"Sowerbutt always laughed about the bottle scam after the war," the retired writer for the East London Pioneer, who still has the notebook from his early 1960s interview with Jimmy Sowerbutt, said. "One of his lads, Tipper, had been bottling spirits in a house in Poplar all the way through the war. Churchill's Rum was one of his brands, people did not mind about what stuff was called as long as they could get hold of it. But after the war, it was different; they wanted their old familiar lines back.
"They hit on the idea of getting the empties from the pubs and clubs, complete with a Johnnie Walker or Haig label, refilling and re-corking them. Started off alright with Sowerbutt paying the street boys a few coppers for a bottle, but it developed into a real business. The landlords sold the bottles to the boys who put on their mark-up before they reached Sowerbutt. The prices went up and up with all the shortages in 1946 and 1947 -worse than the war years. Those with cash - the West End toffs and the black marketeers - didn't care but Sowerbutt drew the line when the price of bottles with a label reached 5/- each.
"He decided to prick the bubble, teaming up with a couple of small printers in Canning Town. With the help of a talented commercial artist who was paid well for his trouble, they designed copies of the well-known labels and printed their own.
"Sowerbutt still had to pay a couple of bob for spirit bottles but they were as scarce as hen's teeth anyway. Everything was scarce.
"Distilling spirits and bottling with the brand labels was a good business, lasted until well into the fifties. Tipper ran the business after Sowerbutt disappeared."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA
"They hit on the idea of getting the empties from the pubs and clubs, complete with a Johnnie Walker or Haig label, refilling and re-corking them. Started off alright with Sowerbutt paying the street boys a few coppers for a bottle, but it developed into a real business. The landlords sold the bottles to the boys who put on their mark-up before they reached Sowerbutt. The prices went up and up with all the shortages in 1946 and 1947 -worse than the war years. Those with cash - the West End toffs and the black marketeers - didn't care but Sowerbutt drew the line when the price of bottles with a label reached 5/- each.
"He decided to prick the bubble, teaming up with a couple of small printers in Canning Town. With the help of a talented commercial artist who was paid well for his trouble, they designed copies of the well-known labels and printed their own.
"Sowerbutt still had to pay a couple of bob for spirit bottles but they were as scarce as hen's teeth anyway. Everything was scarce.
"Distilling spirits and bottling with the brand labels was a good business, lasted until well into the fifties. Tipper ran the business after Sowerbutt disappeared."
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Lemon-Surrender-1940-ebook/dp/B008USR7FA
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