The Spirited Design exhibit puts a bow on how bourbon, and collectable decanters, become a holiday fixture in the 1950s and 1960s. (Photo by Brian G. Miller)

Old Forester’s Mid-Century Decanters

Were you a fan of watching Don Draper and his pals pour whiskey from stylish decanters during the hit series “Mad Men?” If so, you’ll want to check out a new exhibit at the Frazier History Museum on Whiskey Row in Louisville.

It’s called “Spirited Design: Old Forester’s Mid-Century Decanters.” The Brown-Forman Archives curated the exhibit. As the Frazier website says, it “brings the full collection of Old Forester decanters, packaging, and advertising together for the first time,” highlighting the brand’s annual holiday whiskey decanters from the 1950s and 1960s.”

The Frazier History Museum is home to the free Kentucky Bourbon Trail Welcome Center on the first floor and the engaging The Spirit of Kentucky exhibition as part of the paid museum tour on the third floor. Both floors will help you understand why the Bluegrass state is home to most of the bourbon distilleries in the world, before you set off to see them for yourself.

Design played an important role during those decades in everything from clothes, to cars, to the cocktail culture of the time. To quote Don Draper, “Make it simple, but significant.” Several whiskey brands offered collectors of that time a chance to fill their wood-paneled home bars with a carousel of decorative decanters.

Two artists designed the Old Forester decanters of that era: Ernst Spuehler, from 1950–53; then Raymond Loewy, from 1954–69.

“Old Forester is the only bourbon to exist before, during, and after Prohibition – and what better way to celebrate that legacy than offering to the public this rare decanter.” Old Forester Master Taster Melissa Rift

The exhibit includes decanters, packaging, and advertising examples from the 1950s and 1960s. (Photo by Brian G. Miller)

You can see examples of each decanter from each holiday season. A standout is the 1957 “Satellite Decanter” inspired by the American space race with the Soviet Union.

Think whiskey decanters have gone out of style today? Are you mad, man?

Just last month, Old Forester offered what it called “the rarest bottle it has ever produced,” in the 150^th Anniversary Brown-Forman Decanter. The chronology in the Sprited Design exhibits ends with information on this modern day continuation of the decanter tradition, full of 12.5-year-old Old Forester bourbon.

There were reports that the $2500 bottles sold out online in 14 minutes.

Didn’t get one of your own? That’s one more reason to make a visit to the Frazier for this latest memorable walk through bourbon history.