Welcome to the best little decanter collection in Alamo Collective
Oakland Tribune, Aug 25, 2007 by Joan Morris

SAM TULLIS is the first to admit that his collection is not what you'd call run-of-the-mill.

While others find joy in endlessly collecting stamps or coins, china dolls or figurines, stuffed bears or even doorknobs, Tullis' collection is limited, finite and provocative.

Tullis, who lives in Alamo, collects brothel decanters made by Captain Dug. The miniature decanters, which when originally sold contained the Captain's "famous" blue mai tai mix, celebrate the legal brothels of Nevada. Each features winsome, curvy figures of women, a map locating the brothel and little doubt about what profession the decanters depict.

Grinning, Tullis tries to explain his attraction for the small, cork-stoppered bottles. There is a beauty to them, Tullis says. And then there's the Wild West romanticism of the world's oldest profession.

"The brothel aspect intrigues me," says Tullis, who has his collection displayed in a built-in wall unit. "We go hunting in Wyoming and as we drive through Nevada, you can hear them on the CBs, trying to talk the truckers into stopping."

While he finds each decanter attractive in its detail and design, he is more drawn by the hunt for the rare, unique bottles.

The decanters were made from 1976 to 2000 by Dug Picking, a sailor turned Nevada restaurateur. Picking was born in Estonia, but began traveling the world on the high seas at a young age. In 1954, Picking settled in Nevada, where he worked in restaurants, bars and casinos. In the late 1960s, he opened his own place, Dug's West Indies in Carson City, specializing in Polynesian Chinese cuisine.

His first two decanters, made in 1974 and 1975, featured nautical themes and were sold at his restaurant. The following year, the owner of the nearby Moonlight Ranch brothel asked him to make one for the ranch.

The decanters were so popular, other brothels began asking to have their establishments immortalized by Captain Dug. He eventually made 47 brothel decanters and a few unrelated bottles. The numbers produced, however, were small. Some had as a few as 700; others as many as 1,500.

The designs and the limited numbers have combined to make the decanters rare and, in recent months, extremely valuable. A bottle in mint condition recently sold for $700.