Looking for Kentucky Derby mint julep cups? Massive, rare collection to go on auction

An extensive collection of Kentucky Derby glassware, including one that inspired Churchill Downs to make the now popular collectible mint julep cups, will go on auction in April.

Even people who don’t care for the syrupy bourbon and mint cocktail often collect the colorful glasses, which are sold today online, at the Louisville racetrack and in Kroger stores.

But that wasn’t always the case. Older cups can be hard to find and expensive to acquire.

Longtime equine veterinarian Dr. Merritt William Marrs, a colorful Lexington native who worked for the late Buckram Oak Farm owner Mahmoud Fustok, collected about 500 glasses altogether, at least one from each year.

Marrs died in January in California and his collection will be auctioned by Caswell Prewitt, beginning April 10.

Longtime Thoroughbred racehorse owner and California bloodstock agent Rollin Baugh remembered Marrs as a man with hundreds of dear friends around the world and a zest for hospitality. Marrs did indeed like mint juleps, Baugh said. “He would have them. Not every day but he would have them.”

“He was a highly respected international veterinarian and there’s no bigger race than the Kentucky Derby,” Baugh said. “He was one of the most prominent racetrack veterinarians at both Churchill Downs and Keeneland.”

Baugh recalled seeing his friend’s valuable Derby glass collection in his home. “It’s probably unique. Many people have a lot of Derby glasses but he had more than anyone,” Baugh said.

“He loved the Derby,” said Karen Nielsen, Marrs’ fiance and the executor of his estate. Nielsen said Marrs enjoyed collecting many things, including art, some of which will be sent to Lexington gallery owner Greg Ladd and Cross Gate Gallery for the 2023 Sporting Art Auction, she said.

What’s in the Kentucky Derby glass collection?

Marrs’ Derby glass collection includes a 1938 Churchill Downs glass that actually pre-dates the popular julep cups.

Col. Matt Winn, who helped save the Derby by switching to parimutuel betting after bookmaking was outlawed in Kentucky in 1908, was a partner in ownership of the track and worked to build the race into a national phenomenon.

In 1938, according to Dave Diederich of Caswell Prewitt, Winn noticed fans at the Derby were taking home the racetrack’s water glasses as souvenirs.

“This guy was like the P.T. Barnum of Churchill Downs and the Derby was his baby. So in 1939 Churchill Downs did the first julep glass and Dr. Merritt Marrs collected them all, up to 2022,” Diederich said.

The early glasses are extremely valuable and several are expected to sell for five figures, he said.

Rare glasses in the collection include:

▪ 1940 version of a Derby glass that is one of only 800 made. According to Nielsen, Marrs had insured this glass 20 years ago for $14,500.

▪ Aluminum versions made in 1941 to eliminate broken glass.

▪ “Beetleware” (an early plastic) versions made during World War II.

▪ Unofficial Derby glasses made by sponsors such as Buick, with advertising on it.

Diederich said the collection also includes a wide variety of shot glasses and other barware also made as Kentucky Derby collectibles.

How to bid on a Kentucky Derby julep cup

You can view the catalog at auctions.caswellprewittrealty.com beginning April 6.

The online auction opens April 10 and will start to close with lot 1 at 6 p.m. April 30.

The 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 6 in Louisville.