Then as now, regional products were often used. Oelder spirits were particularly popular.
This was especially problematic for visitors from Scandinavia and Asia – as their access to alcohol was somewhat restricted. On the one hand, they were keen to buy the permitted quantity of expensive, high-end spirits in the duty-free store on their return journey – yet they didn’t want to ignore the gift from Haver & Boecker or let it go to waste.
Over the years, it became apparent how visitors from abroad solved this “luxury problem”: The Oelder schnapps was sampled at the hotel on the evening before departure. Although this created space for new purchases, it sometimes caused problems for the Haver & Boecker drivers who had to take guests to the airport in the morning. After a bottle of an Oelder drop, getting up on time was no longer quite so easy for the foreign visitor. And so some trips to the airport became a race against the clock.
