in 1559 our old friend the grand-duke cosimo primo de' medici decreed that wealthy florentines could sell the wine they produced on their country estates direct from little windows cut into the walls of their city palaces instead of through taverns and inn keepers. so, you would walk by, and you would buy, not by the glass, but you'd buy by the bottle. >> you'd buy a flask. >> you buy a flask. they had a little wooden door, there was a bell. sometimes they would also place things like a flask on top like an advertisement to say, "hey guys, we sell wine."