Unmasking the Traveller

By Chris Bubash

One of the great mysteries of the bottle collecting universe concerns the identity of the individual on the exquisite (actually, beyond exquisite) Traveller’s Bitters bottle. For years it was thought that the embossed traveler depicted on the front of this bottle was nothing more than a folksy image similar to those on the Pike’s Peak flasks. Subsequent research seemed to indicate that the figure on the bottle could be that of General Robert E. Lee, and that the bitters were named for General Lee’s favorite horse, Traveller. Those arguments were, and still are, very convincing, so I do not discount the possibility that the above identification is correct. That being said, several things have always bothered me about that attribution, each of which I’ll discuss in turn.

My first concern is that the figure on the flask is wearing what is clearly, in my opinion, a bowler hat, while General Lee was known to favor slouch hats. While this could be explained away as moldmaker’s license, I’m of the opinion that the mold-maker would have (should have) been able to much more accurately portray the hat so routinely worn by General Lee. My second concern is that the figure is wearing what appears to be elegant civilian clothing. I would think that a mold-maker attempting to portray General Lee would have made at least a modest attempt to portray him in military uniform. My third concern is the inability to explain the 1834 date appearing on the back shoulder panel of the bottle. While 1870 clearly corresponds with the death of General Lee, the year 1834 seems to correspond with no major (or even minor) event in his life. All things considered, I think the latter concern is the one that left me feeling most uncomfortable with the figure’s current identification.

After spending some downtime during the holidays researching this mystery, I believe I’ve discovered another possibility for our mysterious figure. This individual, his image, and his life story align perfectly with every aspect of the Traveller’s Bitters bottle, including the overall appearance of the figure, his hat, his cane, the 1834 date, the 1870 date and the name Traveller. Though I’ve yet to discover the proverbial smoking gun, the preponderance of evidence discovered thus far suggests that the figure on the Traveller’s Bitters is none other than the great author, Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens was at the time immensely popular in the United States, and it would make sense that an enterprising glassworks and/or bitters proprietor would wish to commemorate, and perhaps capitalize on, his recent death. To gauge his popularity, we have only to consult several letters he wrote while touring America.

In a letter to William Charles Macready from Boston on January 31, 1842, Dickens states: “It is impossible to tell you what a reception I have had here. They cheer me in the theatres; in the streets; within doors; and without…Deputations and Committees wait upon me every day – some have come 2,000 miles – it is nothing to say that they carry me through the country on their shoulders, or that they flock about me as if I were an Idol. Nothing will express their affectionate greeting – I only wish to God that you could see it.”

In a letter written to Angela Coutts from Baltimore on March 22, 1842, Dickens states: “The truth is that they give me everything here, but time…That I shake hands every day when I am not travelling, with five or six hundred people…They

Traveller’s Bitters bottle

The caricature of William Makepeace Thackeray and Charles Dickens by Alfred Bryan.

gave me a ball at New York, at which three thousand people were present – and a public dinner besides – and another in Boston – and another in a place called Hartford. Others were projected, literally all through the States, but I gave public notice, that I couldn’t accept them, being of mere flesh and blood, and having only mortal powers of digestion.” Many other such passages exist in his letters and in newspaper accounts of his travels throughout America. Charles Dickens was, without a doubt, the rock star of his day!

The Investigation Begins

My investigation began with the word Traveller. Some research revealed two things. The first: In the 19th century, it was not uncommon to spell “traveler” as “traveller” in the United States. I discovered numerous newspaper articles and books using the latter spelling. Could Traveller’s Bitters therefore be nothing more than bitters for travellers? I believe this to be a distinct possibility. The second: In the 20th century, a person who travels is generally known as a traveler (with one “l”) in the United States, but as a traveller (with two “l”s) in England. Could Traveller’s Bitters have some connection to someone in or from England? Under the assumption that 1870 did indeed correspond with the death of the individual on the flask, I reviewed a list of notable persons who passed away in 1870 that could have a connection to the bottle. Apart from General Lee, one name in particular caught my attention: Charles Dickens. The question became, was there any way I could tie him to the individual on the bitters bottle?

The Dates (1834 and 1870)

As has already been established, Charles Dickens passed away in 1870. But what about 1834? Certainly not his birth date, as he was born in 1812. A review of his long career revealed an interesting fact: Charles Dickens’ first published work appeared circa 1834, albeit without his author’s byline. His story “A Dinner at Poplar Walk” was published in December 1833 in the London periodical Monthly Magazine under the pseudonym of “Boz.”

Peter Bracher of the University of Pennsylvania specifically discusses this timeframe in his dissertation entitled “Dickens and His American Readers, 1834-1870: A Study of the American Reception, Reputation, and Popularity of Charles Dickens and his Novels During his Lifetime.” What better way to celebrate the literary genius of Charles Dickens that by memorializing the date of his first contribution to the literary world (1834) and the date of his last contribution to the literary world (1870)

on the Traveller’s Bitters? A very nice commemoration indeed!

