The Empire plont. producing larpoulin ond hunting suits.
From Whiskey to Toys;
From Herbs to Hosiery
Iredell in its day has shown it ean
produce just about anything'.
Few names in North Carolina were
better known to the whiskey trade
than that of W. M. Cooper of Wilkes
County who established his brother.
C. S. Cooper, in the barrel and keg
business at Statesville. From there he
shipped whiskies as far as New York
and Texas. He had one customer for
his white rye in Honolulu, Hawaii.
"Laurel Valley" corn and rye was
tops of his several products. An ad¬
vertisement read: “All his whiskies
arc made by hand, in the mountains
of North Carolina, in copper stills,
by open furnace heat, and from good
grain and pure water."
P. B. Key. Esq., Lowenstcin & Co.,
and Meyer & Co. were among other
large distributors, handling the whis¬
key products made in at least 50
bonded distilleries in the county, as
well as wines and brandies.
Their advertisements boasted of the
product having been made by "the
old-fashioned process, employed be¬
fore modern improvements of scorch¬
ing the steam and putting in poison
were discovered. . . . Having a special
eye to the trade in liquors for me¬
dicinal and family uses . . . we are
cautious to ship no doubtful liquors.
THE STATE. NOVEMBER 2. 1957
and are regardful also of the matter
of age, since nothing so much im¬
proves corn whiskey as the lapse of
time."
Editorially, the Statesville Land¬
mark in its progress edition of 1X9»
spoke thusly of Iredell and North
Carolina whiskey:
"Men cannot be too careful of the
quality of the liquor they drink,
whether medicinally or as a beverage.
. . . A large proportion of the beauti¬
ful high-priced red liquor of the West
is rank poison and is made by steam,
which is at the outset a fact against
it. There is a prejudice against corn
whiskey, among ill-informed people
who. having seen some that was
young, associate it with kerosene oil
in appearance and raw onions in
aroma. It is white when new, and
rank of taste and smell, but a little
age imparts to it a beautiful amber
color and a most agreeable bouquet.
For medicinal or other purposes, the
red liquor of the West is not to be
compared with it. The water used in
distillation has much to do with the
quality of the whiskey into which it
enters, and this North Carolina corn
whiskey, made with the pure water of
mountain springs and by open-fire
heat, is superior in purity, flavor and
all other particulars to the steam-
process of the great liquor-producing
centers. People who use whiskey and
yet value their lives should never think
of using Western red liquor as long
as North Carolina corn is to be had."
Tobacco Industry
Although today the principal
manufactures arc textiles, furni¬
ture and flour, at the turn of the
century hardly a male or female in
North Carolina was ignorant of the
name or taste of Statesville’s tobacco
products. Some arc yet popular, es¬
pecially Tube Rose snuff.
In plug tobaccoes, the well-known
names included Pineapple. Landmark.
Beauty. Limber Twig, Ripe Orange.
Best Yet. Twins. Choice. Big Run.
Empire. Sultan, Planters’ Friend.
Trade’s Demand. Uncle Sam. Farm¬
er's Pride. Pride of Statesville, Fig
Leaf. Planter’s Chew, Rattier. Cham¬
pion. Still Ahead. Sweet Mash. Plow
Boy. Peach and Honey. Mabel Lee.
Old Try, Tar Heel. Irvin and Poston.
Noah's Ark. Peach Flavor. Black
Dock. Hunky Dory, and other plugs.
In the smoking line there were
Golden Rod. Tube Rose. Game Cock.
Yellow Jacket. Young America and
Tiger Head.
And among cigars were Club
Friend. Evening Smoke, Peacock.
Spanish Blossom. Sweet Aroma. Pearl
of Key West. Novelette. Confidante.
Violetta. Royal Wreath. La Rosa De
La Habana. and Ramon Almoncs.
Fomous Holgote lor» ore mode oi Stotciville.
