PLEASE READ BEFORE BUYING: I sell ONLY ORIGINAL items and NOT ANY reproductions.

This sale is for ONE

  advertising LETTERHEAD

 from 

  CHARLES HELLMAN   

of

HELLMAN DiSTiLLiNG

COMPANY

sole owners Hellman's

Celebrated OLD CROW 

located in 

St. Louis Missouri 

 during the year of 1917 

(fyi prohibition 1920-1933).

SOLE DISTRUBUTORS of  KUDROS .

THIS LETTER IS SIGNED BY 

CHAS HELLMAN

as the PRESIDENT .

Historical Notes from Online:

There was a very long history of a legal battle over the name "Old Crow" these notes are the outcome.  

Gaines did not impress the judge by the Hellman claim to have produced Crow whiskeys since 1863, asking “Where were they so used?”  On the other hand the judge credited the history provided by Gaines  that they were the anointed descendants of James Crow and had produced “Old Crow” since 1867. 

Abraham died in 1904 and Moritz pushed to by  interest in Rock Spring Distillery and changed the name of his St. Louis liquor house to Hellman’s Distilling Company.  Recognizing that so long as the matter was being battled in the courts, the company could continue to profit from the sale of their Celebrated Old Crow brand.  Moritz filed an appeal of the circuit court decision with the Federal Court of Appeals in Missouri. 

This time the Hellman’s found a panel of judges who were sympathetic to their arguments.  To the contention by Gaines that the offending words, Old Crow, had rarely been used by the St. Louis firm prior to the early 1900s, the Court ruled that “the right to use could not be measured by the extent to which the Hellman’s employed it, whether more or less frequently.”  The final ruling reversed the lower court and found the Hellmans not guilty of either trademark infringement or unfair competition. 

This time the Hellmans found a panel of judges who were sympathetic to their arguments.  To the contention by Gaines that the offending words, Old Crow, had rarely been used by the St. Louis firm prior to the early 1900s, the Court ruled that “the right to use could not be measured by the extent to which the Hellman’s employed it, whether more or less frequently.”  The final ruling reversed the lower court and found the Hellmans not guilty of either trademark infringement or unfair competition. That decisions sent Gaines back into court attempting to stop the Hellmans, and in various venues the case seemed to drag on forever.  

In 1912 Moritz, age 61, died and management of Hellman Distilling Company fell into the hands of other family members.  In 1909 Gaines re-registered its Old Crow and subsequently asked for an injunction against the Rock Springs Distillery that was making Hellman’s Old Crow.  Still a third federal court, disagreeing with the Missouri judges, granted the injunction. 

The Gaines’ victory was hollow.  While the Kentucky distiller had spent most of a decade fighting them, the Hellman’s during that period were continuing to profit by selling their “Celebrated Old Crow.”  Moreover, National Prohibition was just on the horizon when all whiskey was summarily banned for 14 years.  Online you can find images of the unearthed a bottle of Hellman’s Old Crow, still in its wrapper  and bearing a stained label that carried the 1917 tax stamp which may have been the last bottle that sold. 

Certainly a rather historic case regarding advertising and branding!!

CONDITION:  Normal letter folds, a few pinholes by the letter "H", some flaws, good condition.  See second detail Image.The "EBAY ITEM" thing is just a loose piece of paper and is not attached to the letterhead. 

The approximate size of this letterhead is  

8 1/2" X 11".  

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

Payment to EBAY upon purchase.  Free shipping to the continental U.S. only.  When you receive your item, PLEASE leave feedback (I will see it) and I will reciprocate feedback at that time. 

PLEASE visit my Ebay store items for related ephemera, antique documents, and paper collectibles at TEXASJOHNNYBOY EPHEMERA.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH and GOOD LUCK TO YOU.