Letters to the Editor

to the Editor

A Lucky Find in the Great North of Canada

Hi, John,

It was interesting to read John Savastio’s two digging stories and what he found. It must be good timing about the Riker bottle, because I bought the same bottle but with its front and neck labels in a bottle auction lot here in the far great north in Canada. It did not have its stopper but I assume these were lost quite often after being discarded.

When I first looked at it, I, too, thought it was a hair bottle due to the shape and color. Eventually it will return home, when I once again visit a bottle show.

PS: We are the home of the longest covered bridge in the world!

Stephen Dickinson Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada

Editor’s note: See October’s AB&GC story “The COVID Bottles of 2020 Part 2.”

A Bridge to Canada’s Past

Historical notes, edited by Ralph Finch

Wikipedia reveals that “just off Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada, is by far the longest covered bridge extant in the world, at 390.75 meters long.” (1,282 feet).

“Covered bridges date from the first decade of the 19th century when North American builders began using wooden trusses for long spans and covered them to prevent the truss joints from rotting. After 1840 the Howe truss, which introduced iron tension rods into the truss work, was widely adopted and New Brunswick erected numerous bridges using this technique, among them this one which was built in 1921, with the walkway being added in 1945.”

TOP: Stephen Dickinson's Riker's Septone Soap bottle, front and back. ABOVE: The world's longest covered bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick.

to the Editor

It’s interesting that, when the bridge was being constructed, “sermons were even preached in the area, cautioning how a ‘covered’ bridge would destroy the morals of the young people.”

“Aspects of this site which contribute to its heritage values include the features of a long covered bridge, namely its construction design utilizing the Howe truss, in combination with wood framing, vertical weatherboarding and gabled roof, concrete piers and abutments, appended pedestrian walkway, wood shingle arched openings at either end and openings along its length, electrical lighting, and relationship with the river, roads and shoreline.”

Also: “For some years after, snow had to be hauled each winter and placed on the bridge floor to allow horses hauling sleds to travel across it.”

And one of the pleasures I’ve enjoyed as a writer was a report for the Detroit News when I visited, passed through and photographed all of the covered bridges remaining in Michigan.

A Little Help From an Astute Reader

Hi, John,

You had a query in your Letters to the Editor (November issue) from a gent in Delano, Tennessee. It was something about a manufacturing mark. What I was able to find was the CR&CO. Curling and Robertson was one (1834-57), and the other was Curling and Ringwalt (1857-63). Both were from Pittsburgh and specialized in pressed ware, lamp chimneys and ornamental ware. Being that he is from Tennessee, this would make sense. Hope this helped. Q &Co. was a bust.

Phil Bernnard National Bottle Museum

A Train Connection: On The Right Track?

I bought this circa 1850-65 Pittsburghtype pillar-molded flint glass bottle (at right) about thirty years ago, but only recently started to ponder a decor possibility. The piece measures 9.75 inches high, with a 4.75 inches diameter base. It has a single applied doughnut ring, round neck, and flat doughnut applied lip. It has the typical eight ribs, and a polished pontil.

Often credited as largely being produced for the shipping trade, these heavy vessels with low center design would not easily tip during rough seas travel, though they may have had another group of clients.

Upon finding this specimen in an antiques shop, someone had glued an electric lamp into the top, but thankfully didn’t drill the base for an electrical cord. The lamp’s wire was extremely old and dry-rotted, and the type of cement used to fasten to glass may have been horse glue, a type at one time made using horses hooves.

In examining the top of bottle, the color of remnant glue can still be seen. Sadly, when removing the glued brass insert of lamp, I rushed the gun and proceeded to slice the metal with a hacksaw blade, then pry out the flange.

Well, the cutting part worked out well, but the prying did not, thus incurring lip chipping. I had, for weeks prior, attempted to soak the top in a container of various solutions, but this did not resolve the adhered condition.

Now, let’s get to the hand-painted decor. It is without doubt extremely old, and rendered by a past-adequate artist. Not sure if the plant is of grapes or a type of berries, but they are well done, including the veining to leaves. The capitalized words spell CAR WINE.

When I began pondering this after unpacking the piece after many years in storage, it made absolutely no sense why someone turning a bottle into a lamp back in the 1920s-30s would paint these words. Could the bottle have been used to carry wine in early cars?

Perhaps, but this would seem more of a hassle than a help, considering bumpy car rides in turn of the century vehicles, and the sheer weight of glass full of liquid trying to pour out, or even lift to hold steady during driving excursions.

Then, the dawn of reason bathed my brain to a possibility of the pillar-molded bottle having been used in an 1860s train’s club car, hence the painted words of CAR WINE.

While my theory cannot as of yet be confirmed, maybe early photos of club car interiors might just reveal a pillar-molded bottle upon a table, and if discerning eyes look intently, a remote chance of wording shall spell CAR WINE.

Dan Desmarais Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey