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Photo libraries, in ascending order by bottling year
Old Fitzgerald Prime 86pf, 200ml – 6.8oz, late 1970s
Old Fitzgerald Prime 86 proof 200 ml – 6.8 fl.oz., circa late 1970’s. This bottle is sealed by a numbered red tax strip and stamp from the State of Wisconsin which establish the bottle as pre-July 1, 1985 or earlier. Dual-measure (standard/metric) date the bottle to the transition era, and absence of a UPC code more precisely date the bottle to 1980 or earlier. No apparent date reference can be found among the embossed text on the bottom of this bottle.
Old Fitzgerald Prime 80pf, 200ml, 1986
Old Fitzgerald Prime 80 proof 200 ml, circa 1986. What appears to be an ’86’ embossed on the bottom of the glass dates the bottle to 1986 or shortly thereafter. This bottle is sealed by what appears to be a numbered red tax strip, which is curious given that the red stamp requirement on all non-bonded liquor was repealed by the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984. ‘Faux’ unnumbered tax strip paper was used to tamper-seal some bottles into the 1990’s – in the case of Old Fitzgerald, at least until 1993.
Old Fitzgerald Prime 80pf, 750ml, 1994
Old Fitzgerald Prime 80 proof 750 ml, circa 1994. Note the UPC code, government warning and alcohol by volume reference which establishes the bottle to at least November 1989. A ’94’ embossed on the bottom of the glass likely dates the bottle to 1994 or shortly thereafter. An interesting detail to note is ‘inc.’ (incorporated) having been dropped from the Old Fitzgerald Distillery name around the 1994 timeframe, which further establishes the provenance of this bottle. The unique embossed diamonds on the shoulder of this bottle are typical of the ‘diamond neck’ bottle design distributed during the early 1990’s.