Summer 2005
The official publication of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors
Bottles and Extras Vol. 16 No. 3
Page 32
Louisville Glass Factories Part 2 Page 70
Look what始s in store for the National Bottle Auction in Grand Rapids, August 13, 2005 !
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Have You Been to Our Website?
You’ll be surpised how much we have to offer at americanbottle.com! Along with the current auction, we also have results from the previous auctions, with loads of information and picures of bottles and that’s just the beginning. We also have sections on collecting glass, the history of glass and an extensive list of bottle books available and other links that will bring you to even more bottle websites. We also have directions on consigning bottles, packing and shipping them and even how we can help you do all of it!
So visit our website at americanbottle.com and we think you’ll be glad you did. If you have a bottle you’re wondering about, simply enter a name in our search engine and see what you find. Have questions you can’t find on our site? Give us a call. We’ll be happy to answer any question or give you a free appraisal. After all, we’re America’s Bottle Auction and we’re proud of it. American Bottle Auctions 2523 J Street, Suite 203 Sacramento, CA 95816 1800-806-7722 americanbottle.com info@americanbottle.com
The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors
Bottles and Extras
Vol. 16 No. 3
Summer 2005
No. 163
Table of Contents Bottle Buzz................................................2 Recent Finds............................................3 FOHBC Officer Listing 2004-2006...........4 President’s Message...................................5 Regional News Reports..............................6
“The Smallest Bottle Ever Made On An Owens Automatic Glassblowing Machine” Cecil Munsey.................................28
Anchor Mason’s Patent (dot) Embossed, Bead Seal Jars Barry L. Bernas.........................61
Western Saratogas and the Pacific Congress Springs Bryan Grapentine and Jeff Wichman..........................32
Let’s Talk About Ink - Ephemera, Labeled Inks and more... Ed & Lucy Faulkner..................66
Columbus Day Weekend In New England ...............................................10
The Georgia Mini Jug Story & City-by-City Master List of Georgia’s Mini Jugs Bill Baab........................................34
Here’s the Real Dope on Koca Nola Charles David Head..................11
Photographic Proof Charles Harris...............................40
The Dating Game: Cunningham Family Glass Holdings Bill Lockhart.............................14 Follow-Up to Illinois Glass Company Harvey S. Teal...........................20
The Man Behind the Woman’s Face Andrew V. Rapoza...........................42
Random Shots: Fake pre-prohibition shot glasses Robin R. Preston........................22
Charles E. Hires Company, 1870-Present, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Don Yates.......................................50
Hutchinson Bottle Directory - To Catolog Over 12,000 Bottles! Ron Fowler................................25
Hostetters Variants Richard Siri....................................58
Uncovering George Washington’s “Secrets” Jack Sullivan..................................46
Grand Canyon Glass: Arizona’s Best Part Four Michael Miller..........................68 Louisville Glass Factories of the 19th Century - Part 2 David Whitten...........................70 Smith Brothers’ Cough Drops As A Patent Medicine Cecil Munsey............................73 Display and Advertising Rates and Membership Information........77 Classified Ads.........................................78 FOHBC Show-Biz Show Calendar Listings............82
WHO DO I CONTACT ABOUT THE MAGAZINE? To ADVERTISE, SUBSCRIBE or RENEW a subscription, see PAGE 77 for DETAILS. To SUBMIT A STORY, send a letter to the Editor or have comments and concerns, Contact: Kathy Hopson-Sathe, B&E Editor, 414 Molly Springs Road, Hot Springs, AR 71913 Phone: (423) 737-6710 or E-mail: kathy@thesodafizz.com BOTTLES AND EXTRAS (ISSN 1050-5598) is published quarterly (4 Issues per year) by the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc. (a nonprofit IRS C3 educational organization) at 1021 W. Oakland Avenue, #109, Johnson City, TN 37604, (423) 282-5533; Website: http://www.fohbc.com. Periodicals Postage Paid at Johnson City, TN 37601. Pub #005062. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Bottles and Extras, FOHBC, 1021 W. Oakland Ave, #109, Johnson City, TN 37601. Phone: 423-913-1378. The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc. assumes no responsibility for products and services advertised in this publication. The names: Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc., and Bottles and Extras, are registered ® names of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc., and no use of either, other than as references, may be used without expressed written consent from the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc. Certain material contained in this publication is copyrighted by, and remains the sole property of, the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, Inc., while others remain property of the submitting authors. Detailed information concerning a particular article may be obtained from the Editor. Printed by Central Plains Book Mfg. Co., Winfield, Kansas 67156.
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Summer 2005
Bottle Buzz
News, Notes, Letters, etc.
Send Buzz Notes to: Kathy Hopson, E-mail: kathy@thesodafizz.com or write: Buzz Notes, 414 Molly Springs Road, Hot Springs, AR 71913
From Noel Tomas, lsamot@portone.com: Just a heads up to a Website we’ve put up to provide an alternative to eBay’s nickle and dime fee auctions and the packing, traveling and expenses of shows. It is www.americanglassexchange.com where a seller can sell an item for $50 or more and be charged 3% of the posted price for a 60-day exposure. Just another way to spread around the country what is for sale in various dealers’ stocks. Our new Museum of Connecticut Glass, Inc. web site, www.glassmuseum.org, will be undergoing a revamping at some point in time after we finish acquiring a piece of property and a building next week from the town of Coventry, Connecticut. We will hold an outdoor show and sale and an indoor Museum exhibit on Saturday, May 21. [Norman] Heckler, [Jim] Hagenbuch, and others will be set up. From Rick Ciralli, Bristol, Connecticut: Event: AMERICAN GLASS, From its Beginnings to the Philadelphia Centennial, Aug.29-31 (Three Days) Fee: $ 425.00. The history of glass in America begins as an English-sponsored manufacture, as in 17th century Jamestown. Most glass used in the colonies was imported ware from Britain, Holland and Germany. During the 18th century, as demand for window glass, commercial containers and utilitarian vessels overwhelmed supplies, the operation of American-owned glass manufactories began on American soil. Our speakers will take us through the fascinating history and development of this industry; its struggle against foreign competition; its search for suitable raw materials; and its efforts to survive financial panics, fire and changing tastes in order to succeed. We will also look at several individual glass houses and their products using both documentary evidence and archeological material from each factory site. Techniques used in the manufacture of early glass as well as important information
about fakes, forgeries, and reproductions will be included. Lectures include: - “The Development of the American Glass Industry and its Products.” J. Garrison Stradling, Independent scholar, author and antiques dealer, N.Y.C. - “The Story of the Wistarburg Glass Works, Alloway New Jersey 1739-1782.” Gay Le Cleire Taylor, Curator/Director, Museum of American Glass, Wheaton Village, Millville, N.J. - “The Pitkin Glass Works: Connecticut’s first Glass House, 17831830.” Rick Ciralli, Independent Scholar, Collector, Dealer & Connecticut Glass Expert, Bristol, Connecticut. - “The Technology of Early American Glass Manufacture.” Art Reed, Glass Artist, Scholar and owner of Sweetwater Glass. DeLancey, N.Y. - “The Glass Industry in Sandwich, Massachusetts, 1825-1875.” Joan E. Kaiser, Glass Historian and author of several books on the Sandwich glass industry. East Sandwich, Mass. - “A Century of Glassmaking in NY State: The development of the Granger family’s glassworks, beginning with their Mt. Vernon factory near Utica, their relocation to the Mt. Pleasant works and their last operation known as the Congressville factory in Saratoga.” Richard Strunk, Collector, Historian and Archeologist, Palatine Bridge, N.Y. - “Benjamin Bakewell and his Pittsburgh Glass Factory: 1808-1844.” Arlene Palmer, independent scholar and author on American Glass, Yarmouth , Maine. - “The Evolution of Designs in American Bottles and Flasks: 1750-1860.” Jeff Noordsy, dealer specializing in the sale of early American Bottles, Flasks and Period Blown Glass, Middlebury,Vermont. - “Fakes, Forgeries, and Reproductions of Early American Glass.” Jane Spillman, Curator of American Glass, Corning Museum of Glass. This lecture will also include a short presentation on the history
Bottles and Extras and development of window glass. There will be a large quantity of archeological material available for inspection from several of the sites being discussed. Participants are encouraged to bring items of interest to the program for discussion and identification. From Jeff Burkhardt, Cedarburg Wisconsin, froglegs13@msn.com: As I see gas prices escalate, with projections of $3.00/gal., it occurs to me that the “shadow” this casts on travel might affect bottle show attendance by both dealers and collectors alike. However, a quick “pencil-to-paper” analysis reveals that expected higher fuel prices really won’t effect a significant cost increase of a weekend jaunt to my favorite destination: A BOTTLE SHOW! Here’s a possible scenario: Price/gal. (unleaded) $2.29 $3.00 Vehicle gas mileage 20 MPG Same Round-trip distance 700 Miles Same Price/gal. (unleaded) $2.29 $3.00 Gallons used 35 gal. Same Fuel Cost for Trip $80.15 $105.00 Additional cost of trip +$24.85 While an extra twenty-five bucks means more to some than others, I believe that when looked at it objectively, an extra $25 would keep few of us from heading out to our favorite destination: A BOTTLE SHOW! So don’t get caught up in all the negative “hype” around gas prices. Shows are still the grass-roots foundation of our hobby and are the “spawning-ground” for the “New blood” that we need to maintain the market for and fellowship around OLD BOTTLES! See you at the next show this Season! P.S. As of this writing, gas prices are already now starting to fall, so the $3.00 projection will hopefully not become a reality. From Wayne Stephens: UK based international dealers in antique and collectible art glass, our website also features a useful glass encyclopedia and gallery. Visit www.20ththcenturyglass.com. Gerald Schleich of Lincoln, Nebraska, passed away on February 24, 2005. He will be missed by his friends in the bottle collecting community.
Bottles and Extras
Summer 2005
Recent Finds Around the same time as one would expect the usual April Fools joke, I was contacted by a digger friend about a new find from the mining town of Jerome, Arizona. The E-mail received that day asked if I had ever seen a Jerome pharmacy bottle with a mortar and pestle on it? Within two weeks I not only had my first glimpse of the bottle but also had acquired an example for my collection. You see Digger Dave from Missouri had recently taken a trip with his son through Northern Arizona and had dug two examples of this bottle in the town of Flagstaff. Some negotiating later and one of those bottles had landed on my pharmacy shelf. And all I can say is “wow”! Bottles from Jerome are highly prized by collectors due to the town’s mining history and its claim as being a ghost town. Actually the town’s population has been growing through recent years due to its influx of tourist shops and artisans, but anyone who has visited this gem would remember how the entire town seems to cling to the edge of the mountain waiting to tumble into the Verde Valley below. To many, only Tombstone holds a greater place of distinction as a reminder of Arizona’s western past. Prior to this find, only one other bottle from Jerome’s early days had been found. Embossed “LYNN BOYD/REGIST. DRUGGIST/JEROME, ARIZ.,” it is one of the rarest and possibly the most sought after non-territorial marked pharmacy bottle from Arizona. The new bottle’s embossing “BOYD/DRUG CO/(mortar & pestle in wreath)/JEROME/ ARIZ.” is enhanced with the picture and its horizontal stature. This great find is only the second newly documented pharmacy bottle from Arizona since the publication of A Collector’s Guide to Arizona Bottles & Stoneware in 1999 and would certainly have made it into the Top Ten for Arizona pharmacy bottles. Boyd’s Drug Store began operation in 1899 under the ownership of Lynn E. Boyd. It was one of two pharmacies, along with the Red Cross Drug Store, in Jerome at this time and in 1903, Lynn had added P.S. Boyd as a partner. It is most likely that the new bottle was used at this time. In 1909, the two Boyd’s sold their store to E.C. Mitchell who changed the store’s name to the Mitchell Drug Company. Two years later the Jerome Drug Company began operation and Mitchell closed his store. Some 60+ years later the first LYNN BOYD bottle was unearthed on the present site of the Phoenix Civic Center, and now another 30 year later we see the second bottle from the Boyd’s store. Michael Miller Peoria, Arizona
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Summer 2005
Bottles and Extras
Federation of Historicial Bottle Collectors
Business & News The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is a non-profit organization for collectors of historical bottles and related collectible items. Our primary goal is educational as it relates to the history and manufacture of historical bottles and related artifacts.
