skip to main |
skip to sidebar
It's time once again for another salute to those African Americans who otherwise would have their contributions overlooked. We turn back the hands of time and travel back to 1946 where a young man in Biloxi, Mississippi had a vision while wandering the aisles of a store in what was known as "Liquor Row" due to the amount of stores that sold booze. The clientel in that part of town was mainly the unemployed black man who would often panhandle passerbys for spare change for a drink. Grover McIntosh was no exception. What he came to realize is that he had to stand just outside the door all day long in the blistering heat. This is where Mr. McIntosh had a revelation that would change this overlooked area of the alcoholic beverage industry forever, At that time, The African American community w had realized that in order to get a good buzz on wine, it would cost about $5 for a bottle of spirits which mainly came from France and Italy. One evening Mr. McIntosh took a collection on the street corner and was able to buy one of the expensive bottles of wine, With that, McIntosh headed home to his apartment and went right to work. McIntosh polished off half the bottle and filled the rest with water. By adjusting the formula, McIntosh was able to cut the cost in half. For merely half a buck, McIntosh was able to secure shelf space around town for his product which was yet to be named. While waiting in the unemployment line one afternoon, the man behind the counter joked with hin about his name and asked him if he's Irish. It was on that very day that "Wild Irish Rose" was born Since then, this cheap, fortified wine has spread through the African American community like wildfire, McIntoshes invention earned him a sizeable anount of money and can still be seen in local parks and inner cities, usually being sipped out of a brown paper bag. Sadly, Grover McIntosh passed away in 1988 however, thanks to him, everyone is able to afford a cheap night of getting drunk!
It's time once again for another salute to those African Americans who otherwise would have their contributions overlooked. We turn back the hands of time and travel back to 1946 where a young man in Biloxi, Mississippi had a vision while wandering the aisles of a store in what was known as "Liquor Row" due to the amount of stores that sold booze. The clientel in that part of town was mainly the unemployed black man who would often panhandle passerbys for spare change for a drink. Grover McIntosh was no exception. What he came to realize is that he had to stand just outside the door all day long in the blistering heat. This is where Mr. McIntosh had a revelation that would change this overlooked area of the alcoholic beverage industry forever, At that time, The African American community w had realized that in order to get a good buzz on wine, it would cost about $5 for a bottle of spirits which mainly came from France and Italy. One evening Mr. McIntosh took a collection on the street corner and was able to buy one of the expensive bottles of wine, With that, McIntosh headed home to his apartment and went right to work. McIntosh polished off half the bottle and filled the rest with water. By adjusting the formula, McIntosh was able to cut the cost in half. For merely half a buck, McIntosh was able to secure shelf space around town for his product which was yet to be named. While waiting in the unemployment line one afternoon, the man behind the counter joked with hin about his name and asked him if he's Irish. It was on that very day that "Wild Irish Rose" was born Since then, this cheap, fortified wine has spread through the African American community like wildfire, McIntoshes invention earned him a sizeable anount of money and can still be seen in local parks and inner cities, usually being sipped out of a brown paper bag. Sadly, Grover McIntosh passed away in 1988 however, thanks to him, everyone is able to afford a cheap night of getting drunk!
