The whiskey merchant's diary
Subtitle: an urban life in the emerging Midwest
By: Joseph J. Mersman ; edited by Linda A. Fisher
Contributors: Fisher, Linda A., 1947-2006
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Athens
Language: eng
Number of pages: 378
ISBN-13: 9780821417454; 9780821417461
Subjects: Mersman, Joseph J., -- 1824-1892 -- Diaries; German Americans -- Ohio -- Cincinnati -- 19th century -- Diaries; German Americans -- Missouri -- Saint Louis -- 19th century -- Diaries; German Americans -- Ohio -- Cincinnati -- Social conditions -- 19th century; German Americans -- Missouri -- Saint Louis -- Social conditions -- 19th century; Liquor industry -- Ohio -- Cincinnati -- History -- 19th century; Liquor industry -- Missouri -- Saint Louis -- History -- 19th century; Cincinnati (Ohio) -- History -- 19th century; Saint Louis (Mo.) -- History -- 19th century
Genres: Diaries
Description: "Joseph J. Mersman was a German American immigrant who aspired -- successfully -- to become a self-made man. In 1847, at the age of twenty-three, Mersman began recording his activities in a bound volume, small enough to fit into his coat pocket. His diary, filled with work and play, eating and drinking, flirting and dancing, provides a unique picture of everyday life, first in Cincinnati and then in St. Louis, the new urban centers of the emerging Midwest.

As a whiskey rectifier, Mersman bought distilled spirits, redistilled or reprocessed them to remove contaminants or increase the alcohol content, and added various flavorings before selling his product to liquor retailers in his diary, he describes scrambling for capital, marketing his wares, and arranging transportation by steamboat, omnibus, and train. Although the business that he sought to master was eliminated by the passage of the Pure Food Law of 1906, Mersman, like most rectifiers, was a reputable wholesaler. Merchants like him played an important role in distributing liquor in nineteenth-century America.

Outside of Gold Rush diaries and emigration journals, few narrative records of the antebellum period have been published. Illustrated with photographs, maps, and period advertisements, the diary reveals how a young man worked to establish himself during an era that was rich in opportunity"--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 349-366) and index
Table of contents: title: Prologue : Two immigrant families and their start in America; title: Jenkins's boarding house : 8 November 1847-31 December 1847; title: Theater and circus : 1 January 1848-11 March 1848; title: Music and dancing : 12 March 1848-29 April 1848; title: The Miami and Erie Canal : 30 April 1848-5 May 1848; title: Cigars and saloons : 6 May 1848-9 August 1848; title: In charge of the store : 10 August 1848-1 October 1848; title: Mosher's boarding house : 2 October 1848-28 November 1848; title: Farewell to Cincinnati : 17 December 1848-17 February 1849; title: Starting in St. Louis : 18 February 1849-2 August 1849; title: Seeking a cure : 7 August 1849-19 June 1850; title: Courtship and marriage : 24 June 1850-11 April 1852; title: Settling down : 18 July 1853-25 September 1864; title: Epilogue: the rest of the story