LIQUOR PUMP DISPENSER
Just joined. Hope this item meets the forum's definition of an antique glass object.
I bought this a few years ago. I saw it at an antique store, figured it is a liquor dispenser, and grabbed it to go along with our drinking glass collection. I really haven't researched it before now, I pretty much stored it away after buying.
I believe it was made by the Park Sherman Co., but I'm not positive. Some pictures I have seen online of similar items have "P/S Park Sherman" stamped on the on the tray and the company name on the bottom of the glass. I don't see any of this on mine, just an "S" on the bottom of the glass (see picture, the "O" next to the "S" is the metal tube of the pump seen through the glass bottom). I believe PS operated from the 1930 until 1960 or so, in Springfield, Illinois, so that dates mine somewhat (assuming it was made by them).
I'd appreciate help identifying the manufacturer for sure, and maybe a way to date it.
More than that though, I'd like to know if there is a way to take the pump apart. I believe it works by putting air pressure into the bottle which forces the liquor up the tube and out the spout. Mine doesn't work. At first I thought the rubber gasket in the pump where it screws to the bottle was not sealing so that pressure couldn't build up (in other words, it leaked). After looking at it more closely, I think the pump itself is worn and thus not moving any air. If I can get it apart, I'm pretty sure I can come up with (make) new rubber for the pump.
Really appreciate your help with this. Thanks.
Comments
Not a bottle but hey, there is glass involved :-)
Have you seen these pages:
https://sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/?p=572
and
https://www.audreywould.com/park-sherman-company-the-merry-go-round-revolving-bar/
Looks like P-S used a globed shaped decanter with a diamond pattern. Maybe this one was a copycat?
Chris - I had not seen those pages. Thanks. I took a look at similar items on ebay. The ones advertised as Park Sherman had the globe shaped decanter as you mentioned. Also, the top of the plunger has a ball on it, not a disk shape like mine. I guess it's not unreasonable to assume other companies made liquor pumps. I did see several just like mine on ebay but none mentioned a brand name. I also saw one from a company called Hazel Atlas. I'm beginning to think mine doesn't come from the same time period as P-S (and Hazel Atlas) made theirs (they were pre-1960 apparently). I'm thinking mine might have been made much later, like a flashback to the past. Is that called a copycat, a knockoff, reproduction, or??? Back in the paper catalog days, there were two catalogs that I seem to remember had reproductions of lots of different things. I think the catalogs were called Wireless and Signals.