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Cuero
Turkey Trot As
many as 20,000 turkeys have been driven down the streets of Cuero.
Since 1908, these gobblers, which could have been our national bird, would trot
from their roosts along main street down to the packing house. People soon started
flocking to see them.
In 1912, the first Cuero Turkey Trot was held.
(From
DeWitt
County Courthouse by Lou
Ann Herda, Ed. D
What does a turkey drive, a thirty-year feud, a
lady in a clock, and a headless horseman have in common? The answer is DeWitt
County...
more ) |
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Tidbit
on Collecting Cuero Turkey Trot BottlesWhen
traveling the roads of Texas and you're in that certain
antique or junk store on the side of the road. If by chance you see an old pop
bottle with embossed Turkey's on it GRAB IT! You're more than likley to have found
a commemorative Cuero Turkey Trot bottle and a piece of Texas
History! Cuero is
famous for it's annual Turkey Trot Parade down main street and these bottles
were made for the occasion. These parades have been taking place since 1912!
There
are 4 distinct types known to have been made, Three being embossed and
one newer style with a colored label. The most common embossed is a 4 sided green
bottle with 4 Turkey's embossed(Pat'd 1923), then a round body bottle with one
big Turkey embossed(Pat'd 1924), then the rarest of the embossed is a clear 4
sided with Turkey's with this bottle having the glass plant mark "3 RIVERS*" on
the heel(mid-1920's). This was the mark of the Three Rivers Texas Glass plant(1922-37).
The last bottle made was for the Cuero Centennial in 1972 and is what bottle collectors
call an ACL bottle(applied color label). These can still be found in shops from
time to time and some survived still full with the contents. These newer bottles
held Cream Soda Pop.
As far as what is a fair value if you see one? The
embossed Turkey bottles are very seldom found in shops anymore but a few of the
green bottles would show up at the Houston Antique bottle show from time to time
and fetch about $75+. The clear embossed is the most sought after and rarest and
would bring quite a bit more if the seller knew what they had! Your 1972 green
colored label can be found regularly on internet auction sites and in junk shops
and should cost you about $5-$12. It took me 30 years of bottle collecting before
I got my 4 set complete- Good luck Turkey Hunting!!! - William
Beauchamp, April 17, 2009 |
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| | Turkey
Trot in Cuero
Photo
Courtesy TXDoT | |
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