Toby Jug

<h2 id="etymology">Etymology</h2>
<p>There are competing theories for the origin of the name "Toby Jug".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> Although it has been suggested that the pot is named after <a href="/facts/Sir_Toby_Belch/V6kG7N9A">Sir Toby Belch</a> in Shakespeare's play <i><a href="/facts/Twelfth_Night/38Uz8Vgh">Twelfth Night</a></i>, or Uncle Toby in Laurence Sterne's <i><a href="/facts/Tristram_Shandy/dDNQe3KA">Tristram Shandy</a></i>, the most widely accepted theory is that the original was a Yorkshireman, Henry Elwes, 'famous for drinking 2,000 gallons of strong stingo beer from his silver tankard, while eating nothing....He was nicknamed Toby Fillpot, and after his death in 1761 the London publisher of popular prints, Carrington Bowles, issued a mezzotint portrait of him. It became a best-seller - as did the Burslem Potter Ralph Wood's "Toby" jugs based on the portrait.'<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Toby Fillpot was also the subject of a popular poem, 'The Brown Jug', by <a href="/facts/Francis_Fawkes/Ewgxfu3X">Francis Fawkes</a>:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>DEAR TOM , this brown jug, that now foams with mild ale,
(In which I will drink to sweet Nan of the Vale)
Was once Toby Fillpot, a thirsty old soul
As e'er drank a bottle or fathomed a bowl;
In boosing about 't was his praise to excel,
And among jolly topers he bore off the bell.
</p><p>It chanced, as in dog-days he sat at his ease,
In his flower-woven arbour, as gay as you please,
With a friend and a pipe, puffing sorrows away,
And with honest old Stingo was soaking his clay,
His breath-doors of life on a sudden were shut,
And he died full as big as a Dorchester butt.
</p><p>His body when long in the ground it had lain,
And time into clay had resolved it again,
A potter found out in its covert so snug,
And with part of fat Toby he formed this brown jug;
Now sacred to friendship, to mirth, and mild ale,
So here 's to my lovely sweet Nan of the Vale.
</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="cultural-references">Cultural references</h2>
<p>In the book and 1949 film <i><a href="/facts/Twelve_O%2527Clock_High/ffekNKfu">Twelve O'Clock High</a></i> a Toby Jug depicting <a href="/facts/Robin_Hood/IvyKArGI">Robin Hood</a> is used as a signal in the <a href="/facts/Military_officers%2527_club/j9Votr6e">officer's club</a>, to discreetly warn aircrews that there will be a mission the following day, without revealing this to outsiders who might be visiting. The Toby Jug plays a pivotal role in the film.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
</p><p>A Toby Jug collector and her large collection also figure prominently in the plot of the 2017 Bravo/Netflix series <a href="/facts/Imposters_(TV_series)/8acuFboa"><i>Imposters</i></a>.
</p>
<h2 id="collections">Collections</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.tobyjugmuseum.com/">American Toby Jug Museum</a> is located on Chicago Avenue in <a href="/facts/Evanston%2c_Illinois/jjKy8Xyv">Evanston, Illinois</a>, US.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/SylvaC/qSBkS0jh">SylvaC</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toby jugs.

<ul><li><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Encyclopedia_Americana_(1920)/Jug">"Jug" </a>. <i><a href="/facts/Encyclopedia_Americana/rsmEnQT5">Encyclopedia Americana</a></i>. 1920.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.tobyjugmuseum.com">American Toby Jug Museum</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"History of Toby Jugs". <a href="http://www.tobyjugcollecting.com/history-of-toby-jugs.html" target="_blank">http://www.tobyjugcollecting.com/history-of-toby-jugs.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"American Toby Jug Museum - Toby & Character Jugs - History". Archived from the original on 2018-05-21. Retrieved 2015-09-30. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180521213923/http://www.tobyjugmuseum.com/styles-makers.php" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20180521213923/http://www.tobyjugmuseum.com/styles-makers.php</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>The Art of the Old English Potter, By Louis Marc Emmanuel Solon, Forgotten Books, September, 2015, p. 245, ISBN 978-1331549598 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Dale, Jean (2003) [1991]. Royal Doulton Jugs. A Charlton Standard Catalogue (7th ed.). North York, Canada: The Charlton Press. p. vii. ISBN 0-88968-280-1. <a href="0-88968-280-1" target="_blank">0-88968-280-1</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>John Windsor, 'The Mantel', The Independent, 21 August 1998 <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/personal-finance-the-rogue-on-the-mantel-1173141.html" target="_blank">https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/personal-finance-the-rogue-on-the-mantel-1173141.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Miller, James (2015). "28th BW adopts Toby Jug, accepts new mission". 8th Air Force/ J-GSOC. United States Air Force. Retrieved 22 July 2024. <a href="https://www.8af.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/813520/28th-bw-adopts-toby-jug-accepts-new-mission/" target="_blank">https://www.8af.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/813520/28th-bw-adopts-toby-jug-accepts-new-mission/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>The American Toby Jug Museum in Evanston is Closing. What does one do with 8500 Toby Jugs, in Chicago Tribune, 27 Sept 2024. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/09/27/the-american-toby-jug-museum-in-evanston-is-closing-what-does-one-do-with-8500-toby-jugs/ <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/09/27/the-american-toby-jug-museum-in-evanston-is-closing-what-does-one-do-with-8500-toby-jugs/" target="_blank">https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/09/27/the-american-toby-jug-museum-in-evanston-is-closing-what-does-one-do-with-8500-toby-jugs/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Toby Jug open-in-new

Toby Jug