I thought there was a term for a pact in which a bunch of people
purchase a bottle of wine or liquor.  One of them stores it, but the
agreement is that only the last one left alive gets to drink it, and
toasts to his departed comrades.
 What is the term, if any?

Dear pcventures-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question though I must admit I had some help. Thanks to my researcher
friends you and I ?both? now know that the agreement you are speaking
of is called a ?tontine?.

?A more innocuous tontine was the subject of a M*A*S*H episode in
which Colonel Potter, the last survivor of his World War I unit,
inherits a bottle of wine with which to toast the memory of his old
comrades.?


FACT INDEX
http://www.fact-index.com/t/to/tontine.html

WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tontine

?Last man clubs modify the tontine structure, eliminating the money
factor and replacing it with a promise, usually for annual reunions at
which the members honor their memories, their friendship, and their
comrades who have passed to the next plane of existence. The concept
became quite popular on both sides during the Civil War. According to
sources consulted by Charlotte and August Brunsman for their
unpublished report on three of the Wright Brothers and their ?Annual
Club of Ten Dayton Boys,? one of the last remaining Civil War groups
held its final meeting in 1930. Charles Lockwood of South Dakota, the
last survivor of a group of 34 soldiers of Company B, First Minnesota
Volunteer Infantry, fulfilled his 1885 pledge and opened an
autographed bottle of wine in tribute to his comrades in arms.?

THE LAST MAN?S CLUB
http://www.jlbpublishing.com/lynchburgguide/feature2.htm


Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any questions
about my research please post a clarification request prior to rating
the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final comments
and I look forward to working with you again in the near future. Thank
you for bringing your question to us.

Special thanks to my friends ?Pinkfreud-ga? and ?Mother911-ga?.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher


INFORMATION SOURCES

Defined above


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINES USED:

Google ://www.google.com




SEARCH TERMS USED:


Tontine

Bottle of wine

Bloody Spectacular - thanks!  This one was haunting me for years
*before* Google was even a concept.

"Last man clubs modify the tontine structure, eliminating the money
factor and replacing it with a promise, usually for annual reunions"

Kind of like the 1972 Miami Dolphins.