The Persona (The Traveller)

Research revealed that Dickens founded a journal called “All the Year Round” in 1859. In that journal, a collection of literary sketches and reminiscences called “The Uncommercial Traveller” would turn out to be among his primary contributions. Dickens appears to have chosen for himself the title of The Uncommercial Traveller as a result of a speech he gave to the Commercial Travellers’ School in London. The persona of The Uncommercial Traveller turned out to be a perfect fit for him, a writer who loved to travel not only as a tourist, but also as a researcher. In his words, “I am both a town traveller and a country traveller, and am always on the road … Literally speaking, I am always wandering here and there from my rooms in Covent Garden in London – now about the city streets, now about the country by-roads – seeing many little things, and some great things, which, because they interest me, I think may interest others. These are my chief credentials as The Uncommercial Traveller.”

The Appearance (Coat, Cane, and Bowler)

Dickens often demonstrated his awareness of the importance of his public image. As his own observations of fashion show, clothing had the potential to help you stand out from the crowd and, whether you liked how he dressed or not, Dickens made an impression. His appearance was often described as “foppish”, defined as being overly concerned with one’s clothes and appearance in an affected and excessive way. After reviewing numerous photographs taken over the years in an attempt to uncover one that resembled, or may have been the model for, the figure on Traveller’s Bitters, I uncovered the accompanying photo taken during the latter years of his life, circa his second visit to the United States between November 1867 and April 1868. As you can see, the photograph bears a remarkable resemblance to the figure on the bottle; the travelling coat, the hat, the cane, the beard. The cane was, in fact, used throughout his 1867-1868 tour, during which time he was plagued by inflammation of the foot. Also uncovered was the accompanying caricature of William Makepeace Thackeray and Charles Dickens by Alfred Bryan (18521899), curated by The Morgan Library, New York. Though done in caricature, the resemblance to the figure on the bottle is clear.

A Sidebar (Dickens on the Boston and Lowell)

For those interested in the wonderful Railroad Flasks, during his 1842 tour, Dickens took his first ride on an American railway on the Boston and Lowell (memorialized on the GV-10 Lowell Railroad - Eagle flask) and described his experience in vivid detail. Following are some of his notes: “I made acquaintance with an American railroad, on this occasion, for the first time…There are no first and second class carriages as with us; but there is a gentlemen’s car and a ladies’ car: the main distinction between which is that in the first, everybody smokes; and in the second, nobody does…There is a great deal of jolting, a great deal of noise, a great deal of wall, not much window, a locomotive engine, a shriek, and a bell.”

“The cars are like shabby omnibuses, but larger: holding thirty, forty, fifty people. The seats, instead of stretching from end to end, are placed crosswise. Each seat holds two persons. There is a long row of them on each side of the caravan, a narrow passage up the middle, and a door at both ends. In the centre of the carriage there is a stove, fed with charcoal or anthracite coal; which is for the most part red-hot. It is insufferably close; and you

TOP: Charles Dickens in his later years. MIDDLE: From the Jan. 20,1842 Boston Post. BOTTOM: The Nov. 23, 1867 New England Farmer.

see the hot air fluttering between yourself and any other object you may happen to look at, like the ghost of smoke.”

“The train calls at stations in the woods, where the wild impossibility of anybody having the smallest reason to get out is only to be equalled by the apparently desperate hopelessness of there being anybody to get in. It rushes across the turnpike road, where there is no gate, no policeman, no signal: nothing but a rough wooden arch, on which is painted ‘WHEN THE BELL RINGS, LOOK OUT FOR THE LOCOMOTIVE.’ On it whirls headlong…the mad dragon of an engine with its train of cars scattering in all directions a shower of burning sparks from its wood fire…”

Some Final Thoughts

While in America in 1842, Dickens attended sessions of Congress, toured the White House, met 10th U.S. President John Tyler, and hobnobbed with such luminaries as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Washington Irving, Edgar Allen Poe, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster. While touring America in 1867-1868, he met with 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson and gave seventy-six public readings for which he earned an estimated $140,000 ($2.5 million today).

So, there you have it. Charles Dickens. A man as world-renowned and beloved by the American people as the statesman Louis Kossuth (who toured America in 1851-1852) and the singer Jenny Lind (who toured America in 1850-1852). A man who, like Kossuth and Lind, was celebrated wherever he went. It is small wonder that he, like his contemporaries, would be chosen to be memorialized in glass by an enterprising glassworks or bitters proprietor. Perhaps someday someone will discover a labeled bottle or a newspaper advertisement proudly announcing “the recent availability of Traveller’s Bitters, honoring the late-departed Charles Dickens.” I, for one, am very much looking forward to that moment!

TOP: Map of Charles Dickens' first American tour in 1842. ABOVE: Map of the second Dickens tour in 1867-68.