by afisher » Thu May 10, 2007 9:12 pm
I have a 4/5th quart of Old Overholt barrel proof rye, cork-stoppered, with a serial number and the proof (114) hand-written on a printed, pseudo-hand-lettered label of rough unglazed paper. The label states it was distilled and bottled by Old Overholt in Broad Ford, PA and distributed by NDC.
The code on the bottom of the bottle has the Owens-Illinois overlapped O,I,diamond logo, and the codes D19 65-40. This could suggest either 1965 or 1940 as the age of the bottle. Both are somewhat plausible, since I have seen the claim that Broad Ford was in operation until a fire in 1965; the label seems more like a 60s conceit than something printed in the 40s. However, web sources suggest that Owens-Illinois dropped the diamond in the late 50s.
Other clues: it has a red tax stamp over the cap and neck, and has an Indiana state-shaped tax stamp with a rate of 50 cents per gallon.
I also have a pint of BiB Old Overholt, also distilled at Broad Ford, that bears the code D19 56-43, but unfortunately the dates on the BiB stamp have been rendered unreadable by moisture of some kind (maybe leakage).
Anybody know how to read these signs and date the bottle?