Alaska’s Inside Passage Shot Glass With State Flag And Semaphores

PACIFIC NORTHWEST. 
Shot Glass, Barware, Souvenir, c. 1990s. 

The Inside Passage of Alaska refers to a coastal water route allowing for ships to sail between the islands of the Pacific Northwest coast of the North American Fjordland along a network of passages. Extending from southeastern Alaska to northwestern Washington, this storied route passes through Canada’s British Columbia to create a connecting thread from America’s contiguous 48 states to its 49th. The imagery included here on this shot glass represents what the area of the Inside Passage offers on a scenic level and also a symbolic one. Certainly a trip along this iconic coastal highway would not be complete without spotting a bald eagle or even more exciting one of The Last Frontier’s humpback whales breaching out of the water. Yet while on a cruise through this region you will see cultural views as well as natural ones. A flight of signal flags are featured on the rim of this shot glass. Such banners are used for nautical communications, and different designs represent letters of the alphabet. This semaphore sequence is actually the spelling out of A-L-A-S-K-A. Then there is the state flag itself - eight golden stars set against deep blue. The constellation was designed to be in the shape of Ursa Major, which is the Great Bear or Big Dipper, as it orients in the sky next to the North Star. The shade of blue for the sky was chosen in honor of the forget-me-not flower, a cheery warm weather sight in Alaska and all along the shorelines of the Inside Passage. A 13-year-old named Benny Bendon was the one who picked this color of blue for his flag design, which was the winning entry in a 1927 contest. Subsequently, forget-me-not became the official flower of the territory. And when Alaska finally was granted statehood in 1959, Benny Benson’s flower and flag remained in place. [Condition: Like New.] (Bottle + beer can provided for scale only.) 

Condition: Like New. 
Food / Beverage Related. 
Dimensions: 2” diameter x 2.5” high (volume: 2 fl oz)