Every Shot Glass Tells a Story--The Origin

Packing Up and Moving On

For a variety of reasons we have decided to hit the road.

We're going to sell the house, get rid of most of our "stuff", put the rest in storage and see where life takes us. I'm sure there'll be much more on this in future posts but for now, suffice to say we've got a lot of work ahead of us.

As you sift through all the stuff you've managed to collect over the years, memories and stories come flooding in. And I love stories and storytelling. My shot glass collection is a perfect example of this and a perfect excuse for a series of get-togethers.

Every Shot Glass Tells a Story
The Series

Over the years I've amassed quite a collection of shot glasses. Mostly tacky touristy ones from places I've been or events I've participated, very much in the souvenir mode. But how, when and why this started is a little hazy and not just because of the nature of the collection.

Every Shot Glass Tells a Story--The Origin

I asked Cindy if she recalled when I started collecting shot glasses. She said I already had a collection before we started seeing one another.

So I contacted my ex-fiance via facebook (we've kept in touch, are on good terms, and yes Cindy knows about it, in fact they're facebook friends as well)

The dialouge via facebook went something like this:

Me:

Hey kiddo
Got a quick question for you. Had I started collecting shot glasses when we were together? I know I had the ferris wheel of shots and some deco stuff, but had I started collecting the souvenir types, you know the real tacky touristy ones. We are getting ready to sell the house and go nomadic so the bizarre and extensive collection of shot glasses I've amassed will be going into storage, but not before the series, "Every Shot Glass Tells a Story." Only problem is I can't keep the stories straight, particularly after all these years and all those shots. Trying to sort out the origins. Hoping you could add some insight.

Her:

Hmmm the memory archieves... i recall the ferris wheel in our venice place. i do not recall the tacky tourisy ones-you had not been many places then at 23... maybe one from our trip to prescott... so completely nomadic huh-how's that gonna work? what the plan?


Me:

Prescott was where I got some cocktail sets that I still have, including ferris wheel. Yeah the tourist shot glasses started later. I can't recall whether people saw the shot glasses I had and were "kind" enough to add to the collection or..... I have a strange one with pigs all over it from Iowa and kind of think that it was the origin shot. When the f--k I was in Iowa is beyond me. I've made some wild dashes back and forth this country, once getting from LA to Montreal in less than 3 days. I think it was on one of those mad capped adventures that I spied the tackiest shot glass I'd ever laid eyes on and bought it on a lark the rest, is history. And much like real "history" muddled, confused and hugely inaccurate. As to the plan and how it's gonna work. Wow the million dollar question, .......


So in theory, the collection started on a road trip where on a random stop in Prescott, Arizona at some little antique mall, I spied some vintage cocktail sets and shot glass collections and thought I could turn a profit because I had seen the same things at antique shops in LA and at the Rose Bowl Antique Fair and they were much more pricey there. This was before the internet when finding a deal in the middle of the country meant you had to actually be in the middle of the country.

The Collection
The Original Gang

This was the first set that I purchased. Interestingly enough it turns out that the glasses were used in one of my favorite movies Blade Runner. After a little research on the internet, it also turns out that this particular item is somewhat common, meaning not worth that much. None the less it was what some how got the ball rolling and the collection started, but will be going on E-bay shortly.

This guy is too cool for words, but will be leaving us for better pastures hopefully.

"I'm not so sure I'm OK with this decision, although if it gets me out of this box and newspaper wrappings, count me in"



The Wheel of Shots

Another of the originals, but this one's a keeper.

We used to play a game akin to Russian roulette though much less fatal. We would load up the glasses, 2 with water, 2 with vodka, and 2 with grain alcohol. Then we'd circle up and start the game. One would take a shot, not knowing what was in it, the person next to them would have to guess by the expression on the shooter's face. If the guess was correct, the shooter would have to take another shot, otherwise it was the next person's turn. Generally if someone got a shot of grain, they were done for. It's hard to mask and hard to bluff. A fun game that didn't ever last too long.

Not shot glasses but one of the collections from the trip. Also due to go the E-bay/ yard sale route.

Oldies but Goodies
But not OG

After seeing my collection when we were first going out Cindy gave me this set. A keeper both for it's beauty and sentimental value.

It's hard to tell from this horrible photo, but this is a beautiful martini set. It's from the mini-series, "Sinatra", the show where Cindy and I met. It's been boxed up to far too long and goes so well with the series of paintings in our dining room. I will be making a round of Martinis before this lovely goes back into the box and into storage.

What About the Party?

Well, I sent out invites via facebook at the last minute and I think people thought I was joking or something, or maybe it was because it was a Wednesday or who knows but the party was supposed to be at 7pm and prior to it, I had 2 No RSVPs, and 1 maybe to which I replied a rather obscure response as is my manner. So by 7:20 when no one had arrived I continued cleaning up (I had just started ripping up the tile in the kitchen. It looked like a disaster had hit) and set Skye on the task of cleaning mussels and making dinner for the two of us. At 7:30 our "maybe" guests showed up, giving me an excuse to stop working and start entertaining and telling stories.

I love when "maybes" become "yeses"

to be continued.......