FOHBC Officers 2004-2006 President : John Pastor, 7288 Thorncrest Dr. SE, Ada, MI 49301; Phone: (616) 285-7604; E-mail: jpastor2000@sbcglobal.net First Vice-President : Gene Bradberry, P.O. Box 341062, Memphis, TN 38184; Phone: (901) 372-8428; E-mail: genebsa@midsouth.rr.com Second Vice-President : Cecil Munsey, 13541 Willow Run Road, Poway, CA 92064-1733; Phone: (858) 487-7036; E-mail: cecilmunsey@cox.net Secretary : Ed Provine, 401 Fawn Lake Dr., Millington, TN 38053; Phone: (901) 876-3296; E-mail: ed.provine@thyssenkruppelevator.com Treasurer : Alan DeMaison, P.O. Box 1817, Mentor, OH 44061-1817; Phone: (440) 796-7539; E-mail: violinbottle@aol.com Historian : Richard Watson, 10 S.Wendover Rd., Medford, NJ 08055; Phone: (856) 983-1364; E-mail: rewatson@bellatlantic.net Editor : Kathy Hopson-Sathe, 414 Molly Springs Rd.., Hot Springs, AR 71913; Phone: (423) 737-6710; E-mail: kathy@thesodafizz.com Merchandising Director : Kent Williams, 1835 Oak Terr., Newcastle, CA 95658; Phone: (916) 663-1265; E-mail: kent@altarfire.com Membership Director : Fred Holabird, 701 Gold Run Ct., Reno, NV 89511; Phone: (775) 851-0837; E-mail: fred@holabird.com Conventions Director : Wayne Lowry, 401 Johnston Ct., Raymore, MO 64083; Phone: (816) 318-0161; E-mail: JarDoctor@aol.com
Business Manager / Subscriptions: June Lowry, 401 Johnston Ct., Raymore, MO 64083; Phone: (816) 318-0160; E-mail: osubuckeyes71@aol.com Director-At-Large : Ralph VanBrocklin, 1021W. Oakland Ave., Suite 109, Johnson City, TN 37604; Home (423) 913-1378; Office: (423) 282-5533; E-mail: thegenuine@comcast.net Director-At-Large : Sheldon Baugh, 252 W. Valley Dr., Russelville, KY 42276; Phone: (270) 726-2712; Fax: (270) 726-7618; E-mail: shel6943@bellsouth.net Director-At-Large: Carl Sturm, 88 Sweetbriar Branch, Longwood, FL 32750-2783; Phone: (407) 332-7689; E-mail: glassmancarl@sprintmail.com Midwest Region Director : Rick Baldwin, 1931 Thorpe Cir., Brunswick, OH 44212-4261; Phone: (330) 225-3576; E-mail: rsbaldwin@worldnet.att.net Northeast Region Director : Larry Fox, 5478 Route 21, Canandaigua, NY 14424; Phone: (585) 394-8958; E-mail: brerfox@frontiernet.net Southern Region Director : Reggie Lynch, P.O. Box 13736, Durham, NC 27709; Phone: (919) 789-4545; E-mail: rlynch@antiquebottles.com Western Region Director : Bob Ferraro, 515 Northridge Dr., Boulder City, NV 89005; Phone: (702) 293-3114; E-mail: mayorferraro@aol.com Public Relations Director : Mike Polak, PO Box 303258, Long Beach, CA 90853; Phone: (562) 438-9209; E-mail: bottleking@earthlink.net
Bottles and Extras
Summer 2005
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Federation of Historic Bottle Collectors
President’s Message Summer 2005 In the last President’s message I had touched on some of the many benefits that Federation affiliated member clubs enjoy and mentioned that a new benefit has been in the works. I am very pleased to announce that the Federation Board of Directors has voted unanimously to adopt a proposal to offer liability insurance coverage for shows (and other club sponsored activities) to affiliated member clubs at very affordable rates. By the time this issue has been delivered, individual clubs should have already received information on this latest benefit. We certainly hope that all clubs will take advantage of the reduced rates and broad coverage that this special group policy provides. In other Federation news, I am very excited to announce that Reno, Nevada has been chosen as the site of the 2006 National Bottle Show. I hope that all members will provide their encouragement and support to those who are currently involved in the planning and implementation of this event. As we look to the future, venues for 2007 and 2008 are currently being sought. Interest has been expressed from one of the key Ohio bottle clubs for hosting the 2007 National Show and there seems to be a groundswell of interest for bringing the 2008 EXPO to a location in New England or perhaps the mid-Atlantic states region. If your club is interested in playing host to a Federation National or EXPO show, please contact Wayne Lowey, FOHBC Conventions Director. He will be happy to assist you with any questions that you may have including preparation and submission of a proposal to host such an event. It is certainly not too early to begin the planning process and we would encourage your club to get involved! From a personal perspective, I always find it interesting how fast time seems to fly. Perhaps it is that I’m getting older (not something that I care to admit), or perhaps it is because I have had my hands full being involved in a number of different projects
(I’ll choose the latter explanation, if I may). As I write this message, we are approximately twelve weeks away from the opening of the National Bottle Show, and as this issue of Bottles and Extras is being delivered, it will be time to start packing for the show! Please allow me to provide a brief update on the show. This will truly be a “National” Show with a broad perspective of dealers from every corner of the Union as well as from “across the pond” (UK). This threeday bottle convention and event will begin in earnest on Friday morning, at 9:00 a.m. with the Federation’s annual board meeting followed by the general membership meeting on Friday afternoon. The festivities will officially get under way with a very interesting and fun banquet that we have planned beginning at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening (cash bar and cocktail hour from 6:00 – 7:00 pm). We are truly very, very fortunate to have five special guests, - call them what you will, - pillars, icons, legends of the bottle collecting fraternity (from both here in the states and abroad), serve as our “Masters” of the evening. They will provide a casual, entertaining and engaging evening of fun as they talk about the hobby past, present and future; answer questions from the audience and reminisce about humorous and antidotal stories from “the good old days.” As a reminder, please be sure to take advantage of some of the many free educational seminars and specialty group meetings that will be offered on Friday evening and Saturday morning. Specific information regarding these events will be available upon your arrival at the host hotel, the Amway Grand Plaza. Suffice it to say that the show is really shaping up to be a very special event. Hundreds of great dealers with interesting merchandise will be on hand and the displays (I dare say, one of the highlights of the entire weekend), will be many, varied, interesting and educational!
President : John R. Pastor 7288 Thorncrest Dr. SE Ada, MI 49301 (616) 285-7604 jpastor2000@sbcglobal.net
And finally, be sure to include in your plans for Saturday evening, the live public auction of approximately eighty to onehundred lots of fine early bottles, flasks and related glass objects. This special live auction will be held in the exquisite Pantlind Ballroom of the Amway Grand Hotel. Come see what a live bottle auction is all about and perhaps you may be fortunate enough to add a treasured piece to your collection! Full-color catalogs for this auction can be purchased in advance (and absentee bids are being taken for this sale), by contacting myself, John Pastor, prior to Wednesday, August 10th. If you have not already made your plans to attend the 2005 National, chances are it is not too late! Please pick up the phone and call (or E-mail) us immediately and we will do whatever we can to be sure that you are included in this exciting weekend full of wonderful activities, great bottles, good friends and plenty of camaraderie. We hope to see you all at the National in August and wish everyone safe travels.
The 2005 National Show packet can be requested by phone or mail - or downloaded from our Website at: http://www.fohbc.com/ FOHBC_ShowCalendar.html Packet includes: Directions to DeVos Place; Schedule of Events; Rules & General Information for Sales Tables, Displays & Early Buyers; Hotel, Banquet & Reservation form; Auction & Seminar Information; Sales Table & Banquet Reservation form; and Early Admission & Display Application.
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Bottles and Extras
Summer 2005
Northeast Regional News
Larry Fox 5478 Route 21 Canandaigua, NY 14424 (585) 394-8958 brerfox@frontiernet.net
When this editor took over reporting Southern Region activities several years ago, one of his stated aims was to inspire club newsletter editors to devote more space to items of interest related to their hobby. Some newsletters contained gossip and stuff like “Betty baked some of her tasty brownies for our club meeting” and little in the way of news members could use. I am pleased to announce that Southern Region newsletter editors have fulfilled that goal. While items of personal interest are still extant, the bulk of the space carries items of interest and educational value related to our wonderful hobby. Since taking over the editorship of The Groundhog Gazette, Melissa Milner’s enthusiasm and expertise has continued to inform and entertain members of The State of Franklin (Tenn.) Antique Bottle & Collectibles Association. Her April issue revealed longtime member Pete Wyatt had suffered a heart attack, but “is back at work, but still has to take it easy.” The issue also highlighted the March meeting at which member Bill Henderson presented a program on Indian culture. Henderson brought “a small part” of his artifact collection to complement his talk. Former FOHBC president Ralph Van Brocklin is now famous (again) after the Johnson City (Tenn.) Press carried a feature story entitled “For the Love of Bottles.” Van Brocklin’s collection includes 2,000 bottles, mostly rare and mainly whiskey flasks from the 1840s to Prohibition. Included are some 500 mini jugs, 400 shot glasses, 50 to 100 canteens and 100 or so cylindrical whiskey bottles ranging from a value of $5 to $40,000. His prized bottles include a (so
Midwest Regional News
Joe Terry
P.O. Box 243 Bowling Green, Ohio 43402 (419) 686-0032 jiterry@wcnet.org
far) unique cobalt pig embossed Duffy’s Crescent Saloon. In the same issue was a feature on basic glassmaking. The club’s annual show was highlighted in the May issue. It drew 69 tables, six displays, 26 early buyers and “one new family, the Askews of Parrottsville, Tenn., who joined the club.” Melissa downloaded 12 black-and-white photos taken at the show. Member Peggy Cox won the Most Educational Award for displaying her outstanding collection of pie birds. She also included a table where people could put their hands on a pie bird, along with information on what pie birds are. Pete Wyatt won the People’s Choice Award for his unusual exhibit of fox hound horns and animal pelts (Tally ho, Pete!). Roberta Knight, editor of The Bottling Works, newsletter of the Tennessee Valley Traders & Collectors, revealed the club has a new website at www.tvtcc.tnhillbillie.net. Check it out. Her March issue featured the Carver Wagon Works (1895-1942) of Morristown, Tenn., and included a 1916 receipt from the company reproduced in full color plus photos of wagon works workers and a company letterhead, all neat stuff. Also included was a company history. The Wildwood Bottling Works, Maryville Bottling Works, Kist Bottling Company and Tennessee Valley Bottling Company were located in Blount County, Tenn. Researcher Ken Cornett, 1058 Martin Mill Pike, Rockford, TN 37853; Ph: (865) 982-3594 wants histories, photos, bottles, advertising, etc. Chuck Petersen, “retired and loving it!”, found himself in Janie Raper’s “Member Spotlight” in the May Issue of the Bottle Talk, newsletter of the Raleigh (N.C.) Bottle Club. Petersen, a native of Staten Island, N.Y., collects bottles from that area and labeled bottles. He said most of his bottles were dug
Southern Regional News
Bill Baab 2352 Devere Street Augusta, GA 30904 (706) 736-8097 riverswamper@comcast.net
Send your regional reports to your editor to appear here in the next issue. Until then, hope to see you in Grand Rapids!
