An antique amber bottle embossed for The Duffy Malt Whiskey Company of Rochester, New York, and patented in 1886. Left uncleaned, it keeps the original patina of a small piece of American patent-medicine history.
- Maker: The Duffy Malt Whiskey Company
- Materials: Brown (dark amber) glass
- Dimensions: 10" tall x 3" diameter
- Origin: Rochester, New York, USA
- Era: Antique 1886-1910
- Condition: Excellent; no chips or cracks. Uncleaned, with surface dirt, original patina and very light surface scratches consistent with age. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.
A tooled, sloping collared mouth tops the bottle. The front is embossed "THE DUFFY MALT WHISKEY COMPANY, ROCHESTER, N.Y., U.S.A." along with the Duffy logo, and the base is embossed "Pat'd AUG. 24 1886." We left it uncleaned on purpose, since many collectors prefer the original patina as found.
A fine piece for the serious bottle collector, or for anyone who enjoys a little apothecary and patent-medicine history on a shelf or in a cabinet.
Walter B. Duffy inherited his father's cider-refining business in Rochester in the 1870s and built it into a distilling company, and by 1881 the city directory listed him as a distiller and rectifier of spirits and of malt, wheat, rye and bourbon whiskies. He sold his malt whiskey as medicine, going further than most competitors by listing the ailments it could supposedly cure, and it was sold through pharmacies as well as bars. That advertising drew the attention of journalist Samuel Hopkins Adams, whose Collier's series on patent medicines, "The Great American Fraud," named Duffy's among its targets and helped lead to the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Duffy's legal trouble with the government began in 1905, yet sales stayed strong, and when he died in 1911 at age 70 he was remembered as one of Rochester's leading businessmen. The company changed after his death: by 1915 the product was sold as a tonic, the business moved to Los Angeles as Duffy's Laboratory, Ltd., and by 1926 it had closed.
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