Letters to the Editor

to the Editor

Another Bottle Adds to Fahrney History

Hi, John,

What a nice job John Panella and team are doing with unraveling the history behind the Fahrney medicine family! We all have come across this family’s bottles over the years. I thought I might share one that I came across a few years ago that still had most of its label. I love old medicine bottles but truly have an affinity for the labels that have survived affixed to their humble container.

Enjoy!

Tom Grove Dover, Pennsylvania

Batsto Village 2021 Spring Antique Glass and Bottle Show

Hello, John,

I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that the 2021 Spring Antique Bottle Show at Batsto Village has been canceled due to continuing Covid-19 concerns. We are hoping that public gatherings will be expanded in New Jersey for the fall show to be held on September 26.

Regards,

Jim Hammell

Editor’s note: Readers, please mark your calendars for September 26 and plan on attending this great outdoor event. Watch upcoming issues for further updates.

A New (old), Quack Medicine for Joe Widman

Hello, John,

Here is some information for AB&GC Medicine Chest Columnist, Joe Widman. In the early 1950s, I was taught how to search for old bottle dumps and how to locate privy sites.

At that time, my mentor, now deceased, talked about a strange bottle he had dug years before. He described the bottle as being clear, about 5 1/2” tall and embossed: “Cures Cancer, Cold Feet and Cold Women.” I don’t recall where it was from. I never got to see the bottle, as it was sold to a dealer from Portland, Maine, for $25.

I’ll bet Joe Widman would love to get his hands on this beauty.

Peter B. Samuelson Intervale, New Hampshire

Tom Grove shared this photo of his labeled Dr. Fahrney's Health Restorer.

to the Editor

The reverse of Tom Grove's bottle. Read more about Dr. Fahrney in this month's Medicine Chest.

April Magazine

Hi, John,

I just loved the April edition of the magazine. I really was impressed with the article “Unmasking the Traveller” by Chris Bubash. Chris did an excellent job of presenting his argument for Charles Dickens as the character on the bottle. Lots of excellent detective work to come to his conclusion. As a bitters collector he has convinced me that the Traveller is Dickens. I never did buy into the idea it was General Lee. The picture of Dickens with his cane and bowler hat did it for me. I wonder what my friend “Mr. Bitters,” also known as Bob Strickhart, thinks about Chris’ article. Good Job, Chris! John, on a different subject, I have an idea for the magazine that I think would be a hit with the subscribers. How about “The Oldie of the Month?” Where you would go back into the past hundreds of issues and feature a story for that same month out of the past. John, we have collectors that have never read the wealth of great stories and articles that you possess. Think about it please!

Best Regards,

Gary Beatty North Port, Florida

A Farley Jar Comes to Life

A pint of jarring memory from Ralph Finch

A hundred years ago I started out as a collector of fruit jars, and the emphasis wasn’t on quality, but quantity. After the first year, there were a ton of common fruit jars all over my apartment. You could barely move with jars everywhere!

Then, I started to specialize in pint-size jars. In fact, I was often referred to (by Norman Barnett) as the “pint-size collector of pint-size jars.” (It could have been a lot worse.)

I had some great jars, but one of them certainly was barely good. It was a “Farley” jar, as written about in Tom Caniff’s jar column in the April issue of AB&GC. My Farley wasn’t rare, but it certainly was plain. (And maybe I’m being generous.)

My wife at the time said it was “ugly.” In fact, she didn’t even want it in the house.

I got to keep the jar, but my then wife said that if I went first, I was to be cremated and my ashes put into the Farley jar. And I would deserve it, she added.

Times have changed. Now when I die, I get to be cremated and put into a ketchup jug. That’s progress?