in the northeastern part of the country before 1975. He’s now in the process of selling off marginal bottles and buying a few really good ones. During show and tell sessions, member Donnie Medlin revealed he’s purchased a clear glass half-pint flask embossed R.P. Gorrell Fine Liquors from Mt. Airy, N.C. Jack Murdock showed a 1901 post card from Williams, N.C., that had advertising from “Old Nick Whiskey” on the back. Whit Stallings showed a Mountain Dew bottle in “Teem green,” and a Suncrest bottle with a deep red label. He also showed a Pepsi bottle that looked slimmer than most others. He checked its capacity and learned the bottle held just 10 ounces instead of the usual 12 ounces. Reggie Lynch located a rare bottle with Tryon and Chicopee, N.C., embossed on it. Six color photos, including Petersen’s, were downloaded into the newsletter, a hard copy of which Janie kindly snail-mails to this regional editor. I have all of the Raleigh club newsletters dating to July of 2000 in a three-ring binder, all of Reggie’s Southeast Bottle Club newsletters and all of Kathy Hopson-Sathe’s “The Soda Fizz” online newsletters, also in binders. They make for good reading. Mary Quesada Harden, editor of the newsletter of the Antique Bottle Collectors of North Florida, featured “Something About Jugs” written by Dr. Richard Cannon in her March-April-May issue. She also reminds readers that the club’s 38th annual show and sale will be held Sept. 23-24 at the usual place, the Fraternal Order of Police building, 5530 Beach Boulevard. Contact Wayne Harden at www.abcnf@juno.com for more information. She also appealed to members to send in stories. As mentioned in the last regional news, Johnnie Fletcher has no problem getting great digging stories to help fill his Oklahoma Territory News. The editor and president of the Oklahoma Territory Bottle & Relic Club featured Mark (Digging Iowa) Wiseman (with Elsie the
Bottles and Extras Pup) and a Wyoming privy dig written by Warren Borton in the May issue. Wiseman entitled his story, “Don’t Say Aloud What You Wish For,” using his friend, Tom Southard, as foil. Asked what he’d like to find, Southard said something about wanting a teal-colored Weaver & Maish / Des Moines, Iowa drug bottle. Wiseman started digging a pit and guess what? Yes, you’re right. Out came the tealcolored drug store bottle. Later, a small bottle floated to the surface of the waterlogged pit. It was embossed Telephone Pile Liniment / Mf’g by James & Tibbitts / Des Moines, Iowa. Wiseman took home the teal drug bottle, while Southard had the liniment. Later, at his home, Southard checked a liniment he’d previously dug and found it embossed Janes (instead of James) & Tibbitts. Two other examples owned by Wiseman were embossed James & Tibbitts. “More research will be required,” Wiseman noted. Wiseman later returned to Grundy Center, Iowa where he’d had some good luck (see Southern Region notes in the Spring B&E). He was joined by Jim Springer, the latter’s son and Dave Wignall. Items they uncovered included a quart aqua crowntop Colfax Bottling Works / Colfax, Iowa; a “kitty kat” on a tree figurine; a nice tug boat ink; a previously unknown A. Hummel & Co. / Druggists / Grundy Center, Iowa; two amber Keiter & Kenyon / Pharmacists / (KK monogram) / Grundy Center, Iowa. Later that weekend, Wiseman found 91 bricks embossed SHACKLEFORD. One weekend later, he found a L.H. Bush / Druggist / Des Moines and a rare Hansen’s Radical Cure from Des Moines. Warren Borton and his friend, Darrell (no last name listed) found it tough going and digging in Douglas, Wyo. The town had been established in 1886. “We knew of rare drug store bottles and felt there was a rare but unknown whiskey, but in all our years of digging, we had never dug a bottle from Douglas.” They still haven’t. The duo decided to make the long drive to Newcastle, Wyo., where they’d dug previously and with some success near where three saloons had existed. “The corner lot faced the old railroad depot and behind the saloon had been a large female boarding house. Women and whiskey, this should be an awesome pit!” But the diggers failed to strike anything until speaking with local historian Leonard
Summer 2005 Cash, who revealed the newer boarding house had been built over the top of the old privy hole. The pair probed out the pit’s dimensions and learned it was 10 feet long. It was loaded with huge rocks, some in the 150pound range, which required a truck and a chain to pull them out. Undeterred, they did just that, and were quickly rewarded with a perfect crock mug with a picture of a woman with small wings. “Schlitz, The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous,” was the mug’s message. Another without a handle was found nearby, but the handle was found later in one piece. The pit was crammed with bottles and other things, like whole jugs, a large green case gin, an emerald green Eagle Liquor Distillery and (GASP!) a green triangular Sanitarium Bitters! That was followed by another Sanitarium Bitters, a Red Top Rye back bar bottle and a jo jo flask embossed Riley Bros. / Liquor Dealers / Omaha, Neb. More green Eagles, another Sanitarium and clear case gin with applied cobalt seal — Blue Seal Gin. Summing it up: “In all, 400 bottles and 12 whole jugs were recovered. We never found that Wyoming whiskey, but we did get three of the rare Newcastle drug bottles as well as bottles from Nebraska and South Dakota, We even got a three-foot-long enameled sign advertising Helmar ’s Turkish Cigarettes in fairly good condition. Fletcher downloaded five color photos sent with the story and the most spectacular shows Darrell with all the finds. Wow! (Southern Region editor’s note: The triangular green bitters bottle is embossed Sanitarium / Bitters / Hi-Hi Bitters / Rock Island, Ill., and is listed as scarce in the book Bitters Bottles by Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham). Co-editors Bill and Sally Marks used the April edition of the Diggers Dispatch to sum up the 35th annual DeLand (Fla.) M-T Bottle Club Show and Sale. It attracted 100 sales tables and three exhibit tables. Paul Connor of Lochloosa, Fla., was awarded the FOHBC ribbon for Best of
7 Show display of Handblown Liquor Figural Bottles, consisting of miniature bottles from the Rijnbends & Bols companies circa 1910-1950. Mike Jordan of Ocala, Fla., was presented the walnut M-T Bottle Club’s Most Educational Award for his Figural Bottles. No less than 43 black-and-white photos of show scenes were carried in the newsletter. During show and tell, Charles Benton said he’d purchased a Pensacola Hutchinson with a backward “N,” while retired Coca-Cola Co., employee Jerry Nix gave a talk on the company’s history and facts. Sally Marks displayed her 20-year baseball, basketball and football card collection. The Horse Creek Antique Bottle Club continues to roll along. This editor also edits the club newsletter, Probe & Plunder, and carried a brief description of Chick Springs near Spartanburg, S.C., in the April issue. Glass jugs in aqua and amber exist, but are rare. Historian Harvey Teal of Columbia, S.C., whose new book on South Carolina Dispensary bottles will have been published before you read this, gave the April program on South Carolina mineral waters. “Sources of water were important to early settlers in the state and their locations determined where homesteads would be built,” Teal said. “Springs for health purposes occupied an important place in the history of mankind.” A one-gallon Glenn Springs bottle (rare) and a one-of-a-kind Cherokee (S.C.) Springs in one-gallon size were among the bottles from Teal’s collection brought to the meeting. The May meeting consisted of a show and tell session during which some of the members described their entries into the hobby. Tony Riley showed two super-rare cobalt E.D. Meyers iron-pontiled sodas from Augusta, Ga., he’s purchased from digger Clifton Morgan. Those bring the number of Meyers sodas known to this editor to 12. Summertime
Western Regional News
Scott Grandstaff Box 409 Happy Camp, CA 96039 (530) 493-2032 scottg@snowcrest.net
Greetings one and all from soggy squishy drippy Happy Camp. Well, I’ve decided summer just isn’t coming this year. I’ve snuck out between storms and turned the garden over three times now and no damage to the
8 weed population. They think I’m just stimulating their growth with it all. The place looks like Ireland except the roses are mildewed and the irises would be 5 feet tall looking for the sun if the rain hadn’t knocked them all over. They’re calling for 5 more inches! Good thing I cleaned the gutters yet again. Now watch, it’ll be 211 degrees in the shade next week! You know, Kitty and I were talking just this morning about the changes we’ve seen over the years in bottles. Some have skyrocketed in value and others have just sat there. Same as if not a day has passed. I remember old Art Johnson, great friend and mentor. One day he was saying in his deep Oklahoma drawl (not sure where it came from really. I’m an Okie, too, and don’t have—that—kind of sound). “ I’ll tell ya boy, them poisons is starting to become popular. I think you ought to get you some of them skulls before the price goes any higher. I’ve got a bunch right now. I know, I know, a hunderd ‘n twenty-five dollars is hard to come by, but I’ll just hold some for you if you want and you can pay them off when you can.” Then I recall quiet and classy Doug Sepallah, with several colors of big California Gaslight Ammonia bottles perpetually on his table. They were crude, whittled, drippy and beautiful in stunning colors. His price was $25 apiece and nobody was going to pay anywhere near that much. He schlepped them from show to show that seemed like forever and still no takers…It’s been years since I have seen a single one for sale on a bottle show table, at any price. Naturally the Gargling Oils. early pontiled colognes and meds and labeled bottles we did get back then haven’t hardly budged a penny in all these years. If only we knew then, what we all know now!!! OK, here we go: First off somebody get a wet noodle and pound me with it, right now!! I forgot to cover Phoenix last time. I hate when that happens, sorry guys. The A toZ Collector, Phoenix AB&CC. Meet the Members - Ray and Darla Lawton. These two have been club members for more than 20 years! Ray has been at collecting most all his life, starting at 10
Summer 2005 with rocks and stamps. Sound familiar??? Their specialty is ACL bottles with pictures. Prescott Building Tumbles, Leaving Behind……Prescott A.T. soda bottles!! Jim Bright, enroute to the post office, passed by a site where one of the older buildings had been taken down. On the way back he hopped out and started to investigate. A part of an AT hutch was spotted. And carefully digging what was expected to be a broken bottle, guess what: It was whole! Next day his son was poking around and started going down inside a ring of rocks. Turned out to be a rock-lined well and more territory bottles hit the daylight for the first time in 100 years! Repro being passed off as real! Watch out for Wickenburgh dairy bottles with pyro decoration. These are blank bottles with new ACLs applied. Sounds like it’s a good job, too, and hard to tell except thankfully the fakers forgot to round up correct period bottles dated on the bottom. Wonder who has figured out how to fire on ACL though. Could be a terrible thing if it gets going, Yikes! Hey, dig this from the AZ Auction Report. 11 Mimbreno China Santa Fe Railroad plates $15,099.00!! The Corker – Golden Gate HBS. Showtime!! The 39th annual show and sale happened in April. Where’s the news? Not a peep coming into my ears. What happened, guys?? Hey, Tim Higgins has a new book on the market. Early Western medicines. Contact Tim at 245 St Augustine Dr., Benicia, CA 94510 to get your copy. Calling Colorado…ABC of Colorado – Dump Diggers Gazette. Luck and Pluck. That Show ‘n Tell for those outside the circle: Kaye Baxter brought a tennis racketshaped whiskey bottle and a purple miniature oil lamp – Mike Watrel, 5 different Gun Wah bottles, gulp – Lee Bruton, labeled coffin whiskey flask, pontiled hair invigorator snagged for 3 bucks at a yard sale! Leadville digging, by Dave Kratky With partner Ken Watkins, Dave headed to Leadville for a little dirt tossing. We’re talking dinging at over 10,000 feet here, folks! With a few prospects already lined up the first homeowner was asked for permission and agreed. The ground was like concrete and it was
Bottles and Extras tough probing when finally Ken hollers. There was a soft spot and color at the end of the probe! Down they went digging the 3X3 privy (sounds like Colorado privies are like Happy Camp privies, shallow and often moved). Out came 4 Dr. Kennedy’s Prairie Weed bottles, couple of common bitters and beers but no local bottles. Whole bottles sparkling in the light and any whole bottle dug is a treasure beyond measure. Sequoia AB&CS - The Bottleologist. Oh, Willlllma!! (singing my sweetest toWilma Beutler, club president and secretary/editor for at least temporarily). Say, I’m getting the newsletter sent from your house and last I heard Barbara had a broke hip and you were taking the newsletter and doing fine, but how’s Barbara Hill?? Hooray for Hollywood. Well, close enough… LAHBC - The Whittlemark. Looks like new pres Dave Garcia is doing a great job. He’s working up a new show flier and doing it kind of like a ransom note with chopped out words and letters pasted up. Sounds cool to me, Dave. Nice idea and hope I get to see it. Viva Las Vegas – Ken ‘n Dar (hi, guys). Almost didn’t go. It was raining (yeah, so what’s uncommon about that, I want to know??) hard, but the gang was on the horn tossing out the hook and taunting. Dottie was conspicuously absent but the word was she is OK and recovering from back surgery. Hope it wasn’t too bad!! Attendance was a little off this year but plenty of full tables of goodies to look over. The price of gas and the weather probably having most to do with fewer browsers. Dar snagged some good inks…(Naturally, I secretly think she’s got some kind of magnet effect going), but poor Ken got skunked! Well, you’ll get em next time! Morro Bay Show. Our intrepid reporters ventured to Morro Bay, too. Sounds like a good time. Morro Bay is such a nice little town. Dar scored teakettles, teakettles!! That’s right, more than one!! Once again Ken only sacked up a bunch of inexpensive bottles to give as gifts. Geeze, Ken, you’re under a bad sign these days. Bout time for a change of luck! How’d you ride home with Dar and teakettles under your nose?? Speaking of rain, let’s head up the coast to Oregon, and The Stumptown Reporter of the Oregon BCA.
