Old Prentice Whisky Reverse on Glass Gesso Framed Sign

I love this particular piece from the Old Prentice brand of whisky.   This particular gesso framed gilt style golden frame was a common design for many early advertisers.   Amazingly, many of these signs still exist, and I can only speculate the beauty of the framing motivated people to keep the items to help decorate their homes.   This particular reverse on glass (ROG) sign touts the “Always Reliable” slogan which this brand used quite often.   The advertising also indicates the brand has been around since 1855.

The words whiskey and whisky are very interchangeable in today’s world.   The key difference simply being where one is from as to how the word is typically spelled.  Scottish people generally use the spelling whisky while the Irish people use the word whiskey with the extra “e” in the spelling.   In the United States most spellings use the whiskey version.

The Old Prentice brand was often sold as a medicinal whisky.   I guess when you add alcohol to anything you can start to feel less aches and pains, hence, a medicinal remedy!  Today the U.S. Government would not allow an alcoholic drink to claim anything related to medicinal benefits or health improvements.