April 20, 2009
San Francisco Timecapsule: 04.20.09
San Francisco history blog, San Francisco history podcasts » [9] comments1906: Hotaling’s Whiskey is spared by the Great Fire and Earthquake
April 20th, 1906
The deliverance of Hotaling’s Whiskey
As of Friday the 20th, San Francisco was still on fire. The Great Earthquake had happened two days earlier, but the Fire (or fires) that devastated the city were still well underway.
The eastern quarter of the city — nearly five square miles — would be almost completely destroyed. But after the smoke cleared, a few precious blocks would emerged unscathed. Among these survivors would be the two blocks bounded by Montgomery, Jackson, Battery and Washington Streets.
Oceans of ink have been spilled in documenting the incredible individual heroism and unfathomable professional incompetence displayed in fighting those fires. One of the best books on the subject is “The Great Earthquake and Firestorms of 1906” by Philip Fradkin, from which I’ve swiped much of today’s timecapsule.
This is the story of a single building, but one of vital importance to the delicate Western palette: AP Hotaling & Co.’s warehouse at 451 Jackson Street — the largest depository of whiskey on the West Coast.
Day One: the first escape
Hotaling’s warehouse was threatened on the very first day of the fires, Wednesday, April 18th. This particular blaze was one of the many inspired by rampant and ill-advised dynamiting, in this case by an allegedly drunken John Bermingham, not coincidentally the president of the California Powder Works.
Encouraged by the blast, the fire roared towards the whiskey-packed warehouse. Its cornices began to smoulder, but a quick-acting fireman bravely clambered to the top and hacked them off.
This was Hotaling’s first escape.
Day Two: the Army and the Navy
On the second day, the Army arrived — with orders to protect the adjacent Appraisers Building by dynamiting the warehouse. The Appraisers Building was, after all, government property. In this case, though — unlike in so many others all around San Francisco — the managers of the warehouse were able to make the officer in charge listen to reason:
“On account of the large stock of whiskey in the warehouse, the consequences of a dynamite explosion would be the immediate combustion of all this vast amount of highly inflammable spirit, which would flow all over the place in a liquid wave of flame, and be virtually certain to destroy (the Appraisers Building).”
Instead, a motley crew of waterfront toughs were hired to empty the warehouse, rolling the heavy wooden casks to a vacant lot, two blocks away. The Army posted guards and gave them orders about dealing with would-be booze thieves — shoot to kill.
By midnight, twelve hundred barrels had been moved — but then the fire struck again. This time the saviour was a single length of hose from a Navy fireboat off the Embarcadero. The hose ran from the boat over Telegraph Hill, up along Broadway, and all the way to Montgomery Street, pumping sea-water eleven blocks and saving the Bank of Italy, the Appraisers Building — and Hotaling’s warehouse.
Day Three: saved by sewage
By noon on the third day, another thousand barrels had been rolled to safety — but then the wind shifted. The fiery maelstrom ravaging the Barbary Coast now bore savagely down on Jackson Street. All seemed lost, and it was decided to abandon ship — the heavy iron shutters of the warehouse were bolted and the men turned to helping save documents from the Appraiser’s office.
But then the wind relented, and warehouse manager Edward Lind was struck by a hopeful inspiration. What about the sewer from the construction site next door? Hey, water is water. Two wine pumps were found, and a “compote of the sewage and (salt-water) seepage” was pumped out of the ground. A bucket brigade slopped the foul-smelling goo onto the whiskey barrels remaining in the warehouse.
Lind remembers that “it was horrible. One side of Jackson Street was a roaring fury of flame, with walls toppling, and smoke choking people. The evil-smelling stuff made a steam that was suffocating as it evaporated on the roasting woodwork.”
But that muck did the trick. The opposite side of Jackson was completely destroyed, as you can clearly see in the dramatic photo at the top of the post — but on this Friday, April 20th — Hotaling’s Whiskey was saved.
As the Argonaut would later report, “while millions of dollars worth of normally non-inflammable material was reduced to ashes, (thousands of) barrels of highly inflammable whisky were preserved intact in the heart of the tremendous holocaust.”
The fires are out, as are the poets
By Saturday the 21st, San Francisco’s fires were out. Every other stock of whiskey in the city had been destroyed, but Hotaling’s — by the grace of God, man, sewage, and the Navy — had been spared.
The burning of San Francisco was greeted by a good many clergyman as divine retribution for its wicked, wicked ways. The fact that houses of worship were incinerated right along with everything else — and that Hotaling’s whiskey warehouse was spared — inspired an immortal piece of doggerel by poet and wit Charles Kellogg Field:
If, as some say, God spanked the town
For being over frisky,
Why did He burn the Churches down
And save Hotaling’s Whisky?