Bottles and Extras Oregon bottles at Auction. Linkville, Oregon drugstore bottle — $306.00!! Wow! I read that Linkville was the name of Kalamth Falls for a little while before it became KF and even though the bottles are only rare with at least a few specimens known, still the most desirable of the clear Oregon drugstores. 1-oz. green Lipman Wolfe Portland medicine $229. Flecenstein and Mayer flask, Portland $282. Apparently there is some rude behavior being seen at the Washington club shows. Now if I’d heard from the WA club in a while?? (Yooo-hoo!!) I’d be getting into it to see what’s up. Drop me a line, guys! OK, over the pass and out of the wet, it’s The Digger’s Dirt, Reno ABC. Seems the city of Reno has passed themselves a new ordinance. Yuck!! They will now require every person doing business of any kind to pay for a business license. So, that means they are tacking an extra fee onto every bottle table sold when the show comes up later this summer. Fortunately they aren’t being so greedy about it that it stings too awful much, but just a major pain for the club with extra paperwork and lost revenue. Sounds like they snuck the tax in out of earshot of the public and I’d be looking for support to get it dropped if they did this in my town. On the good front, a rare Carson City dime, yeah, a 10-cent dime, was recently auctioned for about a million dollars. An 1873 seated Liberty with no arrows. It’s the only one known. They were supposed to melt them all down but one got away. Oh, and ever better?? They gave away a cobalt Caspers Whiskey in the raffle last month!!! Caaaaaaaspers… Arghghhghghgh (in my best Homer Simpson). From Reno, it’s pretty much straight down the valley to...Las Vegas, The Punkin Seed. I’mmmmmmmmmm Back!! ( Tip your hats, gang, hooray for Dotty!!) Incidently, if you ever have need of an excellent nurse, apprentice cook and all around great caregiver, I can recommend the best. (way to go Dick!) Hey Kathy, you’re getting great press in the Punkin Seed! They sure do know and appreciate your work in Vegas
Summer 2005 town, friend of mine! Special Notice…All members who — actually worked— their appointed 2 hours (or more) at the Feb show, will be treated to free room rent during the club’s upcoming trip to Ventura!! (food for thought readers, food for thought!) Collectors Market Place. We’ve got a new feature in the Punkin Seed. Put your inexpensive collectibles up and join the fun. 2 old metal desk top pencil sharpeners. One for wall mounting and the other for mounting to a desk. 2/$1.00. Commemorative Barbie coffee mug featuring 1959 Barbie in her black and white striped swimsuit, mint in box $25. Wish I could go on, the list is long. What fun!! OK, keeping to the sun, let’s sneak back over to CA and…The Bottleneck, San Diego AB&CC. Color! I’m looking at color here. Mike Bryant, atta boy!! It’s pictures from the Vegas show. Hoooooly Mackerel! Rudy Fowler showed up with pontiled and labeled meds from a museum that was closing in the Midwest and black glass dug in Panama to boot! There’s a hand to draw to!! Yike! 21 club members made Vegas and it’s my sincere hope you all came home broke!!! (Ahh yes, rolling home on the last gas fumes with sore feet, no money left and a precious package in the trunk. That’s what I call a bottle show!! ) Hey, Mike Polack has a new book out. It’s the Field Guide, Identification and Values. It’s pocket sized 4 ¼” X 5 1/16” and 509 pages!! Must be coat pocket, it ain’t goin’ into my Levis. Good on ya, Mike! We need all the press we can get. I personally hope the first words, last and part of the middle words read something like… These prices are for Mint condition bottles. Mint like in perfect, no scratches, no dents, no chips, cracks or grind marks!! Nothing like a swap meet dealer pulling out a book to show you how the yellow green Indian Queen sold for high bucks, and so his specimen, missing the neck and a crack up the side, slathered with stain and a hole you could toss a cat through on the bottom, ought to be worth at least as much, sigh. Ask Aunt Blabby, Blabbigail Butinski: Dear Aunt Blabby: I overheard my husband talking to his friend about
9 probing a hole, getting his hands on a hobbleskirt, then a ladies leg. Blabby, did I marry a pervert?? Answer: Yes, you did! Send your questions to Aunt Blabby (Mike Bryant, Bottleneck editor extraordinaire). Mohalo! Hawaii Historical BCC, Diamond Head Liner. Hey Brandon! Brandon Lee!! (editor) You’ll hear no complaints from me, ever! This is great work. I’m looking at an all color newsletter here, folks. Yes, bottle guys are handsome-kine buggahs, no matter what anyone says! This under a show pic. Killer color displays. Pat Lum and Derek in front of Hawaii’s rarest, a drop dead display. Life is the Pitts Actually a 2 dig story. First part starts in December. Already this is a gloat. December bottle digging?? You kidding me? Just go ahead and rub it in!! Our editor and his partner, Dean Hakikawa, head to the mountains of a morning once again. Well, it was tough going as per usual and 3 o’clock had already come and gone, digging haphazardly around the base of an abandoned car, and thinking it wasn’t much of an idea, when the base of a bottle appeared. Ewa soda, then right behind it a diagonally embossed Dairyman’s Milk. I gave the hole over to Dean and he pulled a Newfair milk of his own. “OK, the day isn’t a wash” I told myself. The hole kept going and in all 29 milks emerged from the pit including some “jump up and dance” rarities. Next month another mountain trip yielded sixty-four whole tiger whiskey jugs! Colors and figures embossed on some of them even! Get ‘em, guys! Peace. Out. San Jose - The Label. First up, I tried to type that long web url for the club webpage, Kathy. I really did, you guys all saw me??? Heh heee No way though. I can’t hardly type my own name on a good day. Fortunately webmaster Warren Whitehead sent the correct url so’s I can copy and paste! http://members.tripod.com/ ~WaipahuHaole1/sjabca.html Happy Trails Yours, Scott
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Bottles and Extras
Summer 2005
Columbus Day Weekend In New England By An Enthusiastic New England Collector
Fall in New England can be a glorious time and each year thousands come to the region to enjoy the blue skies, beautiful foliage and the rambling countryside. With that said, it is the Keene Bottle Show and Heckler Columbus Weekend event that we collectors most often think of when discussing October in the Northeast. Long considered to be one of the premier Bottle Shows in the country, Keene is a “can’t miss” event on its own and through the generosity of the Hecklers, the weekend also includes a tailgate event that has become (dare I say) as exciting as the show itself. The weekend begins bright and early on Saturday morning as anxious collectors make their way along the stonewalled Northeastern Connecticut roads towards the home of Norm and Liz Heckler. Now in its seventh year, the gates to the Heckler’s hayfield open at 8:30am, although no bottles are to be displayed until the bell is rung promptly at 9:00. It is at this point that the fun really begins, as more than fifty dealers showcase their wares, including bottles of all types and price levels. If you cannot find something in the fields that morning you are simply not looking hard enough! The energy last year was palpable and the field was filled to near capacity (with dealers from across the country LOVING the free setup) – this year promises to be bigger and more exciting yet, as the buzz has grown with each passing year and those
who have attended have spread the word. If you are an enthusiastic collector you simply cannot afford to miss this opportunity, as it is one of the last places in which collectors can gather together, reminisce about good times and “talk bottles,” just like “the old days.” Once you have made your way through the maze of dealers it is time to preview the walk-around country barn auction that begins at 11:00. Conducted by Norm with ample doses of his famed humor, the sale typically includes 75 to 100 quality items, giving the dealer and collector plenty of opportunity to add to their stock and/or shelves. Collectors can also use this time to preview two upcoming Heckler absentee sales, the first closing on the 19th of October and the second on the 16th of November. Preview is available from 9:00 to 11:00 and again (following the barn sale) from 12:30 to 1:30. Each of the sales will include 96 lots with representative examples of nearly every collecting category. Of special note is the November 16th sale, which will include objects from Norm’s personal collection. For those of us who have been trying (in vain) for years to buy out of the house, this is a wonderful opportunity to add to our own collections. The sale will be unreserved and the proceeds will be used to fund a land purchase to enhance the already expansive Heckler estate. I would be remiss if I did not mention the food and refreshments that are available throughout the day, including Liz’s famous New England corn chowder, fresh apple
cider and of course the steaming hot coffee that keeps us collectors on our toes that morning. It should also be added that there is an opportunity to peruse bottles and related objects in a small shop within the Heckler’s Civil War era barn. Again, if you cannot find something to buy that day you are simply not trying very hard! The day comes to a close at 2:00pm or so, when the last of the dealers have packed out and the entire “bottle caravan” heads North towards Keene in anticipation of the next morning’s show. One of the longest running shows in the hobby, the Keene Bottle Show is truly a “classic” and it remains one of the busiest and best shows of the year. 2005 will mark the show’s 38th year and it will again include most of the country’s major dealers and attract collectors from most every state in the country as well as folks from abroad. With early buying beginning at 8am, Keene is the rare show that maintains strong energy all the way through to the 2:30pm closing time. Run with expert precision by longtime organizer Creighton Hall, the show is well ordered and held within a beautiful space that offers abundant natural light for collectors to inspect the dealers’ wares. As with the broad selection of bottles showcased in the Hecklers’ hayfield the previous day, there is ample opportunity for dealers and collectors of all interests to find that elusive item for their collection. I have on numerous occasions been asked “If I can only make it to one New England show each year, which would it be” and without hesitation I have always answered “Keene,” as the weekend offers a unique opportunity to visit with old friends AND enjoy the now rare chance to actually buy (and not bid on) a great bottle for your collection. If you have not yet made the trip to Keene and the Hecklers do yourself a favor and give it a try this year – you will not believe what you have been missing!
Bottles and Extras
Summer 2005
11
Hereʼs the Real Dope on by Charles David Head It’s a fact that before the success of the Coca-Cola Company, nearly all sodas sold in the United States were manufactured by private individuals and not known by brand names. Most sodas of the mid- to late 19th and early 20th centuries rarely were marketed outside the sellers’ region or state. The Coca-Cola Company became a huge success in a matter of just a few years, thanks to its powerhouse advertising program which boosted sales of the beverage to national levels. Consumers couldn’t pick up a magazine or newspaper without seeing the name Coca-Cola. Signs and posters proliferated on the fronts of stores and other public places. Other soda water manufacturers were quick to take notice of the advertising blitz and realized that if their drinks were to succeed in the marketplace, they’d better do something and quickly. Probably the most popular idea was to manufacture a copycat soda. By 1908, Gay-Ola, Celery= Cola, Taka-Cola and Koca Nola, among many others with similar names, gave consumers a confusing choice. But many companies did not have the money to spend on national advertising and soon disappeared. But while they were alive and well, they may have had a negative impact on Coca-Cola sales. To avoid direct competition with CocaCola, many small bottling works sold their copycat products in small towns where Coke had yet to be established. An exception was Koca Nola, a brand and company established in Atlanta, headquarters then and now of the CocaCola Company. The new drink became successful under the guidance of Thomas H. Austin who, in February 1905, established Koca Nola company offices at 822 Empire Building and the bottling works at 58 Edgewood Avenue. By spring of the same year, Austin had sold franchises to James Esposito in Philadelphia, Pa., the Macon (Ga.) Bottling Works, the Dixie Carbonating Company of Augusta, Ga., Lemuel M. Keen’s Montgomery (Ala.) Koca Nola Bottling Works, the Florida Koca Nola Company in Jacksonville and the Fairfax (S.C.) Koca Nola Bottling Works.
The company’s first drinks were sold in Hutchinson bottles and later in the more popular crown top bottles. It’s strongly suspected that several other early franchises used the Hutchinson bottle, but the only known embossed Hutchinson Koca Nola bottles are from Atlanta, Macon, Philadelphia and Jacksonville. The Dixie Carbonating Company, a subsidiary of the Augusta Brewing Company, was organized in 1905 to handle the brewery’s soft drink line, may have used Koca Nola labels since no Hutchinsons or crown tops have been found with that embossing. Hutchinsons embossed Dixie Carbonating Company do exist, but not embossed Montgomery Koca Nola bottles are known. On June 20, 1905, Austin registered a red-letter-greenish-blue background label with the office of Georgia’s secretary of state. The diamond-shaped label reads “Bottled by Authority of Koca Nola Co., Atlanta, Ga.” It also claimed “The Great Tonic Drink” was “Delicious and Dopeless.” Once he achieved success, Austin worked hard to expand his company. In a letter to Turner Drug Store in Wilkesboro, N.C., dated March 10, 1905, Austin pointed out that Koca Nola was the only drink on
the market absolutely free from dope or injurious ingredients. That statement would be challenged later. Documentation that Austin was successful in signing up the drug store has not come to light, but he did enjoy success elsewhere. By 1907, Koca Nola was being sold in Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Alabama, Florida and Georgia. While proof (in the forms of bottles) exists of the beverage being marketed on those states, the author believes it could have been in 14 other states. According to an advertisement in the Feb. 5, 1909 issue of the National Bottlers’ Gazette, Koca Nola franchises were being offered to bottlers in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and the Indian Territory in what Austin called its Western Territory. Charles A. Mautz of St. Louis was agent for that area.
