Moehring & Co. continued to import Gilka’s Kümmel until 1914 when, according to the testimony of the Moehring bookkeeper in an October 11, 1915 New York County Supreme Court case, “Tense P. Farquahar v. Norman Farquhar,” the U.S, supply was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I.
Q. Gilka Kümmel is the leading article of William G. Moehring & Company? A. Yes
Q. Gilka is made in Germany? A. Yes
Q. And imported by William G. Moehring & Company? A. Yes.
Q. Have William G. Moehring & Company had any of that to sell or have they imported anything of that since the beginning of the present European war? A. There have been very few shipments due to the war.
Have you had any since the first of January? A. We have had very few shipments due to the fact that the German Government has stopped the export of alcohol.
A similar situation was happening in Canada where this November 3, 1915 advertisement found in “The Montreal Star” suggests that the only Gilka Kümmel available at the time (61 cases) was imported in July, 1914, “just before the war broke out.”
After the war ended, with National Prohibition on the horizon, there’s no mention of Gilka’s Kümmel in the United States until the mid-1920’s when the J. A. Gilka company filed an application with the U.S. Patent Office for a non-alcoholic “Gilka Kümmel” label. The company claimed the label had been in use since “April, 1925.”
This advertisement for their non-alcoholic Gilka Kümmel appeared in the April 25, 1926 edition of the “Houston Post-Dispatch.”
Another, found in the November 11, 1932 edition of the “Chicago Tribune” described it as:
The world-famous after-dinner drink Gilka Kümmel, imported direct from Germany.
Then went on to say:
…the only thing lacking is the alcohol.
Shortly after the repeal of Prohibition Gilka’s Kummel was back on sale in the U.S. as evidenced by this November 1, 1934 advertisement in the “Washington D.C. Herald.”
Meanwhile, back in Germany the business remained in Berlin until the late 1940’s or early 1950’s. According to http://banneke.com/gilka
After the Second World War, the family whose property was located in East Germany, was expropriated, so the business was run from Hamburg. Since 1972, the company has been owned by the well-known company Underberg, which still produces caraway according to the original recipe. However, production takes place under the name JA Gilka KG in the Essen district of Kettwig.
The website goes on to display today’s packaging.
It’s still included in recently advertised liquor store price lists in the U.S.
The bottle I found was blown in a mold with an applied brandy finish. Six sided it contains about a quart or fifth. (It’s not fully intact so I can’t get an exact measure.) It likely dates to around the turn of the century, say 1890’s or early 1900’s but almost certainly no later than 1914 when the U.S. supply was cut-off due to World War I.