A 1948 Senate account reported that four large companies produced nearly 80 million of roughly 168 million proof gallons of spirits in fiscal 1947—just under half—while marketing approximately 75 percent of bottled whiskey sold in the United States.
The complete 42-page Congressional Record issue was structurally validated, rendered, and visually reviewed. Printed page 1696 confirms the nearly 80 million of approximately 168 million proof gallons comparison and the approximately 75 percent bottled-whiskey marketing figure. Verification establishes what the Senate account reported; it does not substitute for the uncaptured underlying company returns or sales dataset.
This is a contemporaneous Senate floor account, not the underlying tax-return, production, or market-sales dataset. Use explicit attribution and treat it as a fiscal-1947 snapshot. 'Big Four' influence included brand ownership, bottling, advertising, purchases from independents, and distribution—not only direct distillation.
The gap between just-under-half production share and roughly three-quarters bottled-whiskey marketing share reveals how branded bottling and distribution amplified concentration beyond plant capacity alone.
Publication-safe when explicitly attributed to the 1948 Senate account and bounded to fiscal 1947. Do not generalize the percentages to other years.