12 Ohio, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan, plus the Anacostia section of the District of Columbia, was known as the Northern Territory with J. Brecmeisen of Kent, Ohio as the company’s agent. The Anacostia franchise may have been a soda fountain outlet, or as readers will see later, a setup by the U.S. government as a sting operation to nab Austin. No Koca Nola bottles from that area are known. The Southern Territory was composed of franchises in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia. That those eight states plus Pennsylvania had franchises is verified by bottles or advertisements. One advertisement from the home office reads: “We want every Bottler who desires to make more money to write us at once for our 1909 plan. The plan is original and very liberal, a far better plan than you have ever seen – one that will enable you to make a great deal of money, not for a few weeks or months, but regularly – because KOCA NOLA creates a thirst for more. KOCA NOLA is one of the most successful drinks ever offered, and our unique plan is decided the most successful. Write for the plan today – it’s an eye-opener.” The company went on to say that it would provide a free quart sample of its drink to anyone willing to pay express charges. It is not known the type of container used for that quart. While many of the Koca Nola franchisees purchased only the syrup to sell at soda fountains and in restaurants, it may be probable that companies in more than nine states out of the 23 known to have been offered franchises may have bottled and sold Koca Nola. Problem is, no bottles from those areas have yet to be discovered. Readers having bottles from cities or towns not previously mentioned, the author would like to hear from them. The Koca Nola Company sold its drinks at 5 cents per bottle, the drink apparently having a little extra “kick” that acted as a pick-me-up on depressing days. The most successful era for the company came in 1905-1908, in part because Austin had taken a page from the marketing strategies of Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and Hires’ Root Beer and was giving free merchandise advertising his drink. Items known to be listed in a Koca Nola catalogue (copies of which are not known to be extant) included calendars, match safes, watch fobs, ladies’ face powder boxes and thermometers, all with Koca Nola
Summer 2005 inscriptions and all rare collectibles today. Here are nutshell histories of known Koca Nola bottlers: ALABAMA: One franchise was established in Camden by the Farmers’ Ice & Oil Company, while Lemuel McGee Keen established his in Montgomery about 1905. Keen may have sold his first Koca Nola in Hutchinson bottles, although none have been found with the embossed brand name. Crown tops embossed Montgomery Bottling Works / Koca Nola (in script) / Montgomery, Ala., are known. An amber variant is known and it’s suspected that aqua and clear-glass examples also exist. Keen bottled and sold Koca Nola for five years, but his business failed because of a decline in sales after the home company in Atlanta had been forced into bankruptcy after being found guilty of violating the Pure Food & Drug Act. FLORIDA: The Pensacola Bottling Works obtained a franchise in 1907, but bad business practices doomed the company which went into bankruptcy a year later. The Florida Koca Nola Bottling Company was established in Jacksonville during 1905-08 and sold the soda in aqua Hutchinsons and clear crown tops. Heels of the Florida bottles are embossed ROOT 368 and ROOT 583, marks of the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Ind. GEORGIA: In addition to Atlanta, the Ashburn Bottling Works in Turner County apparently sold Koca Nola for a year or less during 1907. The B.I. Taylor & Company in Bagley was granted a franchise about the same time, but wasn’t long in business. The embossed letters of S.I.G.W. on the heels of Atlanta bottles stand for Southern
Bottles and Extras Indiana Glass Works of Loogooteee, Ind. (1905-13), according to Ted Oppelt in his listing, “Colored Hutchinson Soda in the United States.” The Donaldsonville Bottling Works sold Koca Nola in the same time frame as its Georgia neighbors, but spelled the drink KACONOLA, making it a rare and much sought-after bottle. There was another spelling error: Correct spelling of the Seminole County town is Donalsonville. The Koca Nola bottled by the Macon Bottling Works may have been the first sold after that of the Atlanta headquarters. The Macon company was in business as late as 1909. The Rome franchise was one of the company’s most successful and its bottles are among the most common more than 100 years later. The Macon bottle has a small “c” within a diamond embossed on its base, but the glass company has yet to be identified. Also unidentified are the letters C.S. & G. Co., embossed on the Rome bottles’ heels. A newspaper ad indicated Koca Nola was sold in Savannah, but no bottles are known. Dixie Carbonating Company of Augusta also sold the drink, but no embossed bottles have been foun. KENTUCKY: The Somerset franchise was established in 1907, but lack of newspaper ads, bottles and other evidence indicate the company wasn’t long in business. The author owns a Somerset bottle which presently is unique. It is embossed R.G. Co., which may be the mark of the Renton Glass Company of Renton, Wash., in business from 1905-11, according to Bottle Makers and Their Marks by Dr. Julian Harrison Toulouse. The factory began using that mark in 1907, Dr. Toulouse noted. But it also could be an early Root Glass Company mark, according to Roger Peterson in his
Bottles and Extras book, Wisconsin Soda Water Bottles, 18451910. Researchers also have not discovered any Oregon or Washington bottles with the R.G. Co., mark. NORTH CAROLINA: The New London Bottling Works was issued a franchise to sell Koca Nola during 1907-09, but sold it for only a few months, The drink also was sold in Mount Airy for a short time in 1908. PENNSYLVANIA: James Esposito’s soda water company existed in 1905 at 812-814 Washington Avenue in Philadelphia. It was a large and successful enterprise. Koca Nola was his best seller among the sodas he handled. He may have sold more Koca Nola than any of the other franchises, excepting the Atlanta home headquarters, and the evidence is in the number of his bottles known. There are at least eight variations of Hutchinsons and crown top Koca Nola bottles in existence. Yellow- or citroncolored J. Esposito Hutchinsons bring prices in the upper four figures. The D.O.C. embossed on the bottles’ heels stand for the D.O. Cunningham Glass Company of Pittsburgh (1882-1937). Amber bottles exist with C.G. Co. 756 on their heels. Those initials may be from the Crystal Glass Company of Bridgeport, Ohio (1882-1907). SOUTH CAROLINA: A lone example embossed Koca Nola Bottling Co. / Fairfax, S.C., exists in a private collection. TENNESSEE: In New River and South Pittsburg, A.Y. Keen owned and operated the Keen Bottling Company. He sold many different sodas including Koca Nola, which was sold in 1907. Since he owned the South
Summer 2005 Pittsburg branch, his bottles were embossed New River & South Pittsburg, becoming the only Koca Nola seller with two towns listed on his bottles. According to Keen family history, his Koca Nola venture lasted only six months, but he bounced back by renaming his company the Keen Gay-Ola Bottling Company. He added NEHI in 1927 and sold it in nine different flavors. Only three examples of Keen Koca Nola bottles are known, making it a rare challenge for collectors to locate others. VIRGINIA: The Holston Bottling Company of Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia advertised Koca Nola in the Bristol HeraldCourier on April 6, 1907. There also was a Koca Nola Bottling Works in Gallatin. The author has documented about 35 variations of the Koca Nola bottle from 17 different companies. There may be more in existence. Whatever became of Koca Nola? Why did it not last as long as Coca-Cola, PepsiCola, NEHI or Dr. Pepper? On July 3, 1909, the U.S. District Attorney filed charges claiming the Koca Nola syrup contained cocaine, according to an article in the National Bottlers’ Gazette. According to Internet sources, government agents intercepted a one-gallon jug of Koca Nola syrup en route from the Atlanta office to Anacostia in D.C. The jug was labeled “Delicious. Dopeless. Koca Nola. The Great Tonic Drink.” After government chemists determined the syrup contained cocaine, the government charged the company that the syrup was misbranded. The jug containing the syrup also bore the wording that it was guaranteed under the 1906 Pure Food & Drug Act and failed to carry a statement on the label indicating the amount of cocaine present. The U.S. Attorney quoted the law, saying it was “the object of the law that the public shall be put distinctly on notice, and cocaine, among other things mentioned in the act, if present in any preparation of food or drink, it must be so stated on the label,” according to Internet sources. In a January 1992 Federation Glass Works article copyrighted by Cecil Munsey*, Austin was quoted as denying the charges, citing chemical analyses of the syrup in his defense in the Gazette. “There is not now, and never has been, any cocaine used in the manufacture of Koca Nola sirup (sic),” Austin said in the
13 Gazette article. “It not only does not contain cocaine, but contains no harmful ingredients of any kind, and on the contrary contains ingredients that have a decidedly beneficial and tonic effect upon the drinker.” Federal authorities disagreed. Munsey pointed out that the American Medical Association’s book, Quackery & Nostrums, noted that the Koca Nola Company “was found guilty on two points: (1) failing to declare the presence of cocain(sic) and (2) adulteration. The Government made two seizures and the company was found guilty in each case and a fine of $25 on each count was imposed, making a total of $100.” The Koca Nola Company filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 24, 1910, just five years after it was founded, according to Munsey’s article. The company held on until 1913, according to listings in Atlanta city directories. After it went bankrupt, Austin formed the Southern Beverage Company, manufacturing Capitol Club Ginger Ale and at least four other flavors, according to Munsey. Then Austin faded from the scene. The Federation Glass Works was the official publication of the Federation of Historical Bottle Clubs (later renamed Collectors) and predecessor to the current Bottles & Extras. *-Excerpts used by permission of Dr. Cecil Munsey from his January 1992 article, “Matches, Match Safes and the History and Relics of Koca Nola, (c) 1991 in the January 1992 Federation Glass Works journal. Dr. Munsey also credited Gene Bradberry, Memphis, Tenn.; Jane Rotella Coyle, Camillus, N.Y.; Ron Fowler, Seattle, Wash.; Phillip F. Mooney, archivist, The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, Ga., and Dennis L. Smith, Getzville, N.Y., for assisting in the research for his article. Collectors wishing to correspond with the author can do so by writing to Charles David Head, Reg: 23549-001 D-2 Unit, FCI, 2680 Highway 301 South, Jesup, GA 31599.
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Summer 2005
The Dating Game
by Bill Lockhart, David Whitten, Bill Lindsey. Jay Hawkins and Carol Serr © Bill Lockhart 2004 Cunningham Family Glass Holdings This is the third part in a mini-series of manufacturer’s marks studies. We began with the Illinois Glass Co., then presented the Ihmsen Glass factories because of the I G Co connection. Since a member of the Ihmsen family joined the Cunninghams in the glass business, the Cunningham family seems the next logical group to describe. The final part of the series will be the Illinois Pacific glass factories, the western segment of the Illinois family. The OwensIllinois article, the second column of “The Dating Game,” was actually the final installment of the series, and we will eventually offer some new information about the Owens Glass Co. The Cunningham family owned, either completely or in part, five glass companies, all in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Three of these were noted by distinctive marks on bottles. For a biographical sketch of Dominec O. Cunningham, see Creswick (1995:281).
along with George Duncan formed W. Cunningham & Co.1 and established the Pittsburgh City Glass Works. Apparently, Jackson withdrew from the company about this time. Due to a depression during this period, the company may have experienced financial difficulties. Possibly because of this, Dominick Ihmsen joined the firm in 1857, 2 and the partners renamed the company as Cunninghams & Ihmsen (Innes 1976:37; Knittle 1924:344; McKearin & McKearin 1941:605; McKearin & Wilson 1978:156; Toulouse 1971:119; Van Rensselaer 1969:181). An 1892 Cunninghams & Co. ad (Putnam 1965) noted that the firm was “established 1849,” indicating that the Cunningham family considered that the initial date of their ongoing operations at the Pittsburgh City Glass Works.
