The Hayner Distillery Museum
The John E. Lutz collection of Hayner Distillery memorabilia.
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The Hayner Distillery Museum Permanent Exhibition
The Troy-Hayner Cultural Center houses the premier United States collection of Hayner Distillery artifacts and ephemera. The collection includes over 100 bottles and jugs spanning more than 56 years of manufacturing with dozens of varieties of spirits, products and marketing items. In 1866 Lewis Hayner built a distillery on Water Street in Troy, Ohio and founded “Lewis Hayner, Distiller, Pure Copper Distilled Rye and Bourbon Whiskies.” Hayner Distillery expanded with the country’s industrial revolution and fell away with the threat of impending prohibition. The distillery on Water Street was shut down in 1920. The Hayner Distillery Company’s history coincides with and paints a picture of the pre-prohibition era in the history of America.
William M. Hayner, the husband of Mary Jane Hayner, was the nephew of Lewis Hayner. As a young man William studied the distillery industry and in 1885, at the age of 28, opened a Hayner Distilling Company retail store in Springfield, Ohio at 42 East Main. He also ran a distributorship from this Springfield location.
Upon the death of Lewis Hayner in 1892, the distillery was taken over by William Hayner’s half-brother Charles C. Hayner, and the company became known as “C.C. Hayner Distiller, Pure Copper Distilled Rye and Bourbon Whiskies.” By the mid-1890s, William Hayner had gained controlling interest in the distillery and with the help of his brother-in-law, Walter S. Kidder, ran the organization. These four men were the remarkable entrepreneurs who built the Hayner Distillery into a landmark business in Troy’s history and a nationally recognized and enormously profitable mail order whiskey business. At its peak, the Troy distillery operated around the clock and had distributorships in 14 locations throughout the country including 226 – 228 West Fifth Street in Dayton, Ohio; and St. Louis, Atlanta, San Francisco, Louisville, New Orleans, Louisiana, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, and Washington D.C to name a few.
As anti-alcohol sentiments grew the company tried other products such as Hayner cigars, Hayner juice, and Hayner soda pop but to no great consequence. Around the 1890s Walter Kidder came up with an important business idea for the company. Instead of ramping down production as other distilleries were doing, they increased their advertising and changed their distribution system to bypass the public places of business and concentrate on selling their whiskey in a discrete manner to individuals. Hayner Whiskey began to advertise in newspapers and men’s magazines and offered to mail their products directly to individuals at home. Although many states throughout the country voted themselves dry, there were few laws prohibiting the mailing of alcohol across state lines. During times of passionate debate about the evils of alcohol, receiving one’s whiskey order through the mail must have been a relief. Because of this great business idea, Hayner Whiskey prospered where other distilleries throughout the country suffered. Bottles of whiskey were mailed in brown paper boxes with nothing to identify it except for the stamp, “Box 290.” Hayner Distillery profits grew even as the country passed more and more laws to prohibit public alcohol. In the end the passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, effectively resulted in Prohibition in 1920. The production of Hayner liquors ceased, although its corporate existence continued for many years after.
William M. Hayner, the husband of Mary Jane Hayner, was the nephew of Lewis Hayner. As a young man William studied the distillery industry and in 1885, at the age of 28, opened a Hayner Distilling Company retail store in Springfield, Ohio at 42 East Main. He also ran a distributorship from this Springfield location.
Upon the death of Lewis Hayner in 1892, the distillery was taken over by William Hayner’s half-brother Charles C. Hayner, and the company became known as “C.C. Hayner Distiller, Pure Copper Distilled Rye and Bourbon Whiskies.” By the mid-1890s, William Hayner had gained controlling interest in the distillery and with the help of his brother-in-law, Walter S. Kidder, ran the organization. These four men were the remarkable entrepreneurs who built the Hayner Distillery into a landmark business in Troy’s history and a nationally recognized and enormously profitable mail order whiskey business. At its peak, the Troy distillery operated around the clock and had distributorships in 14 locations throughout the country including 226 – 228 West Fifth Street in Dayton, Ohio; and St. Louis, Atlanta, San Francisco, Louisville, New Orleans, Louisiana, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, and Washington D.C to name a few.
