old gin bottles we’ve collected
For our Underground Map of Gin, we did a fair bit of research about the various names that gin has been known by over the years, it makes for quite interesting reading, most are from the times of the Gin Acts that regulated the production of certain spirits in the 1700s….
- Ladies Delight – absolutely!
- Strip me Naked – absolutely!
- Hollands – from gin’s european roots
- White Satin – this pre-dates the song, by some 200 years.
- Partiality – we are quite partial to a G&T ourselves
- The No Mistake – not sure about the origins of this
- Max – Predates Bygraves, by at least 200 years.
- Royal Poverty – it brought the high low, in the days it contained turpentine and acid!
- Dutch Courage – From its european roots
- Tow Row – a noisy outburst, a racket, a rumpus. We can only assume it put’s you in this disposition.
- Mother’s milk – we agree
- The out and out – we assume it knocked you out.
- South Sea Mountain – must be a reference to the south sea bubble, but not sure how.
- Knock me Down – because it did
- Cock My Cap – who knows, because it make you jolly, or some secret sign to buy it when it was banned?
- Kill Grief – we all know this feeling
- parliamentary Brandy – alcohol was banned by order of parliament, rough bathtub gin was thus called….
- King Theodore of Corsica – he lost everything, and was buried in soho
- Mothers Ruin – self-explanatory
- The Makeshift – we would guess, in the days of Hogarth, a gin got you through a bloody awful day (probably made it a whole lot worse, but who are we to judge)
- Blue Ruin – it turned you blue.
- Blue Lightening – it turned you blue!
- Cuckold’s Comfort – cry into your gin mate, she’s off with someone else.
- Flashes of Lightening – right before your eyes!
- Cream of the valley – in england’s green and pleasant land, we salute you
Thankfully, since the invention of the column still in around the 1830’s gin is a lot purer, so make mine a Vera Lynn and ‘I’ll see you at the London Gin Club.