New-York tribune., 1901-03-24
GIN BOTTLE CATS.
THE ORIGIN OF old TOM" THE FATHER
OF THEM ALL.

OF THEM ALL.
The Supreme Court of the state of NewYork
has decided against a plaintiff who wished TO
have a rival dealer in gin restrained from using
on the labels of his bottles the design OF cat
the said plaintiff contending that his own lahel
WAS a cat. and that the other mans cat was
plagiarism of his. As To the question OF fact
Justice Scott who is ofiico an unimpeach-
able authority on labels decided that the de-
fendants label not an imitation ot the
plaintiffs hut a perfectly distinct cat. As I"
the question of an exclusive right To the emblem
of the cat. e. Of the general or undifferen-
ti3tvd cat-aS "a label for gin, il hardly needed
a decision of the Supr, me Court.
IL is now a good 40 years since one kind Of
gin the sweetened kind. acquired the name of
old Tom Gin has been the object of refined
contempt in England for many generations,
chiefly because il is cheap. II has also received
Il larger number of nicknames than any other
potable thing. some of these nicknames being
unfit for publication. and none marked hy re
nnenent in their imagery. Why gin called
Royal Bob" might form the text of an essay
on English history in the eighteenth century.
w.th an excursus on Sir Robert Walpoles
theories Of political economy. Much research
has been devoted to account for the ncknames
Max -Tityre" Royal Poverty" ana White
TaIc." II is not wonderful. therefore. that
there should have been at least one ill-foundcd
theory To the name "Od Tom but m"
theory which connects that name with an his
torc cat in Blue Anchor Alley. London. is the
ancient and accepted account. and for this
reason though perhaps neither plaintiff nor de-
ftntant IN the recent trial aware of IL the
cat belongs to the gin bottle whenever the gin
is of the insular non Hollandish make
II began with Captain Dudley Iiradstrcet. who
i
century as a government spy. In the Jacohite
rising of 11i5 Captain Iiradstrcct served tn"
House of Hanover as a sr'y. fact which We'll
acc"rds with the account Of his previous cN-
Uloits given 10y himself in a work published at
Dublin ten years later. II in Ia? that
Walp"le's government resolved that thu English
people drank too much gin and that prohih.-
tory tax should he imposed on that beverage.
In lI'2 the gin tax came into force. and there
a standin: reward for informcrs against
Illicit gin shops. Captain Iirldstrcct. h,inE sub
tie. Il way to defeat the laW 10y defeating
informers. He rented room in Blue Anchor
Court, bought a sign az u cat and nailed il W
against his ground floor window. Below the "a;
protruded about one inch of lead pipe, and the
eat had a slot in lis mouth.
Here. then was the first nickel-in- -thc-slot ma
chine. the first blind tiger and the original
"old Tom all in one. y" paid advertising was
necessary. Tie streets We're hIled a; the time
with riotous crowds. thirsting for Warolc's
hl"od-and gin. run"r "f the "old Tom" in
Kue Anchor Court spread among the mobs
The first Of the crowd who knocked at
Captain Rradstrcct's window heard voice
which said, Put tw0pcnce in the eats mouth
and the end Of the pipe into your own"
iy this means, pouring two penn orths of gin
into the pipe. Bradstrect cleared very pretty
sum within "A month and then hctonk himself
to other enterprises. I'ut the name of that dear
"pld Tom lived in the hearts of the London pro-
letariat and lives I" this day. Schicdam. the
first Dutch town famous for the product of the
Juniper Cn French Etn!eyreD is remembered only
among the fastdI"us patrons of the dry type of
gin. hut "Old Tom is still the emblem of the
London gutter touer's nectar.