Two Fingers

One of the most misundestood sets of glasses is made up of different sized metal cups with a small hand added near the rim of each cup. The hand has either one, two or three fingers raised, depending on the size of the cup, with the smallest cup having a hand with one finger raised, while the largest has three fingers raised. The largest glass is often labeled "boy scout memorabilia" because the boy scout sign is a raised hand with three fingers extended. The middle sized glass, with two fingers raised, usually has a space between the fingers, and is frequently identified as either a "V for Victory" or "a Peace Sign" depending on the age of the seller. These descriptions, while creative, are not correct.

In the days before the adoption of standards, body parts were often used as units of measure -- the bible talks about measuring things in cubits (the distance from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger) the foot was obviously based on the size of someones foot, and the height of horses is still measured in hands . In the days before jiggers or shotglasses, drinks were measured in fingers; a small drink would be "one fingers worth" -- the depth of the liquid in the glass would be the width of one finger, an average drink would be "two fingers worth," etc. The "one finger," "two fingers," and "three fingers" jiggers are just modern references to these old standards.

Back To The Articles Page