Tonic or Toxic?

I once heard a historian/anthropologist describe America as having a love-hate relationship with alcohol. He characterized US history as consisting of tonic and toxic periods

He described it this way…

From the birth of the nation to the mid-1800s, alcohol was seen as a tonic. Think about the traveling “doctors” (aka snake oil salesmen) selling their alcohol-laced elixirs? Among other positive perceptions, alcohol was seen as “good for what ails you” and helped you to remain “healthy.”

After the Civil War, and for the next 60 years or so, alcohol was considered toxic culminating in the temperance movement and ultimately Prohibition from 1920 to 1933.

I found this online about our soldiers in WWI –

During WWI, British soldiers were rationed two ounces of rum or a pint of porter daily. Germans received a pint of beer, half a pint of wine and a quarter pint of spirits. Canadians got shipments of Jamaican rum. But U.S. soldiers, under Prohibition laws, observed a “dry” zone around its bases.

By WWII alcohol was widely available to our GIs and the tonic era started to come back.

The tonic period has gotten stronger thanks to 60 Minutes. The segment in 1991 called the “French Paradox,” described the benefits of red wine and has since extended to all alcohol. Many see moderate consumption as beneficial to health.

And no snake oil salesmen.

Oh, by the way, for some interesting historical trends on alcohol, wine and beer consumption check out the most recent information from Gallup

http://www.gallup.com/poll/121277/drinking-habits-steady-amid-recession.aspx

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Distributor Sales Rep

The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers Of America (WSWA, for those of you in the business) will hold its annual meeting next week. There have been lots of changes in the second tier over the past few decades. From marketing to logistics to the people on the street, spirits wholesaler operations have become much more professional.

But it wasn’t always like that as this story from Bob McBreen who worked at Seagram from 1984 to 1990 illustrates. (Bob was a GM in Missouri and a Manager in Massachusetts.)

Bob was working in Massachusetts in the 1980’s when the 375 Spirits Co. (one of the Seagram companies) introduced Mumm Cognac.  The idea was to use the Champagne credentials to enter the highly profitable Cognac business. In typical Seagram fashion, the new product introduction to wholesalers was an elaborate affair held in a hotel ballroom complete with a French themed dinner.

After dinner the team got down to the business of introducing the product to the distributor sales people. The focus was on the quality, romance, and the story of selling a cognac with the specialness of the Mumm name.  They educated the sales folks on the geography of the Cognac region, the type of grapes used, the distillation process, and the magic of aging… with terms likes Angel’s Share, Grande Champagne eaux de vie, quality grade differences, etc.

After an extensive tasting session with emphasis on the different characteristics of such a high quality product, the salesmen were asked if they had any questions. One hand when up.  It was from a salesman who had been in the business for years. “Yes Irving, what is your question?”

“Does this shit come in half gallons?”

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Salesman in Winter

The booze business, at least when Seagram was alive and kicking, was about stories. Here is one of my favorites.

A salesman for one of the Seagram sales companies (or perhaps it was a distributor sales rep) called on bars in Wisconsin in the dead of winter. His main objective was to get Kessler Blended Whiskey placed. His mission, his bonus and perhaps even his job depended on sufficient sales of the brand. Not easy, since Wisconsin was (and still is) a market cluttered with whiskies and brandies.

He would park his car out front, walk into the bar, engage the owner/manager and talk about the virtues of Kessler. Invariably the bar owner would tell him that he already had enough whiskies and no room or interest in a new one.

To overcome the owner/manager resistance, his spiel was always the same. “Listen, this brand is so distinctive and stands out from other whiskies that I’ll bet you I can pick Kessler out of a line up of whatever whiskies you care to test it against. I’ll get a bottle and you can pour a shot of it and any other whiskies and I’ll always be able to pick the Kessler.”

Now baited, the owner would likely say, “What’s the bet?” The salesman’s answer would be something like “50 bucks if I can’t pick it and you buy 3 bottles if I can.” Hardly anyone turned him down.

He would go out to his car, bring in a bottle, give to the owner and turn his back. The owner would pour shot glasses for the ‘taste test’ including any number of brands plus a shot of Kessler.

The salesman would then turn around and take a sip of each whiskey and very quickly point to the shot of Kessler and say, “that’s it.” He was never wrong. Always got the sale, up and down the state of Wisconsin.

How did he do it?

Since it had just come from the trunk of his car, it was the only one that was cold.

To this day Kessler is still a very strong Blended Whiskey brand whose main strength is in Wisconsin.

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