Tumbler style glasses called nobblers

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DescriptionThe Nobbler
Recently I came across quite a few broken very heavily based tumbler style glasses in spoil dumped by contractors from excavations at former gold rush era hotel sites. These glasses, though broken near the tops, can be seen to be of deceptively small capacity due to their tapering shape inside very thick bases. These glasses were “nobblers” (once a common Australasian term) for both the glass style and size and the contents which were a measure of spirits.
The nobbler, was literally “something that nobbles or gets hold of you”. Brandy, whisky, gin (both the English and Dutch styles) and rum were commonly drunk nobblers in the gold rush days of the West Coast in the 1860’s and remainder of the 19thcentury.
The size of a nobbler glass and measure lessened over time as seems the norm in the hospitality trade. Back in the 1860’s the capacity of a nobbler glass was in the order of 5 fluid ounces and was likely based on the old English measure of a gill = 5 fluid ounces. Nobblers were only part filled with spirits and usually by eye by the publican thus there was room for a mixer such as ginger ale, soda water, lemonade or water if required. The generosity of a publicans nobbler pours attracted praise or gripes. The unwritten law of the masses harking back to old British law was that a fair nobbler measure was ¼ of a gill which was 1¼ fluid ounces or in metrics 35.5 millilitres (somewhat more than the formerly prescribed 30ml nip which was the standard measure in recent times until such regulation was removed from statute)
In practice publicans often kept a ¼ gill (1¼ oz) measure to check that their pours were fair measure if challenged by patrons. By the early 20th century this measure had shrunk to 1 oz and measured instead of by eye pours were becoming standard. Our neighbours the Australians legislated the size of a nobbler pour, their definition being not less than 13/16ths of a fluid ounce.
Nobbler glasses as such went out of vogue with publicans once measured pours became standard as there was no longer the advantage of serving spirit measures in glasses that visually exaggerated the generosity of the pour.
Back in the gold rush days of the West Coast there was a culture of nobbler drinking. Sealing a deal, meeting an acquaintance, recreation all called for a nobbler or round of nobblers. The price of a nobbler was usually one shilling, double the price of in big cities such as Melbourne.ContributorGlenn Johnston

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CommentsGlenn Johnston The photo shows bases of broken nobbler glasses that have had their jagged edges squared off. Note the glass thickness and small internal capacity.

Glenn Johnston In Westland back in 1867 about 4.5 gallons per person (man, woman & child) of legally produced & duty paid spirits were consumed per capita annually. In addition to this illicit stills were "common". Thus nobbler drinking was rife back in late 1860's Westland.

Lois Iacoppi They look very much like the penny lick glasses the Italian ice cream sellers used

Lois Iacoppi I was told they used to call out Um poko ( don’t know spelling) which became hokey pokey

Glenn Johnston Reading old commerce and shipping notices gives an insight in to what spirits were used for filling the nobbler glasses. Duty classes were for brandy, whiskey, rum, sweetened gin, geneva and other spirits. These came both bulk and pre bottled. The brandy which was very popular was mainly of French origin with Hennessy and Martell's perhaps being the favoured brands. The whiskey was mainly scotch whisky with Stewart's Kirkliston and James Stewart's Saucel whiskies being highly favoured. Dawson's was also sought after. Campbelltown, Glenlivet, Islay and Irish styles were all in the market. Rum was from the West Indies with Lemon & Harts and Lowndes being popular brands. Sweetened Gin was commonly known as Old Tom Gin and was a style of English Gin that has now been surpassed in popularity by the London Dry style. Important manufacturers of the Sweetened Gin/Old Tom Gin were Burnett's, Boord's and Booth's. Geneva also known as Square Gin and Dutch Gin (even though also manufactured outside Holland) had its own category. The most important brands of Geneva were JDKZ, "Key" which was an ACA Nolet and later Blankenheym & Nolet brand, Van Hoboken and Van Hoytema. [Schnapps was classed as a type of Geneva. Wolfe's and Peters were the main schnapps brands sold in Westland in 1865/66]
Other Spirits were lumped together in one duty category and as a total were of relatively minor importance in comparison with those spirits mentioned above.

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Tumbler style glasses called nobblers

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