P.M.S.S. Co

P.M.S.S. Co

Bottled By

A. P. Hotaling Co.

San Francisco Cal.

Pacific Mail Steamship Co.

Anson P. Hotaling

Red-Amber Cylinder

Provenance: Steven Hubbell Collection

One might question why “P.M.S.S. CO” is embossed so prominently on our museum bottle and what do the abbreviated letters mean?

P. M. S. S. stands for Pacific Mail Steamship Company. The concern was founded on April 18, 1848, as a joint-stock company under the State of New York laws by a group of New York City merchants. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company at one time exercised undivided control of the great mail steamship route, more than 12,000 miles in length, between New York and Hong Kong in China, via the Isthmus of Panama and San Francisco, California. From San Francisco, an important route was established to Oregon, a new state, in the northwest.

It is thought that these P.M.S.S. bottles were used or sold by the steamship line which would have held a Cutter whiskey.

Our museum example represents another Anson P. Hotaling bottle. Hotaling was a San Francisco merchant and real estate developer who was born and raised in rural New York. He sailed for San Francisco in 1852 on the Racehound. At that time the route was around Cape Horn which added an extra five months or so to the trip. Once in California, he briefly tried his hand at mining but within a year returned to San Francisco and opened with a partner, a wine and spirits business. By 1866, his business had expanded and his position was now sole owner and operator. He began a shipping venture, trading with both the South Sea Islands and the settlements on the Pacific coast of Russia. Later he expanded his trade to Australia.

See the museum example of the “Kangaroo” A.P. Hotaling Old Bourbon Whiskey (Sydney).

By the mid-1890s, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company offices were expansive. Headquartered in San Francisco, their five-story building was prominently sited on the southeast corner of First and Market Streets. By 1897, A. P. Hotaling Company had grown and was incorporated by Anson P. Hotaling, Lavinia J. Hotaling, Anson P. Hotaling, Jr., Richard M. Hotaling, and Frederick C. Hotaling. The capital stock was fixed at $1,000,000, of which the amount of $12,500 was subscribed by the incorporators.

The Hotaling P.M.S.S. Co. bottles are fairly rare and were made in the late 1880s to mid-1890s. They occur only in heavily whittled red-amber glass and have a comparatively short neck and a smaller than usually found applied mouth. In 1977, Thomas reported that six whole examples and one with a neck broken off were known. One was found near the Visalia Ditch, two dug near Magalia, and two near Fortuna. The sixth was dug near Fort Bragg, California. By 2002, fourteen examples were known. As we hear of any new examples, we will update this listing.

We have other Hotaling bottles in our museum including a J.H. Cutter Old Bourbon and J.H. Cutter Old Bourbon (Circle) and OPS Bourbon Whiskey. 

Primary Image: P.M.S.S. Co. bottle imaged on location by the FOHBC Virtual Museum midwest studio led by Alan DeMaison.

Support: Reference to Whiskey Bottles of the Old West by John L. Thomas, 2002

Support Image: Pacific Mail Company’s Offices, South East Corner, First and Market Streets, San Francisco. Circa 1896 – foundsf.com

Support Image: The second example of a P.M.S.S. Co. bottle – Dale Mlasko collection.

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