As anti-alcohol sentiments grew the company tried other products such as Hayner cigars, Hayner juice, and Hayner soda pop but to no great consequence. Around the 1890s Walter Kidder came up with an important business idea for the company. Instead of ramping down production as other distilleries were doing, they increased their advertising and changed their distribution system to bypass the public places of business and concentrate on selling their whiskey in a discrete manner to individuals. Hayner Whiskey began to advertise in newspapers and men’s magazines and offered to mail their products directly to individuals at home. Although many states throughout the country voted themselves dry, there were few laws prohibiting the mailing of alcohol across state lines. During times of passionate debate about the evils of alcohol, receiving one’s whiskey order through the mail must have been a relief. Because of this great business idea, Hayner Whiskey prospered where other distilleries throughout the country suffered. Bottles of whiskey were mailed in brown paper boxes with nothing to identify it except for the stamp, “Box 290.” Hayner Distillery profits grew even as the country passed more and more laws to prohibit public alcohol. In the end the passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, effectively resulted in Prohibition in 1920. The production of Hayner liquors ceased, although its corporate existence continued for many years after.
The John E. Lutz Collection of Hayner Memorabilia
John E. Lutz started his Hayner artifact and ephemera collection as a young boy when he rescued an interesting looking Hayner whiskey bottle from the trash. It was among many bottles of spoiled homemade wine being sent to the city dump for disposal. From this small beginning, John Lutz assembled his collection. The Friends of Hayner purchased the collection in 2003, and an historic exhibit was curated at the Center with a considerable donation by John E. and Kay R. Remley Lutz. The Hayner Distillery pre-pro museum is available to the public without fee during the regular hours of the Troy-Hayner Cultural Center.
Sources and Resources
Online articles:
Bales, Dick “The Common Stuff” Vol. 5, No.3, Tues., Oct. 14, 2008; www.pro-pro.com/common_stuff/Vol5No3.htm
“Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men! www.pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-hayners-and-walter-kidder-profited.html
Hayner Distilling Co. Dayton, OH. 1866-1920 https://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/view_vendor.php?vid=DAY11339
Articles in paper:
Burba, Howard, “Distilling in the Early Days”; Dayton Daily News, November 19, 1933
Williams, Michael W., Timeline (“Profits from Prohibition Walter Kidder and the Hayner Distillery”) March-April 1999 magazine
Books:
Beers, W.H., 1880 “The History of Miami County, Ohio: Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; Windmill Publications
Gamblee, Joanne Duke, 2004 “Mary Jane Hayner: The Woman, The Fortunes, The Legacy”; Wooster Book Company
Wheeler, Thomas Bemis, 1970 “Troy; The Nineteenth Century”; Troy Historical Society.
Bales, Dick “The Common Stuff” Vol. 5, No.3, Tues., Oct. 14, 2008; www.pro-pro.com/common_stuff/Vol5No3.htm
“Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men! www.pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-hayners-and-walter-kidder-profited.html
Hayner Distilling Co. Dayton, OH. 1866-1920 https://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/view_vendor.php?vid=DAY11339
Articles in paper:
Burba, Howard, “Distilling in the Early Days”; Dayton Daily News, November 19, 1933
Williams, Michael W., Timeline (“Profits from Prohibition Walter Kidder and the Hayner Distillery”) March-April 1999 magazine
Books:
Beers, W.H., 1880 “The History of Miami County, Ohio: Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; Windmill Publications
Gamblee, Joanne Duke, 2004 “Mary Jane Hayner: The Woman, The Fortunes, The Legacy”; Wooster Book Company
Wheeler, Thomas Bemis, 1970 “Troy; The Nineteenth Century”; Troy Historical Society.