W. Cunningham & Co (1849-1857) In 1845, Wilson Cunningham and George Jackson began a window-glass and bottle factory (name unknown) on Water St. in Pittsburgh. Four years later (1849), brothers Wilson and Robert Cunningham,
Cunningham & Johnson (1867-1886) W. Cunningham & Co. established a plant on Brown St., making “green glass, flasks, etc.” in 1849. Although the sources are a bit unclear, this may be the “Pittsburgh City Glass Works” discussed above, or it may be a separate plant. McKearin & McKearin (1941:607) noted that about 1867 the Brown St. plant was operated by Cunningham & Johnson. The plant did not
Figure 1: Cunninghams & Ihmsen Bottle Base [eBay]
Figure 2: Cunninghams & Ihmsen Fruit Jar [Creswick 1995:39]
Bottles and Extras return to control by the Cunninghams (Cunninghams & Co.) until 1886. Unfortunately, nothing more is known about Johnson, and he had no further involvement with the Cunninghams. The timing, however, is interesting. It seems that this firm began just about the time that Cunninghams & Ihmsen was formed (see below). Cunninghams & Ihmsen (1866-1878) When Dominick Ihmsen joined W. Cunningham & Co. in 1866, 3 he was apparently important enough to cause a name change to Cunningham & Ihmsen (McKearin & McKearin 1941:605; McKearin & Wilson 1978:156). When Ihmsen retired in 1878, Dominec Cunningham (Wilson Cunningham’s son) joined the firm, and the name was changed to Cunninghams & Co. (McKearin & Wilson 1978:156; Toulouse 1971:120, 132). There is some ambiguity as to whether the name should be Cunninghams or Cunningham. The name appeared in both forms. Toulouse (1971:132) suggested that use of the singular would have been earlier than the plural. Jay Hawkins’ reply to our query about the singulars and plurals of Cunningham was so complete that it is included in full: The Cunninghams and Cunningham and Ihmsen companies are extremely difficult to figure out. Up to 1866, the listing varies between Cunningham & Co. and Cunninghams & Co. From 1866 to 1869, the listing is Cunningham & Ihmsen. Only 1870 is it listed as Cunninghams & Ihmsen. From 1871 to 1878, it is listed as Cunningham & Ihmsen. In 1879 to 1882, the listing goes back to Cunningham & Co. After that it is
Figure 3: C & I Mark on Base [eBay]
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Roller (1983:99), the firm was listed in the 1904 Glass Factory Directory as Cunninghams & Co., Inc. Thus, the company probably incorporated in 1903. With the new information, the most likely chronology for the company is: Figure 4: C & I Mark on Heel [eBay]
Cunninghams & Co. My best guess is that a son or perhaps the nephew (Dominec) joined the company briefly in 1870, only to go on to another company. Perhaps I’ll find out some day. Cunninghams & Co. (1878-1907) Upon Ihmsen’s retirement in 1878, the firm became Cunninghams & Co.4 In 1880, Dominec Cunningham left to start his own company, and his father died soon after (1882). By at least 1887, the firm specialized in beer bottles. The firm became Cunninghams & Co, Ltd. (i.e., a limited partnership) about 1886 5 and remained in business until 1907 6 (City directories; Ayres et al. 1980:12; McKearin & Wilson 1978:156; Toulouse 1971:99, 120-121). Empirical data derived from Wisconsin soft drink bottles, however, suggests that the change to a limited partnership was not reflected on bottle marks until about 1892 (see discussion of C & Co and C & Co LIM marks below). Jay Hawkins (personal correspondence) checked the Pittsburgh directories and discovered that Cunninghams & Co. Lim. was first listed in 1886. The listings remained the same until 1901 or 1902. The 1903 directory no longer had the Lim. nor did the designation return. According to
(L) Figure 5: C & I Mark on Fruit Jar [Creswick 1995:39] (R) Figure 6: Cunningham & Co. Flask [McKearin & Wilson 1980:579)
Cunninghams & Co. Cunninghams & Co., Lim. Cunninghams & Co., Inc.
1878-1886 1886-1903 1903-1907
D. O. Cunningham (1880-1931) Dominec Cunningham left the firm controlled by his father and uncles to start his own company in 1880. From the beginning, he was competing with his relatives in the beer bottle trade. The company incorporated in 1897, which may account for some of the controversy about the name (variously recorded as D. O. Cunningham, D. O. Cunningham & Co., or D. O. Cunningham Glass Co.). Although Dominec died on March 26, 1911, the company remained in business until 1931 (Ayres et al. 1980:13; Knittle 1924:344; McKearin & Wilson 1978:156157; Toulouse 1971:120, 163-164). There is some dispute about the final disposition of the company. Toulouse (1971:163-164) claimed the firm closed in 1937. Creswick (1995:264) repeated the Toulouse date. McKearin & Wilson (1978:157), however, stated that the company was taken over by All-Pak in 1931. Ayres and his associates (1980:14) stated that the company remained listed in Pittsburgh city directories until 1959. The confusion was clarified by the AllPak website (2005):
Cunningham Glass Company was a manufacturer of glass containers from 1849 to 1931. In 1931, Cunningham ceased manufacturing and established themselves as a distributor for Owens-Illinois Glass company. To achieve success as a glass container distributor, it was essential to develop competencies for all types of customers. An extensive inventory of containers of various sizes, shapes, and colors was built and maintained. In addition, the company competitively shipped full truckloads of containers directly from the manufacturing plant. Bottles and Marks Creswick (1995:153) listed Cunninghams & Ihmsen as a maker of Mason jars (from the Pittsburgh city directory), although she did not note their mark on any actual jars. A Cunninghams & Co. ad from June 1892 listed “Specialties: Mineral or Soda, Ginger Ale, Beer, (Champagne shape, : : Bulb Neck or Export) Apollinaris, (Green, Ruby and : Imported Colors) Porter and Ale, Brandy, Hock Wine, Claret, Schnapps.” The ad further advised, “Have made arrangements with Bottle Seal Co., of Baltimore, Md., for making any of the above bottles for the use of the Seal Stopper [also known as the Baltimore Loop stopper]. Bottles supplied with Patent Stoppers, attached ready for use, for Beer and Soda.”
All-Pak, Inc. was established in 1958 through the combination of Cunningham Glass Company and Allied Can and Container Company.
P. C. G. CO. (1852-1865) Creswick (1995:172) noted this mark (with full punctuation) on a grooved-ring wax sealer fruit jar that was otherwise unmarked. Normally, these initials are connected to the Pacific Coast Glass Co. (1925-1930). However, she noted that the
Figure 7: Cunningham & Co. Fruit Jar [Creswick 1995:39]
Figure 8: Detail of Pontil Mark with Cunningham & Co. Mark [eBay]
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Summer 2005
company would have been quite late to have made this type of jar. Alternatively, she assigned the mark to the Pittsburgh City Glass Works (Cunningham & Duncan), 1852-1865. CUNNINGHAM & IHMSEN or CUNNINGHAMS & IHMSEN (18661878) This mark is found on “wine and/or spirits” bottles as well as on the sides of fruit jars (McKearin & Wilson 1978:157, 673). At least one flask was made with the full company name embossed on the side (see last month’s column for photo). The mark is also embossed on the sides of fruit jars that bear the date of 1868 on the base. Grooved-ring wax sealers also bore the mark (with and without the “s”) on their bases, and one had CUNNINGHAMS & IHMSEN PITTSBURGH PA PATD 1868 on the base (Roller 1983:99). Roller also noted a lid that accompanied the PATD 1868 jar that was embossed C & I. He dated the jars and lid from the 1860s to 1876 [see Figures 1 and 2]. Toulouse (1969:84-85) dated the jar style at 1868-1879. Roller (1983:99) told an interesting story about Cunningham & Ihmsen fruit jars. In discussing those marked PATD 1868, he stated: What the 1868 patent date referred to is not known; but, in 1871, Wm. McCully & Co. sued Cunninghams & Ihmsen for infringing their Holcomb “Dictator Jar” patent rights. . . . In the court records, Cunninghams & Ihmsen stated that they had made fruit jars, starting August 1, 1868, that were very similar to the Dictator jars, only with a groove rather than a flat sealing surface. No mention was
Figure 9: C & CO Mark on Beer Bottle Base [Lockhart]
Figure 10: C & CO Mark on Hutchinson Soda Heel [eBay]
made of any specific patent for their jars, and perhaps they used the term “PATD” without the legal right to do so. Another type of fruit jar manufactured by Cunninghams & Ihmsen was embossed A. STONE & C O /PHILAD A / MANUFACTURED BY/ CUNNINGHAMS & IHMSEN/ PITTSBURGH PA. These were groovedring wax sealers and came in aqua and green colors (Creswick 1995:205). A very similar jar was made by Cunninghams & Co. On fruit jars, the mark is on the base in both its singular and plural forms (Creswick 1995:39). Roller (1983:99) noted the STONES PATENT jars but claimed that the STONES PATENT was in “ghosted letters.”7 THE/HERO/INE was another jar made by the company and marked on the base either CUNNINGHAMS & IHMSEN PITTSBURGH, PA. or CUNNINGHAM & IHMSEN PITTSBURGH, PA. NOV 26 67 or C I P PATD NOV 26 1867 (Creswick 1995:84). Roller (1983:155) noted that the jar was made by several companies and that Cunninghams & Ihmsen made their version about 1867-1868. C & I (1866-1878) This mark is shown or noted in Innes (1976:218); Jones (1966:7; 1968:14),
Figure 11: C & CO Mark on Bitters Base [eBay]
Bottles and Extras Herskovitz (1978:8), Knittle (1927:441), McKearin and Wilson (1978:583), Toulouse (1971:132), Van Rensselaer (1969:32), Kroll (1972:3), and Wilson (1981:114). It was found on beer and soda bottle bases [Figure 3] and on flasks. This appears to be the only mark regularly used by the company and should be dated from 1866 to 1879, although the mark would have been on beer bottles from ca. 1873 to 1879. The mark is embossed horizontally across the center of soda and beer bases or on the heel [Figure 4], sometimes accompanied by a number. The mark is also found on the bases of grooved-ring wax sealer fruit jars (Creswick 1995:39, 184 – Figure 5), as well as THE RESERVOIR, a fruit jar with an internal stopper. Two lugs were embossed inside the throat to take the stopper. Patent No. 136,240 was issued to Ella G. Haller for this type of jar/stopper combination on February 25, 1873. The jar was therefore made between 1873 and 1879. Neither Ayres and his associates (1980) nor Wilson (1981) showed the C & I mark among the numerous beer bottles they examined. Herskovitz (1978:8) only noted five bottles, and those might have been soda bottles that were misidentified. Despite this omission, Cunninghams & Ihmsen may have been a major beer bottle producer. The factory sold bottles to Anheuser Busch in St. Louis. According to Innes (1976:230), the company shipped 1600 gross of beer bottles (230,400 containers) to the brewery in November 1877. Anheuser Busch bought bottles from only four companies prior to 1886, when Busch entered the bottle manufacturing field. One company was the Pittsburgh City Glass Co. (almost certainly a reference to the Pittsburgh City Glass Works owned by the Cunninghams). This questions whether Cunninghams &
Figure 12: C & CO LIM Mark on Beer Bottle Base [eBay]
Bottles and Extras
Figure 13: C & CO LIM Mark on Hutchinson Bottle Heel [eBay]
Ihmsen applied their C & I mark on generic beer bottles, although the dearth of marked containers may simply indicate that the firm began its beer bottle production near the end of its life (the 1877 contract was only a year before the change of name to Cunninghams & Co. Peters (1996:9) dated the C & I mark 1865-1879. However, on numerous pages throughout his book (a total of more than 20 listings), he consistently dated the C & I mark to the 1870s. A few of the companies that used bottles marked C & I were in business in the 1860s, however, so the bottles could have been used during the earlier period. Peters’ work provides solid evidence for the marks’ being used throughout the 1870s. Kroll (1972:30, 50, 52, 67, 73, 75, 76, 98) noted eight C & I marks on Wisconsin beer bottles. His aggregate date ranges for the breweries involved (he did not attempt to date individual bottles) suggested a use period from the early 1870s to the early 1880s. Griffenhagen and Bogard (1999:123) agreed on the general time period, giving 1867-1879 dates, and added that the mark appeared on medicinal bottles used by C. F. Goodman, Omaha, Nebraska, and Charles Schlitz, Milwaukee. According to Fike (1987:164), Goodman was a wholesale
Figure 14: Cunninghams & Co. LIM Fruit Jar [Creswick 1995:40]
Summer 2005 and retail drug dealer from “at least 1874” until his death on January 11, 1895. Although Fike noted the use of C & I to mark Goodman’s bottles, he did not add any specific date range for the involvement. Ring (1980:127) also listed the C & I mark on Goodman’s Celebrated Mountain Herb Bitters and German Wine Bitters bottles. C I & Sons (1855-1885) Although this mark is probably unrelated to Cunninghams & Ihmsen, it was recorded by Freeman (1964:89) on a flying eagle flask. The reverse of the bottle showed clasped hands. Unfortunately, Freeman failed to add any other information. Griffenhagen and Bogard (1999:123) also listed the mark as used by C. Ihmsen & Sons from 1867 to 1885 on medicinal bottles. CUNNINGHAM’S & CO., CUNNINGHAMS & CO., or CUNNINGHAM & CO. (1878-ca. 1891) These variations of the mark were found on fruit jars and as part of the integral design on at least four flasks depicting eagles (along with other shapes - Figure 6). In at least three cases, the marking “& CO.” was below the word CUNNINGHAM or CUNNINGHAMS (McKearin & McKearin 1941:509; McKearin & Wilson 1978:157-158, 445, 509, 579-580, 586). Roller (1983:98-99) noted a grooved-ring wax sealer and two other jars embossed on their bases with CUMMINGHAM & CO (or plural) PITTSBURGH (one variation was PITTSBURGH, PA.). He dated one of the jar styles “c. 1850s” [Figure 7] and noted that this style was “probably the first jars in the Cunningham line.” Despite the lack of the “W” in the embossing, he attributed the jar to W. Cunningham & Co. Since this jar, unlike the others mentioned in this article, had a pontil mark on the base [Figure 8], Roller is probably correct. The
Figure 15: D O C Mark on Base [eBay]
17 others he dated from 1847-1865. Toulouse (1969:85) dated the jar style as “after 1879.” Another type of fruit jar manufactured by Cunninghams & Co. was embossed A. STONE & C O /PHILAD A / MANUFACTURED BY/ CUNNINGHAMS & Co/PITTSBURGH PA. These were grooved-ring wax sealers and came in aqua and green colors (Creswick 1995:205). A very similar jar was made by Cunninghams & Ihmsen. C & CO or C & Co (1878-ca. 1891 and ca. 1900-ca. 1907) This mark was embossed horizontally across the center of export-style beer bottle bases [Figure 9] and on the heels and bases of soft drink bottles [Figure 10]. The mark was noted by Ayres et al. (1980:unnumbered page); Jones (1966:7; 1968:14), Knittle (1927:441), and Toulouse (1971:119), although it was surprisingly missing from Wilson (1981). Herskovitz (1978:8) noted a slight variation to the mark: C & Co, although he only observed one example. Lockhart & Olszewski (1994:39) found 27 beer bottle bases with the C & Co mark at San Elizario, Texas, on a site now dated 1880-ca. 1886. Van Rensselaer (1921:8) added a “Doyle’s Hop Bitters 1872" to the list of types of bottles marked with C & Co. Fletcher (1994:228, 319) also listed the mark in connection with Kansas soda bottles. Kroll (1972:91) noted a single example of the mark on Wisconsin beer bottles, but the brewery was in business too long (1885 to at least 1972) to be helpful in dating the mark. Peters (1996:9) dated the C & Co marks 1879 to ca. 1891 based on empirical data from some ten Wisconsin soft drink bottles
Figure 16: D O C Mark on Fruit Jar [Creswick 1995:46]
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Summer 2005
bearing the mark. The bottles were dated by local historical data to supply the date range. Cunninghams & Co. added Lim. to its 1886 directory listing. However, Hawkins (personal correspondence) suggested that the glass workers probably used the existing molds (with C & Co.) until they wore out rather than retooling to add the LIM. Approximately five years is not an unreasonable time for a mold to last (see C & Co. LIM below). Miller (1999:19, 119) illustrated a single Hutchinson-finished bottle embossed C & CO 4 on the back heel. He dated the bottle 1900. Clint (1976:124), too, only showed a single example of the mark on the back heel of a Hutchinson bottle with an applied finish that he dated ca. 1880. Lockhart has an example of the mark on an amber, export beer bottle with an applied finish – likely indicating a use prior to ca. 1885. Probable dates for the use of the mark are 1878-ca. 1891. Coupled with the information from Clint (above), we know that C & CO marks appeared on bottles with both applied and tooled finishes. Any found with tooled finishes were likely made during the late part of the date range. Hawkins also has a bottle from the Loyalhanna Brewing Co. (Pittsburgh) that is marked C & Co (no LIM). The company started business in 1901. Thus we end up with two date ranges for the C & Co mark: 1880-ca. 1891 and ca. 1900ca. 1907.8 The Cunninghams may have been drawn into the beer bottle realm rather than seeking it. Plavchan (1969:75) found the following in Anheuser Busch records:
Cunninghams operated two different companies (see histories above). Cunninghams & Ihmsen opened in 1857 and made glass until 1878 (see discussion about C & I mark above). When Ihmsen left, the firm became Cunningham & Co. and retained that name until 1886, when it became Cunninghams & Co., Ltd. It is interesting timing that the year Busch expanded his market for beer bottles (1886), the Cunninghams reorganized their company. Cunninghams & Co., however, had its mark embossed on numerous export-style beer bottles. We suspect the company made bottles for Anheuser Busch from ca. 1879 until some point later than 1886. We doubt that Busch’s operation in Streator produced sufficient beer bottles for the brewer’s needs, especially in the beginning. Our guess at the chronology is that Busch (who actually ran the company) bought his first bottles exclusively from one of the St. Louis companies. As business improved (probably no later than ca. 1875), he added the other local company. Cunninghams & Ihmsen was added by at least 1877, and DeSteiger was probably included by 1880 or earlier. The C & CO mark appeared on other types of bottles. Ring (1980:80, 270) listed the mark on Berliner Bitters and Jepson’s Dyspepsia Bitters bottles [Figure 11], and an eBay auction included the mark on a pharmaceutical bottle. Although completely unrelated, a C & Co mark was also used by Colgate & Co. on toiletry bottles in the early 1900s (Griffenhagen & Bogard 1999:122).
Prior to 1886 the main source of beer bottles for the Anheuser-Busch [sic] Brewing Association were four glass works: the Mississippi Glass Co. and the Lindell Glass Co. of St. Louis; the Pittsburgh City Glass Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and the DeSteiger Glass Co. of LaSalle, Illinois.
C & Co LIM (ca. 1892-1907) This basemark was only reported on beer bottles [Figure 12] by Ayres et al. (1980:unnumbered page) and Herskovitz (1978:8), although Herskovitz noted 40 examples with numbers from 0 through 13 below the mark. Kroll (1972:3, 75, 125) listed the mark as “manufacturer unknown” and noted two instances of the mark’s appearance on Wisconsin beer bottles. In
This brings up a question as to the owners of the “Pittsburgh City Glass Co.” According to the McKearins and other sources, the Cunninghams and George Duncan opened the Pittsburgh City Glass Works in 1845. The similarity between the two names probably means that the Cunninghams’ plant was the one intended by the Anheuser Busch report. Between 1872 and 1886, the
Figure 17: D O C Mark on Heel [eBay]
both cases, the breweries were in business from the mid-1800s to at least 1972, so the dates were unhelpful in specifying a range for the mark. Peters (1996:9) dated the mark’s use on soft drink bottles from ca. 1892 to 1907, based on a small sample (1996:32, 198) of Wisconsin bottles. Clint (1976:175) illustrated a single example of a Hutchinson bottle marked C & CO LIM No. 5 on the back heel [Figure 13]. The container had a tooled finish and was dated 1905-1910. The C & Co LIM mark was used from ca. 1892 to ca. 1905 or later. Berge (1980:141) illustrated an example of the mark, although he had no idea who made the bottle. Even though the company dropped the “Limited” in 1903 and became incorporated, the workers probably continued to use bottles marked LIM until the supply was exhausted. CUNNINGHAMS & CO. LIM. PITTSBURGH, PA. (ca. 1892-1907) Creswick (1995:40) showed a groovedring wax sealer fruit jar with CUNNINGHAMS & CO. LIM. (downward arch)/PITTSBURGH, PA. (upward arch) on the base [Figure 14]. She dated the jar ca. 1879. Roller (1983:99) described the same jar but dated it “c. late-1890s to early 1900s.” C
According to Toulouse (1971:99), this lone initial may have been used by Cunninghams & Co. from 1879 to 1909, although he admitted that the mark had “not been documented.” He noted the mark on “general line ware.” Knittle (1927:441) earlier identified the mark as “probably Cummingham.” DOC Creswick (1995:281) quoted the 1889 History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in its discussion of Dominec O. Cunningham. Check her book for a personal history of the man. Cunningham had “two extensive plants for the manufacture of window glass, bottles & fruit jars.” The mark of Domenic O. Cunningham was embossed horizontally across the center of export-style beer bottle bases. The mark was shown in Ayres et al (1980:unnumbered page), Herskovitz (1978:8), Jones (1966:7, 16; 1968:16), Toulouse (1971:163), and Wilson (1981:115). Herskovitz (1978:8) noted 49 examples accompanied by embossed numbers (2-23) and letters (A,
Bottles and Extras G, and S). Cunningham made some of the later beer bottles for Carl Conrad’s Budweiser (prior to Conrad’s January 1883 bankruptcy and subsequent sale of the label to Anheuser Busch – see Wilson 1981:3, 6 for examples). These were embossed with the CC&Co monogram on the base and D O C on the heel. Thus, we know that Dominec Cunningham made beer bottles during his first two years in business. McKearin & Wilson (1978:157) noted D. O. C. on the bases of soft drink bottles [Figure 15] dating from ca. 1900 and on fruit jars. Toulouse (1969:93) added that the mark was on the “side” of fruit jars and dated the jars “circa 1882.” Creswick (1995:46) showed a grooved-ring wax sealer fruit jar with D. O. C. in a slight arch at the top of the base [Figure 16]. Roller (1983:104), too, listed the jar and dated it ca. 1882 to 1900. He noted that the January 6, 1900 Commoner & Glassworker stated that Cunningham had ceased making fruit jars. By 1885, Cunningham advertised “mineral, ginger-ale, and beer bottles” in the city directory (Toulouse 1971:163). The firm also made bottles for Poland Water from “1906 until its closing” (McKearin & Wilson 1978:157). Six examples of D O C marks on bottles were found in the Dictionary of Embossed Beers (Mobley 2004). Five had the mark on the heel [Figure 17], and four of those had numbers to the left (2, 102, 210, and 307). All had either blob or Baltimore loop finishes. The final bottle had D O C/8 embossed on the base (Baltimore loop). Clint (1976:137) showed a single example with a heelmark followed by 106. The bottle had a tooled finish, and he dated it 1893 to 1894. Numerous heelmarked bottles are offered on eBay. Judging from the bottle styles, Cunningham (and his followers in the firm) used the same mark during the entire tenure of the business. Discussion and Conclusion Although the Cunningham family’s glass holdings went through five incarnations, the variations in marks were relatively small. Aside from actual names, only three major style of marks exist: C & Co (including C & Co LIM), C & I, and D O C. Each of these is easily datable to the company that used it and sometimes to smaller increments of time. It is odd, however, that D. O. Cunningham used the same mark (D O C) with virtually no variation for 51 years. Future research
Summer 2005 should center on dates for the D O C mark. There may be variations in the accompanying numerical codes on later bottles. Acknowledgments We are deeply indebted to Jay Hawkins. His information from Pittsburgh city directories has been invaluable. Frequently, this data has meant the difference between guessing about tenuous dates and having more solid figures to report. Our gratitude also goes to Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr., for allowing us to copy and use drawings from The Fruit Jar Works. We are also indebted to eBay and the thousands of sellers for inadvertently presenting such a great venue for usable photographs. References
All-Pak 2005 “All-Pak.” http://www.all-pak.com/ about.asp?navid=1 Ayres, James E., William Liesenbien, Lee Fratt, and Linda Eure 1980 “Beer Bottles from the Tucson Urban Renewal Project, Tucson, AZ.” Unpublished manuscript, Arizona State Museum Archives, RG5, Sg3, Series 2, Subseries 1, Folder 220. Berge, Dale L. 1980 Simpson Springs Station: Historical Archaeology in Western Utah. Cultural Resource Series No. 6. Bureau of Land Management, Utah. Clint, David K 1976 Colorado Historical Bottles & Etc., 1859-1915. Antique Bottle Collectors of Colorado, Inc., Boulder. Creswick, Alice 1995 The Fruit Jar Works, Vol. I, Listing Jars Made Circa 1820 to 1920’s. Douglas M. Leybourne, N. Muskegon, Michigan. Fike, Richard E. 1987 The Bottle Book: A Comprehensive Guide to Historic, Embossed Medicine Bottles. Peregrine Smith Books, Salt Lake City. Fletcher, Johnnie W. 1994 A Collectors Guide to Kansas Bottles, 1854 to 1915. Privately printed, Mustang, Oklahoma. Freeman, Larry 1964 Grand Old American Bottles. Century House, Watkins Glen, N.Y.
