Cutty Sark - Not Just for the Big Girl's Blouse

Cutty Sark by F.M. Tinseth, oil on canvas, 1976

Cutty Sark in Flagler College dorm room, 1983

Cutty Sark in September Esquire, 1961

Rare Cutty Sark tie on even rarer yellow university stripe oxford, 2020

Cutty Sark by A. J. Tinseth, 2020

My old man was very proud of his Cutty Sark.  His painting...not the Scotch. He was a gin martini  man through and through and Beefeater gin was his go to.  I don't ever remember him drinking anything else except beer, of which he gave no brand his loyalty, or the occasional glass of wine, which, if he knew anything, he learned from me.

His Cutty Sark painting was about an image - he knew - was instantly recognizable...at least by himself and his peers in the officer's clubs he frequented. My connection to Cutty Sark is through Berry Brothers and Rudd.  A wine merchant in the Pall Mall area of London, I was first introduced to the 300 year old merchant via their catalogs a London friend, Vodka Ronnie, kept by his toilet.  Not the most glorious of beginnings but Vodka Ronnie had very good taste in wine.

Barry & Rudd, as it's more commonly known, came up with the idea for a light blended Scotch as they were wine merchants and I assume didn't want to blow their customer's palettes outta the water with a double barrel Islay. Their target customer were Septics (Septic Tank- Yank) who were about to get back into Rub a Dubs (Rub a Dub- Pub) as Prohibition was coming to an end. With the Septic in mind, a 20 single malt blend was used with mostly Big Girl's Blouse Speyside (Glenrothes) being the predominant malt.

"Whis-KAY" as it's pronounced over there also sounds a lot like "Cut-TAY."  When I hear one, I think of the other.  I'm not sure why.  It's a Lemmon-NAY Whis-KAY.  Light and dry and being that it's not too dear, I think it's best to be mixed, which I did, with a $20 bottle. I  tried it with Polar Bitter Lemon (find it - far better than Canada Dry) and it wasn't bad. I mixed it with lemon flavored seltzer and thought it completely changed the Cutty with the soda giving it a rounder and fuller taste of a scotch double the price. Impressive for those like me who are mean when it comes to their Whis-KAY.

I used it to make a Side Car replacing the brandy with Cutty -- A favorite of the tasting and something I look forward to ordering in a Rub a Dub, "Make mine a Cut-TAY side car, To-NAY." If you're thinking a Manhattan -- I wouldn't -- Although I did.  There's just not enough backbone to the Cutty. Having said that, if you're a beginning Scotch drinker, this is the tricycle for you, in much the way Barry & Rudd always intended it to be, even if you are a big girl's blouse; I wear a 14.

American Film Polski

1947, Eryk Lipinski, Casablanca, 33 x 23in


1948, Henryk Tomaszewski, Citizen Kane, 34x24in Est. $1,200


1957, Waldemar Swierzy, Sunset Boulevard, 33.5 x 22.5in, Est. $4,500


1959, Maria Heidrich, Spellbound, 23 x 31.5in


1959 Franciszek Starowieyski, Satchmo the Great, 33 x 23in


1959, Marian Stachurski, Snows of Kilimanjaro, 34 x 23in


1973, Wiktor Gorka, Cabaret, 33 x 23in


1973, Waldemar Swierzy, Midnight Cowboy, 32 x 23in Est. $1,800


1978, Andrzej Klimowski, Taxi Driver, 38 x 26.5in


1978, Mieczyslaw Wasilewski, Three Women, 32.5 x 22.5in, Est. $90


1980, Marek Ploza-Dolinski, The Dirty Dozen, 27 x 39in, Est. $70


1984, Waldemar Swierzy, The Dogs of War, 38 x 26.5, Est. $132


1988, Mieczyslaw Wasilewski, Untouchables, 26.5 x 38in, Est. $107


2001, Wieslaw Walkuski, Face Off, 38.5 x 27in


2020, Joanna Gorska, Jerzy Sakun, Annie Hall, 27 x 29in, Est. $32

I loved watching foreign movies as a kid. They were my ticket and passport out of whatever crappy Army town I was living in. They were also a chance to share a film with my deaf sister thanks to subtitles. I'm not gonna tell you I was watching Bergman's, The Seventh Seal at 12, but I was a dedicated follower of the CBS Children's Film Festival. Never liked Kukla, Fran and Ollie much, but they were a small price for a ticket to Tokyo, London, Munich or even the Bronx.

Polish American Film Posters are a different point of view on established American ideas. Created a few years after the original release, the artists rarely saw the films but were given a written description. All but two of these (Dirty Dozen, Annie Hall) posters were taken from the 2002 exhibit, American Films in Polish Posters at the Polish Museum of America in Chicago.

If these float your boat, there are a number of dealers on the internet, and prices for all but the earliest works are affordable, if not down right cheap. There's a gap between 1949 and 1957 when American movies were banned by the communists. That really worked.

Compared to the huge American One-Sheets, these posters all run around 33" x 23", give or take. They also don't shout at you like American posters and tweed bicycle rides. There's an understatement that's intelligent, creative and fun. Just like my Polish grandmother.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr - A Life

Photos for The Trad by Alice Olive

It's an odd thing...digging through a dead man's belongings. Low estimates on Lobb, Huntsman and Lock had me salivating like a hyena until I was struck by a thunder bolt of guilt. A conscious revelation of picking over the wool, leather and felt of a man I only knew through books and film -- It suddenly seemed wrong.

Standing at Fairbank's desk, I looked down on the snap shots, post cards and newspaper cartoons he felt fit to place under glass. I picked up his Dunhill brief case, placed it on the desk and opened the leather flap looking for something...maybe loose change. I don't really know.

The Rolodex was magical. Not because of the famous names, but because of the local grocers, a car rental car company behind Kate Hepburn and the florist who delivered long stems roses in NYC for $50 with two hours notice. Still, it was refreshing to see Princess Grace's signature in a guest book -- Her letters fat, cursive and squat -- just like a 16 year old high school girl.

Then it hits you. A life represented by lots in a room-- together -- like a museum exhibit. Perhaps more so -- just not for very long. Soon it all disappears among the bidders -- never to be seen in one place again. That's the magic. Whether you bid or not, stop by to see a life, and make of it what you will. I discovered a man whose sartorial interests paled compared to his storied life. And that discovery didn't cost a thing.

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr Auction, September 13, 2020, Doyle New York, 175 East 87th, NYC (212) 427 2730 On line catalog here.

If I Were A Mormon...

Me? A Mormon?





The Horror.



Dalyn Montgomery; aka Brohammas, aka artist, aka soda pop creator, aka Mormon Bishop, and most recently, graduate student in University of Pennsylvania's MBA program, recently honored me (and Trad Dad) with a portrait on his new Tumbler that hides all evidence of my over indulgence in life's baser pursuits.



Consequently, it's nice to know if I never drank or smoked -- I would look just like a Mormon. Although I don't think I could ever wear a short sleeve shirt with a tie. Dalyn, on the other hand, really needs to do something about his shoes. Thanks, Bro.