Can a Flask Be
Hip? Only If It's a
Pewter Hip Flask!
A pewter hip flask makes an excellent gift to a drunkard. Ooops,
sorry...it makes a great gift to anyone who fancies drinking in style,
anytime, anywhere. You don't need to bring bottles around, that's for
sure.
A hip flask is thin and is shaped to fit into your
trouser pocket, so it's easy to carry around. It's quite discreet too.
Historically,
the hip flask evolved into it's current shape during the 18th century.
Prior to that it was bigger and could be made from anything from animal
bladder to gutted fruit. Nowadays they're mostly made of stainless
steel.
I have held both pewter and stainless steel hip
flasks
and found that a pewter flask of the same size is actually heavier.
That was initially surprising because stainless steel has a higher
density than lead-free pewter (pewter with lead can be heavier since
the density of lead is very high).
The difference was actually
in the thickness of the flasks. With stainless steel, being of higher
strength, you don't need very thick walls. Pewter is a softer alloy, so
a thicker wall is neccessary to prevent the hip flask getting dented
from all the knocks that it suffers at the hands of the brutal
drunkards.
Err, sorry...I mean the drinkers.
Since there
is so much wide space on the hip flask, generally most people won't
pass up the chance to engrave something on it. You can engrave anything
you can think of, and it would actually make the gift even more
appreciated by the recipient.
Many hip flasks have become
sought-after collectibles. Flasks from certain liquor producers such as
Jack Daniel's are popular with loyal drinkers and collectors.
I
saw a cool and supposedly rather old Jack Daniel's hip flask at a local
market but it was too pricey for me. Regrettably, I had to
pass it up.
But I found this one and bought it at a cheaper
price:
The Chinese character in the middle of the hip flask means
'prosperity'. It's in a very good condition and comes with a little
white plastic funnel for pouring liquor into the flask. You can fill up
to 12cl of liquor into this one.
I've also been scouring for a pewter hip flask
with
an interesting design and found this one with a coffin shape. If you're
one
with a taste for the unconventional (or in this case, macabre), then
this one might be for you.
  This little
drinker's coffin comes from Sheffield, England. If you like something
highly polished, then you'll like this one. It has 4oz capacity, and is
about 4.4 inches tall. Imagine swigging from a coffin...interesting,
huh?
By the way, before you use any
pewter hip flask, do try to find out if it contains lead. Modern pewter
should not contain any lead but it pays to be extra careful with the
older ones.
You can also check out other pewter drinkware on this site:
Pewter
Tankards
Pewter
Goblets
Pewter
Tea Set
Pewter
Quaich
Pewter
Porringer
Return to Pewter Drinkware from Pewter
Hip Flask
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