By William “Skip” Deegans
Had the prohibition of alcohol not interfered, West Virginia may have had an industry of distilleries long before now. In the early 1900s, E. W. Davis, Clarksburg entrepreneur, operated a mail order whiskey business. His 1914 photo shown above is from the cover of his catalogue. You could have delivered to your home a wide variety of spirits, including Davis’ “Moon-Light Pure Rye Whiskey” to “Old California Blackberry Wine.” Davis even offered customers coupons.
If you mailed in your coupon with an order and money, he would send you four quarts for the price of five. For $5.00, you would receive five quarts of rye whiskey. Pretty good deal.
Correction: An astute reader of last week’s “A Look Back” caught an error. Wolfgang Flor died in 2017 at age 89 – not 1971 as stated. In 2020, the City of Buckhannon honored Flor with a plaque in Jawbone Park for his contribution to West Virginia as an artist and craftsman.