By Cara Caputo, WPAMC Class of 2021
With its paper covers and imitation leather spine, this flask would have easily blended in with a shelf of books, but once removed, its true function as a flask would have been immediately evident. Displayed in Winterthur’s Albany Room, this flask is not meant to deceive visitors but instead invites them to consider the purpose of creating a flask in the shape of a book.
In 1822, the Fremy Brothers distillery was issued a “five-year patent for glass bottles of various sizes, having the shape of a book, and intended to contain liqueurs.” The Fremy Brothers produced several book flasks with different covers and titles, encouraging consumers to collect them all until they acquired a complete flask library.