LETTERS
to the Editor
The Spirits are Watching Hi, John, I was dusting the bottle shelves today when I got the eerie feeling that I was being watched. Turns out I was right. This teal blue demijohn (at left) obviously contained “spirits” at one time… and still does. Happy Halloween. Andy Agnew Cockeysville, Maryland
Quack Medicine Extraordinaire - Montana Harry Rides Again! Hi, John, And the beat goes on. Thanks so much for keeping me in the loop about Montana Harry! I think you have proven the label’s authenticity and it adds color to the picture of Montana Harry. What threw me off was the age of the original bottle, it was so early. But by the time the tooled-top smooth-based bottles were being produced, now that is a little more believable. At about that time there was an aura of mystique connected to the Native Americans and the pull of the ‘Old West’ itself, that at least one other company was cashing in on it, big time, the Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company, who coincidently, also had their home base in Connecticut. From all of the things we spoke about in our initial conversation, along with this new information, I tend to think that Montana Harry was a fictional character. His story is just too good and it so much mimics the hundreds of dimestore western novels that were being churned out at that time. The names (Chief Kill Eagle, really?), places (Sweetwater Res), people (Col. Forsyth, Montana Harry), and facts (7th Calvary), are all such catchy
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
sounding buzzwords, but they have no substance or are not in harmony with the history of Montana Harry. At least the Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company got a few things right. For example, one of their bottles is embossed Warme Springs Oregon, and there is a Warm {not Warme} Springs Indian Reservation in eastern Oregon. They were probably the business model that Montana Harry was trying to cash in on. But Montana Harry just didn’t have the capital for embossed bottles and all of the advertising and hoopla that the Kickapoo medicine company put into their endeavor. It sounds like Montana Harry was the creation of a dreamy-eyed entrepreneur at the time of this country’s progressive era. I am printing and storing all of the pictures and info you sent as who knows what new info will come to light once your info hits the pages of the bottle magazine. Again, thanks John. Montana Harry so typifies the patent medicine industry and is just one feature of bottle collecting that keeps it so entertaining! Marc Lutsko Libby, Montana
Get to Know the New Mid-Maine Bottle Club! First, a quick introduction. We are the Mid-Maine Antique Bottle Club, founded in 2014 by myself and Sam Fuller. We both recognized the need for a Mainebased bottle show and for regular club meetings here in Maine. We began with 6 members at our first meeting in an antique shop and grew to 10 members, meeting in various members’ homes, to now over 25 members regularly attending our monthly gatherings in our rented hall.
