Embossed on the bottle: “THE DUFFY MALT WHISKEY COMPANY // ROCHESTER N.Y. U.S.A. // ONE FIFTH GALLON // PATD AUG.24 1886 // 6”
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-A3-1 Row B
Length
25.6
Diameter
7.6
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Copy Type
original
Reference Types
Internet
Reference Comments
Malt Whiskey, Wikipedia
False Advertising and the Legacy of Duffy’s Pure Malt Whiskey, Sipp'n Corn
How Mr. Duffy Outwitted Uncle Sam– and Got Rich, Jack Sullivan
Walter B. Duffy. RocWiki
Research Facts
Malt whiskey is whiskey that is made from a fermented mash produced primarily from a malted grain. Unless otherwise indicated, it is generally assumed that the primary grain is barley, although whiskey is also made using malted rye or other grains.
Malted whiskey was the specialty of the Walter B. Duffy Co. and it was marketed across the United States as a heart tonic, remedy for pneumonia, consumption and haemorrhages.
Ultimately, “The Great American Fraud” helped lead to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. This movement, along with the temperance movement and growing sophistication in medical knowledge, spelled eventual doom for Duffy’s.
Beginning in 1915, Duffy's Pure Malt Liquor ceased to make medicinal claims other than its being a "tonic stimulant" and "household remedy." As Prohibition set in, Duffy's dropped the label "whiskey" and marketed its product strictly as a "tonic."
Exhibit History
On travelling exhibit ‘Unmasking Influenza’ / Spanish Flu Ottawa L-2019-3 30 April 2019-31 Dec 2022.
On exhibit “Quack: The Exhibit that cures all” at Museum of Health Care, 29 June 2017.