The soda fountain inside Hurst Drugs...
I made the interesting discovery that the big players in the bourbon industry here are the sons and grandsons of some poor Yiddish speaking itinerant Jewish peddler who for reasons known only to himself and the recesses of time, settled here, opened a dry goods store, did well, expanded, opened a clothing store and then two or three or four more, and raised 5 boys who followed in his stead, continued to prosper while those around them didn't do so well or see the big picture, and after prohibition was repealed had the foresight and wherewithall to buy a broken down distillery and with the expertise of others and their backing ended up owning one of Kentucky's largest distilleries. Wus machs a yid? Who else could have done it. The Shapiras. A cognate of the Shapiro, Spiro/Spira, Sapir, Shapiro, et al....all related, all somehow descending from a family from the town of Speyer, Germany, or possibly the roots are more biblical as we Shapiros like to think, deriving from the hebrew word sapir meaning... What ever, due to the vagueries of fate, transliteration, or the whim of some immigration agent at Ellis island, we are all part of common roots that relates us although we no longer know how. Our branch survived the sweat shops of the lower east side, remaining in the New York area, moving to Brooklyn and beyond, and doing ok, thanks, but you Shapiras of Bardstown did good. Yesher koach!!!
So as fate would have it, the Shapiras became bourbon kings as a matter of circumstance and business sense. This is probably a story that has played out many times over the vast expanse of America traversed by itinerant Jewish peddlers heading west, taking their lives in their hands to sell dry goods to farmers and ranchers with hopes of supporting their families back east. Some died trying, some like the Shapiras and the Goldwaters further west did well.
Pablo Shapiro
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