That last line originally read “and saved Old Kirk’s Whiskey”, since that was the bottling name of the liquor — but somebody at Hotaling’s wisely changed the last line of the verse for advertising purposes — and it stuck.
A bronze plaque bearing those modified lines is attached to the old Hotaling warehouse today — but an even more fitting memorial was produced for the 2006 earthquake centennial by the Anchor Distillery — a limited edition single malt barrel-aged rye called “Hotaling Whiskey“.
That’s the spirit!
9 responses to “San Francisco Timecapsule: 04.20.09”
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April 29, 2009 at 4:43 am
Hi Richard,
thanks for this excellent post (as well as Podcast BTW – I love it). Here in UK we never can imagine what it must be like to be in an earthquake, much less one like you describe in the Great Earthquake of San Franscisco… that is until, yesterday!
Yep, I couldn’t believe it – here in the sleepy Lancashire seaside town of Morecambe we had a 3.7 richter scale earthquake which literally shook my office so loudly the person I was speaking to on the phone at the time could hear it too – freaky!
Keep up the good work, your blog is outstanding.
Ollie
April 29, 2009 at 10:09 am
Hey so I just started reading “San Francisco is Burning” by Dennis Smith (super apropros of your post). I’m sure you’ve read it yeah? What did you think?
EB
April 29, 2009 at 10:17 am
@ollie Aha, welcome to the world of shaky! :)
@EB: I know of that book, but I actually haven’t read it yet. What are you thinking of it so far?
April 29, 2009 at 11:34 am
Thanks Richard, cool to be here. Also following you on Twitter – don’t worry, none of that weird stalking business though!
Take care
Bye for now,
Ollie
February 28, 2012 at 12:10 pm
I have the A.P. HOTALING – OLD KIRK WHISKEY back bar decanter. I don’t think the stopper is original. It’s great , but not the sam as in the picture.
March 28, 2012 at 7:43 pm
At my advanced age I’m feeling it necesssary to dispose of “stuff”. I would entertain offers on the back bar decanter. The stopper I have however belongs to another bottle. The picture online shows the correct one. Contact me at powelllapowell@aol.com.
April 11, 2019 at 7:44 pm
Thanks for the great description of three days of fire that threatened the Hotaling Whiskey warehouse, and the greater Jackson Square area. Every time I read a well written story like yours,about the earthquake and fire, I learn something new.
My father grew up in his uncle Frederick Hotaling’s house at 1900 Franklin Street during the period from 1929 to 1941. Based on some evidence, ( photos), that were found in my father’s safe after he died in 2011, it was clear that what I had been told about the disposition of the whiskey was true; that when the barrels were first removed, they were rolled Jackson Street, and parked on a pier over the water for safe keeping. The next morning, thinking that the threat of fire had abated, the barrels were rolled back up the Jackson Street sidewalk, (on the warehouse side). The photo I have shows the men each rolling a single barrel, with the Appraisers building in the background. The men stretch as far as the eye can see, (until the camera loses focus). The next couple of photos, show the barrels assembled in rows, a couple of blocks past the warehouse, with a number
Of Presidio soldiers and S.F.P.D. Officers standing guard.
One other misconception that I would like to correct, is that the Hotaling family was unaffected by the earthquake and fire. Although their Mansion was on the corner of California and Franklin Streets, two blocks above Van Ness, the fire managed to jump across it, and burn another three blocks by two blocks area. The Hotaling house was located at the southwest corner of this rectangle, and for safety’s sake was dynamited, being perhaps, the last house to go.The family lost everything in that house, but were able to move into their “guest house”, at 1900 Franklin Street. As a young boy there, he was exploring the basement, and found a crate of crystLlized dynamite, that had been placed by the soldiers blow up the house, but it was never put to use, and was forgotten. The Presidio was notified, and it was properly disposed of ( blown-up.
Thanks for the opportunity to share: Grant Gildroy
July 16, 2019 at 3:04 pm
Such great information. I work for Hotaling & Co., located in San Francisco. It was formerly Anchor Distilling Co. I am currently researching more in depth information on the Hotaling family and found Mr. Grant Gildroy’s contribution most fascinating. Mr. Gildroy, if you happen to read my post, I would love to hear from you: Mchevalier@hotalingandco.com I would love to show you our office in the City and set up a tour of the distillery if you would like.
Cheers!
Maurice Chevalier IV