LETTERS
to the Editor
Montana Harry Bottle Hi, John, I hope you are doing well. As coincidence would have it, this past week I was in New Hampshire and stumbled across the attached bottle (below). I had noticed the Montana Harry bottle you had in your most recent auction. Obviously this one appears somewhat newer. I attached a little article I found on Montana Harry as well. Sounds like a load of B.S. put together to promote someone/ something, but you never know. The other interesting thing about the bottle is that the label is slapped over a label for a liquor dealer in Nashua, New Hampshire. Makes me wonder a bit if “Montana Harry” was really dealing medicine in the East under false pretenses. Note that the bottle label is partly in French, which makes sense for New Hampshire in the late 1800s/early 1900s
2
Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
but doesn’t make much sense for Montana during that time period. Anyways, I thought I would share. Best Regards, Brandon DeWolfe, P.E. Spring, Texas P.S. I picked it up at an antique shop in Meredith, New Hampshire. Editor’s note: Brandon’s discovery is very timely and certainly helps to validate the authenticity of the mysterious “Montana Harry” labeled medicine. Some folks, rightly so, thought the label was “too good to be true.” Perhaps a fake or forgery. For a quack medicine collector, it has so many great bells and whistles. It references the Apache Indians (who were not in Montana), a cure for syphilis, as well as female complaints. It references a reservation and a great eye-catching town name, Big Timber, Montana. It may just be the ultimate labeled quack medicine!
Lot 206, American Glass Gallery Auction 29, July 27.
