1948 Alcohol Label: Revenue Or Not?

I'm posting for a friend, who is trying to discern what this item is and whether it has any significant value. This is clearly a bottle label, probably for aged whiskey housed in a bonded warehouse. But it has no denomination attached, so it's not apparent to me whether it is a true revenue or just a facsimile intended to look like one. Any thoughts?

It says 4/5 quart.That gives away all you need to know.

Apparently I don't know all I need to know. Does that make this a taxpaid?

Yes. Broadly speaking, there are two types of revenues stamps:

1. Those denominated with a money amount, and typically listed in Scott, and

2. Those denominated in an amount of product for which a tax has been paid, a "taxpaid" stamp in common terminology, and typically unlisted by Scott. Very common among alcohol and tobacco revenue stamps. It also makes it easy to implement taxation changes as only the behind-the-scenes cost of the stamp has to change.

The value of the taxpaid stamp shown here for 4/5 quart of 100 proof alcohol is minimal as huge numbers were produced, but they are fun to collect.

The small red area at the bottom right is what is left of a state revenue stamp.

The story of the green bottled in bond strip stamps that went over the top of bottles begins in 1897. Whiskey is aged in oak casks; the color distilled alcohol is clear, but it picks up its characteristic color from the oak casks. From the very beginning of Internal Revenue in 1862, distillers did not wish to pay the tax on the alcohol while it was being aged in the casks. So begins the bonded warehouses which were under government lock and key, so the distillers could not take out the whiskey until they had paid the tax. There was a limit to how long they could keep the untaxed whiskey in the bonded warehouse. In 1897 the distillers convinced Internal Revenue to allow them to bottle the whiskey and keep it in the bonded warehouse until they wanted to remove it for sale. The distilled spirits tax had to be paid when the spirits were removed from the bonded warehouses. All of this was under the supervision of Internal Revenue storekeeper - gaugers. Typically, this bottled in bond whiskey was 100 proof.

The stamp at the beginning of this discussion is from the Series of 1938, the first of the green strip stamps to portray a person.

By the way the locks that were used on these bonded warehouses beginning in late 1872 were Slaight locks, which had inserted in them a paper seal that covered the keyhole. These lock seals are also very collectable. Check the 2006 Philatelic Congress Yearbook, where there is an article that arranges the list of Slaight lock seals in the order in which they came into use. Previously, the listings were in alphabetical order by their color (for example, the black seals preceded the blue seals in the listings). The Slaight locks and their seals remained in use until 1951.

Here is the 1/2 pint strip with an Indiana state decal both "on cover" to borrow a postal history term. Made in 1947, bottled in 1953.

Great information -- thanks to all. Would these be listed in the Springer catalog?

These are not listed in any of the ten editions of the Springer Catalog. An article of listings was in The American Revenuer about two decades ago.

To Greg Alex who inquired about a listing of the distilled spirits bottled in bond. Go to the American Revenue Association website and in the archive there go to The American Revenuer 2005, number 3 and you will find a priced listing of the distilled spirits bottled in bond strips. In addition there were case labels prior to 1938 and these are also listed.

Very helpful -- thank you so much! And great to know about the back issue archive of the American Revenuer. Lots of good information to sift through.

Here's a direct link, if anyone is interested:
https://www.revenuer.org/the-americ...-archive.asp