Product Details

Beautifully engraved antique stock certificate from Publicker Industries Inc. dating back to the 1970's. This document, which contains the printed signatures of a company President and Treasurer, was printed by the Security-Columbian Bank Note Company, and measures approximately 12" (w) by 8" (h).

This certificate's vignette features a female figure holding a globe. She is surrounded by a variety of laboratory equipment incvluding a microscope and flasks. 

Images

You will receive the exact certificate pictured.

Historical Context

Publicker Industries, Inc. began with Mr. Harry Publicker, who started off steaming old whiskey barrels and extracting from them the gallon or two of whiskey that had soaked into the charred wood.

In 1912 he built and operated a distillery on the Philadelphia riverfront between Bigler Street and Packer Avenue. His company produced whiskey and industrial alcohol products there until 1985.

During prohibition Publicker concentrated on producing non-beverage alcohol and industrial chemicals. By the early '20s, Publicker was fermenting and distilling potatoes, molasses, corn, and various grains into some six million gallons of industrial alcohol a year.

By the mid-1950s the 40-acre plant at Packer and Delaware Avenue (which is now called Christopher Columbus Boulevard) had developed into one of the largest distilleries in the world, specializing in products such as solvents, cleansers, antifreeze, denatured alcohols, butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, acetone, dry ice and liquid carbon dioxide, proprietary solvents, and refined fusel oil, among others. Not to mention tons of high-quality livestock feed produced from the nutrient-rich waste materials. The physical complex was comprised of twenty separate buildings, 35 huge storage tanks, over 400 railroad cars and tankers. It was serviced by the Pennsylvania, Baltimore & Ohio, and Reading railroads. Through their subsidiary company, PACO, they operated a fleet of ten large ocean-going tanker ships.

After prohibition was repealed it was only natural for them to apply that leverage of scale and their modern technologies to the production of potable spirits.

In August of 1933 they formed a subsidiary company, Continental Distilling Corporation, and remodeled their smaller distillery a few blocks north at the corner of Snyder Street and Swanson Avenue. They filed a trademark on November 22, 1933 for their first brand, Charter Oak, which they registered for use with bourbon, rye, rum, gin, brandy, and cordials. The company also produced gin and rum. Some of their manufactured brands were Philadelphia, Diplomat, Cobb's Creek, and Embassy Club whiskeys. Other early Continental brands were Haller's, Linfield, and Old Hickory bourbons, as well as Rittenhouse and Keystone State rye whiskeys.