BREWERIANA: Ettaler Heidelbeer Liqueur Gift Set

Among the most beautiful places we visited in our tour of Bavaria was the municipality of Ettal. While there I bought a beer stein and this gorgeous liqueur set consisting of a bottle of Heidelbeer (European blueberry) liqueur, two shot glasses, and assorted labels. Unfortunately, I haven't yet gotten around to scanning my photographs of that visit, but when I do they'll be posted here. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

BREWERIANA: Shot Glass - Burg Berwartstein

As you can imagine, I have more German shot glasses than I do American ones as these are a very common type of souvenir over there (and we went to more places). This one is from Burg (castle) Berwartstein and is a memento of one of my favorite German castles. It was very close to my base at Zweibrücken and lay towards the southern end of the state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It's not a huge castle, having been built mainly as one of the castles used in the defense of the Palatinate. It's also not that fancy but it has one heck of a history, complete with robber barons and ghosts! During our last visit there, a very pregnant Bettina (pregnant with our second daughter) and I were walking all around to include the dungeons. The next day our daughter was born! 😆😆😆 Unfortunately I haven't yet gotten around to photographing any of the photos and postcards from this trip - just the shot glass. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Courtesy Wikipedia

BREWERIANA: Mt. Rushmore Shot Glass

I haven't done breweriana post in a while so here goes. This is a cheap souvenir that I picked up from our visit to Mt. Rushmore back in '91. We had flown in from Germany upon my return to the States after nine years abroad. Picking up our car at the port in St. Louis we drove to Wisconsin to visit relatives and then headed west to Lost Wages, NV to my new station. Mt. Rushmore was on the way and Bettina really wanted to see it. During the movie North by Northwest with Cary Grant, there's a scene which takes place in the Mt. Rushmore cafeteria and she was stoked at being able to be there where the scene was filmed. Unfortunately, I haven't scanned any of the photos from that trip to show here so the shot glass will have to do. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

BREWERIANA: Korean Shot Glasses - For Adults Only

ummmm, how do I explain this one? I don't do 'For Adult's Only" themed posts on this blog but this one ties into the breweriana theme. Sooo, how did I manage to get these into the collection? Actually it was simple - I wasn't paying attention. I had gone into one of the many souvenir shops in Songtan, ROK on a shopping spree. I picked up several sets of souvenir Korean coins and currency - all nicely packaged in presentation type holders, I got a set of pewter goblets (posted here on the blog just a couple of days ago), and I even bought a beautiful Nativity scene with wooden manger and pewter figures which I've been using nearly every Christmas since buying it. Then there were these shot glasses! I took a quick look on the shelf, saw these in what appeared to be a traditional Korean motif, looked at the colorful innocuous box art, and added them to the haul. It was only afterwards when looking them over more closely that I noticed what they depicted LOL Oh boy! Anywho, for your edification and enjoyment, here they are - Enjoy! Opa Fritz

 

BREWERIANA: Main Street Station Shot Glass

It's safe to say I'm not a hard liquor drinker. That's not to say I've never drank the stuff but the reality is, it's simply not to my liking. That being said, picking up a shot glass souvenir occasionally is still an option. This shot glass comes from the Main Street Station Hotel and Casino here in Vegas and was bought ca1992-ish. At that time, we were still new to Vegas, and checking out the casinos and attractions and Main Street Station was actually a fairly short drive from the house. During this time in its history, the casino was owned by some real estate developer from Florida. He had some grandiose, but ill-advised, ideas for the casino. First of all he outfitted it with many antiques from his personal collection. Those were a treat to see I can tell you! But his mistake was equipping the casino with oddball games - the kind that are popular in Europe or Asia, but were unfamiliar to American gamblers and tourists. Eventually this miscalculation led to him filing bankruptcy and selling the casino. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

BREWERIANA: Camp David Shot Glass

Did you ever get a present from someone that was a souvenir of their travels? Most of us have probably received  presents that were keepsakes from someone else's vacation or even give presents to others that were from our travels. Seems odd when you think of it because, unless that person has ever been to where you were or vice versa, it's actually meaningless - it's someone else's memory not ours! But it is what it is. Here's a gift from one of my nephews - a shot glass from Camp David, the Presidential retreat. In and of itself it's meaningless to me because I've never been there, however here's the backstory. My nephew was a U.S. Marine assigned to the Presidential guard unit under the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations and so would have been familiar with Camp David. The Presidential tie-in makes this a unique piece in my collection. Kinda neat huh? Enjoy! Opa Fritz