I love this Victorian lithograph print from the Glasner-Barzen Distilling and Importing Whiskey Company based in Kansas City, MO. This lithograph advertises their flagship brand, Diplomat Whiskey and says it is “Just Right”.
It has always intrigued me why so many early whiskey lithograph brands used pretty woman in their advertising. The Glasner-Barzen whiskey company like so many uses a woman, but to help with the eye appeal they also used a brilliant red color, framing the picture with a gold frame edge on the actual lithograph too.
Established in 1873 by A. H. Glasner who originated from Iowa, the business started as a grocery store at 9th and Mulberry Streets in the K.C. Western bottoms area. One of the first things they did was distribute beer for the Dick and Bros Brewery in Quincy, Illinois. The Dick’s brand was prominent in the K.C. area, and surely helped the Glasner-Barzen company a better presence in western MO and Kansas.
The business became very successful, and by 1903 they were advertising themselves as “The Largest Liquor Distributor in the West”. This made sense as sales associates from their firm were located in many states throughout the Midwest and West, including Alaska!
While the Diplomat brand of Whiskey was their biggest seller, the company had at least fifteen different brands of whiskey including Belle Springs, Blue Springs, Bond and Lillard, Cedar Brook, Clay Wilken’s Pure Malt, Crystal Brook, Elm Ridge Club, G&B Special Reserve, Gibson Rye, Golden Scepter, Guckenheimer, Hunting Club, etc. The company continued to prosper, but like so many other alcohol related businesses, there run was ended in 1919 with the introduction of prohibition. The company never resurfaced after repeal, and is simply remembered today by their many advertising giveaways from their heyday.