1900 Harry Johnsons Bartenders Manual (Mixellany)

— 69 —

but the staple article you have in bulk goods, with the understanding that you sell as good a whiskey as pos- sible. All this depends upon the style of your estab- lishment. The wholesale price of the best bulk goods is from $3.25 to $4.00 and $5.00 a gallon. Even by paying the extreme high price of $4, you can readily see how beneficial it is to recommend your bulk goods, as they will then cost you about $2 less a gallon than the case goods. In a medium-sized business, where they only sell ten gallons a day, it amounts to $20 difference, or about $7,000 per annum. The entire remedy lies in the power of the proprietor, and it is with him whether to push and sell case goods, or to place before the pub- lic the merits of bulk goods. The former are not all superior to the latter. While the last-named improves daily within the confines of the barrel, there is no im- provement of the case goods within the limits of the bottle. It is the fancy label and the winning exterior appearance of the bottle that has made the public think, they are getting a superior article, but, in nine cases out of ten, it is not so. Therefore, I advise any man not to push the case goods more than possible, for he is only injuring his own business by doing so. I do not wish it to be understood that a proprietor should decline, at any time, to recommend case goods, but he should not disparage them, simply from a feeling of economy. All this particularly refers to imported goods, such as Scotch and Irish whiskey, in which the profits are so small and reduced, that if any one should sell only that class of goods, he would exist in busi- ness but a week. Some of the distilleries put up their older whiskeys in case goods, but, generally, they sell the same article both in case and in bulk goods.