19 Griffinhagen, George and Mary Bogard 1999 History of Drug Containers and Their Labels. American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, Madison, Wisconsin. Herskovitz, Robert M. 1978 Fort Bowie Material Culture. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. Innes, Lowell 1976 Pittsburgh Glass, 1797-1891: A History and Guide for Collectors. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. Jones, May 1966 The Bottle Trail, Volume 6. Nara Vista, New Mexico. 1968 The Bottle Trail, Volume 9. Nara Vista, New Mexico. Knittle, Rhea Mansfield 1927 Early American Glass. AppletonCentury, New York. Kroll, Wayne, L. 1972 Wisconsin Breweries and Their Bottles. Privately Published, Jefferson, Wisconsin. Lockhart, Bill and Wanda Olszewski 1994 “Excavation and Analysis of a Nineteenth Century Bottle Pit in San Elizario, Texas.” The Artifact 32(1):29-49. McKearin, Helen and George McKearin 1941 American Glass. Crown Publishers, New York. McKearin, Helen and Kenneth M. Wilson 1978 American Bottles & Flasks and Their Ancestry. Crown Publishers, New York. Miller, Michael R. 1999 A Collector’s Guide to Arizona Bottles & Stoneware: A History of Merchant Containers in Arizona. Privately Printed, Peoria, Arizona. Mobley, Bruce 2004 Dictionary of Embossed Beers. http:/ / w w w. o n e - m a n s - j u n k . c o m / beerbottlelibrary/1.htm Peters, Roger 1996 Wisconsin Soda Water Bottles, 18451910. Wild Goose Press, Madison, Wisconsin. Plavchan, Ronald J. 1969 “A History of Anheuser-Busch, 18521933.” Doctoral dissertation, St. Louis University. Putnam, H. E. 1965 Bottle Identification. Privately printed, Jamestown, California.
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Ring, Carlyn 1980 For Bitters Only. Nimrod Press, Boston. Roller, Dick 1983 Standard Fruit Jar Reference. Privately published. Toulouse, Julian Harrison 1969 Fruit Jars. Thomas Nelson & Sons, Camden, New Jersey. 1971 Bottle Makers and Their Marks. Thomas Nelson, New York. Van Rensselaer 1921 Check List of Early American Bottles and Flasks. Cracker Barrel Press, Southhampton, New York. 1969 Early American Bottles and Flasks. Rev. Ed. J. Edmund Edwards, Stratford, Conn. Welker, John and Elizabeth Welker 1985 Pressed Glass in America: Encyclopedia of the First Hundred Years, 1825-1925. Antique Acres Press, Ivyland, Pennsylvania. Wilson, Rex 1981 Bottles on the Western Frontier. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
(Endnotes) Welker and Welker (1985:44) noted the operation as B. Cunningham & Co., although that is probably a typographical error.
appeared in Putnam (1965). Whitten suggested that Jones actually referred to this ad.
1
According to Welker and Welker (1985:44), Duncan withdrew from the company in 1857. Creswick (1995:264), however, claimed the firm was called Cunningham & Duncan from 1852 to 1865, with Duncan’s involvement ending at that point. Neither of these agree with other sources.
2
Toulouse (1971:118, 132) and Creswick (1995:264) claimed that Cunninghams & Ihmsen began in 1865. Roller (1983:99) placed the date at 1866. The directory information from Jay Hawkins also noted 1866 as the first entry. Although the McKearins (1941:605) provided a date of 1857 – which was repeated by McKearin & Wilson (1978:156), there are more independent sources placing the date at 1866.
Toulouse listed the final date for the firm at 1907 in one place and 1909 in another. Jay Hawkins checked the city directories and found that 1907 was the last listing for the company. The 1909 date was another Toulouse typo.
6
“Ghosted letters” are letters that were originally embossed on the mold but were later “peened” (struck with a ball-peen hammer) to obliterate them. They still appear on the glass in an ephemeral form. 7
3
According to Welker and Welker (1985:44), the company became Cunningham & Co. in 1875 when Ihmsen sold out his interest.
However, the Empirical studies by both Clint (1976:175) and Peters (1996:9, 32. 198) suggest that the LIM added to the mark was used until the end of the company.
8
4
5 Jones (1968:14) discussed an ad (that she suggested was ca. 1875) from Cunninghams & Co., Limited, Pittsburgh City Glass Works. However, an 1892 ad with the exact wording
Bill Lockhart 1313 14th Street, Apt. 21 Alamogordo, NM 88310 (505) 439-8158 bottlebill@tularosa.net
Follow-Up: to Vol. 16, No. 1: “The Dating Game” - Illinois Glass Company In Vol. 16, No. 1 of Bottles and Extras there is an article entitled, “The Dating Game: The Illinois Glass Company” by Bill Lockhart, Bill Lindsey, David Whitten and Carol Serr. I have some additional information that should be of interest to your readers and to these authors. For some years I have researched and now have written a book on South Carolina bottles that will be out in the next months. Because the State of South Carolina purchased 22 boxcar loads of South Carolina Dispensary bottles from the Illinois Glass Company, 1897-1899, I was led to delve briefly into the history of this company. In the early 1970s, I visited Alton, Ill., in search of information about Illinois Glass Company’s business with the S.C. Dispensary. I found no information on that topic, but was given public relations information hand-outs and a tour of the facilities by their public information
director. The facilities covered about 100 acres in Alton along the Missouri River. The only visible evidence of the Illinois Glass Company I found was its name printed vertically on one of the smokestacks. In the course of my research, I acquired an 1896 catalog of U.S. Bottlers’ Supply Co., the supply department for the Illinois Glass Co. This catalog contained much interesting information about the bottles supplied to various customers across the nation, but shed no light on the topic I was researching. I am sure its contents are of more interest to many of your readers and to the authors of the aforementioned article. In the course of my research, I discovered that the State of South Carolina in 1897 began requiring all glass houses which supplied bottles to them to have the company’s initials blown into the bottle. Consequently, the Illinois Glass Co. placed the initials “I.G.Co.” inside an elongated diamond on the bottles supplied to South
Carolina. This fact documents the use of this initial by Illinois Glass Co. three years earlier than was reported in the article. I have examples of South Carolina Dispensary quart bottles with this initial and have seen dozens more. I am enclosing from the 1896 U.S. Bottlers’ Supply Co. catalog a copy of the title page, an engraved photo of the Illinois Glass Co. plant in Alton and a page of advertising labels the company supplied. Also included is the information about the Illinois Glass Co. that will appear in my upcoming book and a copy of the company’s letterhead from the original in the S.C. state archives. Harvey S. Teal 2337 Terrace Way Columbia, SC 29205 Ph: (803) 771-4492
Bottles and Extras Illinois Glass Company. The Illinois Glass Company begun business at Alton, Illinois in 1873. By purchasing other glass companies, they became one of the largest glass houses in the country. Illinois Glass also set up a department in the company called “U.S. Bottlers’ Supply Co.,” whose purpose was to sell a full line of supplies to bottlers. The business of Illinois Glass expanded ever farther when it merged with the Owens Bottle Company in 1929 to form OwensIllinois Glass Company... From 1897 to 1899 Illinois Glass Company supplied the S.C. Dispensary with 22 carloads of a clear round quart, palmetto-tree Dispensary bottles. These bottles carry the company’s trademark on their base, a diamond with the initials, “I.G. Co.” inside it. The Illinois Glass Company also produced a short-neck, amber round quart palmetto-tree Dispensary bottle with an inside-thread screw closure. Four of these bottles turned up at a Las Vegas, Nev. bottle show and one in Vermont. The author first saw one of the Las Vegas bottles at a S.C. bottle show in February, 1982 and wrote an account of it in the bottle club’s newsletter. About two years later, he purchased one of these bottles About seven examples of these bottles have turned up so far. In over forty years of digging in S.C., no broken pieces, and only one whole example, of this bottle have turned up inside the state. During the time Illinois Glass Company produced this bottle, all other bottles being used by the Dispensary were flint, or occasionally light-green or aqua. No record could be found of the Dispensary ordering amber bottles from Illinois Glass. The example of this bottle found in Vermont was covered in wicker. This suggests that, for some unknown reason, Illinois Glass produced a small amount of these bottles that were not shipped to the S.C. Dispensary. The glass company could cover the palmetto tree and the Dispensary name with wicker and sell these bottles to another customer. Harvey S. Teal
Summer 2005
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Summer 2005
Bottles and Extras
by Robin R. Preston While I do have a fascination for all things pre-pro, I’m really a collecting purist in that I have little real passion for accumulating anything other than the etched glasses. But I recently had occasion to investigate Roseville pottery, a highly collectible line manufactured in Zanesville, Ohio from the late 1800s up through the early 1950s. If you’ve hunted pre-pro shots “in the wild,” you’ve seen Roseville because examples can be found in the showcases of every self-respecting antique store in the U.S. It’s an attractive line that features simple floral designs molded in relief on vases, jugs and bowls. Prices for the more common pieces begin at around $100, while the rarer examples command tens of thousands. High prices combined with strong demand usually fuels growth of a reproduction industry and the Roseville market is predictably flooded with fakes. Some of these were made in Japan in the 1930s and hence qualify as antiques in their own right, but China is currently the main source of reproduction Roseville and the quality is so high that it has found its way into even the more high-quality antique malls. eBay is awash with them. Thus, the thought of beginning a serious Roseville collection is about as appealing as jumping into shark-infested waters with a gaping leg wound! The repro problem obviously is not confined to ceramics and bottle collectors will be all too familiar with the garish cabins purporting to originate from E. G. Booz, a Philadelphia liquor dealer operating ca. 1840-1870. The sheer number of these bottles currently in circulation would suggest that Booz’ output approached that of the modern-day Jim Beam Distilling Co.! Sadly, the Booz
Caveat emptor: Fake preprohibition shot glasses
bottles are just the tip of a reproduction iceberg and, even as I write, the Dog River Glass Works is making brand-new bottles using antique molds and cullet so that the end product is good enough to fool even the experts. These examples made me appreciate that the shot-glass world is a wonderfully bucolic collecting backwater, well isolated from the corruption of big-city, high-dollar collectibles. But as the value of the rarer shot glasses climbs inevitably toward four figures, the threat of someone manufacturing reproductions grows ever more imminent. Indeed, the first unpleasant whiff of something rotten in pre-pro-land is already on the wind. This edition of Random Shots addresses the problem of fake pre-pro shot glasses and considers how collectors might protect themselves from unscrupulous traders. Until recently, there had been no systematic attempts to foist fake pre-pro glasses on collectors. There are several
modern look-alikes that might confuse a neophyte, glasses that were commissioned by the Jack Daniel Distillery Co. in the 1970s. They are smaller and more delicate than the typical pre-pro shot, but the paperthinness of the glass used in their manufacture is an unmistakable nod to the genuine article. These modern glasses stand around 2" tall and bear inscriptions in black or gold print. Some simply say “Jack Daniel’s” with a circled “Old No.7” below [Figure 1], while others are inscribed with “Tennessee Squire” and a picture of a rider within an oval outline [Figure 2].
Figure 1
Figure 2
Bottles and Extras The labels on these glasses are unmistakably modern but they do make interesting additions to a pre-pro collection. Note that while Tennessee Squire glasses are quite common, Jack Daniel’s is such a desirable brand that they command prices that match and often exceed that of a generic pre-pro! No doubt someone enterprising soul will be making fakes of the Jack Daniel’s reproductions in the near future. The glasses shown in Figure 3 and 4 are pre-prohibition, or at least the vessels are. These art glasses were created by a prepro collector who applied new labels to vintage glass blanks. With glass in hand, it’s easy for an experienced collector to identify the etching as new, but it would be impossible to make this determination from an auction photograph, for example. One could easily imagine the glass in Figure 4 fetching well in excess of $100 on eBay if a line of text that included the words “whiskey” or “San Francisco” were added.
Summer 2005 These glasses were made as an artistic exercise and were not meant to defraud. Indeed, when one of them was sold online, it came with a clear disclaimer about its authenticity and origins. But over the past couple of years, at least one individual has been running auctions that feature contemporary shot glasses with homecooked labels designed to look antique. The seller has been careful to make no claims regarding age but, by the same token, has never indicated their true lineage. Fortunately, the first few offerings were so clumsy that no-one was interested in buying them [Figures 5 and 6].
Francisco from ca. 1873 - 1918. The same glass later appeared paired with an ashtray bearing an identical inscription. Since Taussig & Co. disappeared with Prohibition, there could be only one reason to offer this glass at auction without a disclaimer, and that was to defraud.
Figure 7
Figure 5
Figure 3
Figure 6
Figure 4
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The inscriptions on the replicas mimic the ubiquitous acid-etching seen on the older glasses but they’ve been applied to heavy cheaters that are obviously contemporary. Also, while Old Crow is a brand name whose roots lie in pre-pro years, the inscriptions on both this glass and the Stony Ridge [Figure 6] could well be of recent design and hence one could easily dismiss both glasses as folk art. The first indication that these shots were actually an attempt to deceive came in the form of a glass bearing the name Louis Taussig & Co., a company based in San
This and many of the subsequent reproduction glasses sported labels that might easily have been copied from standard reference texts, but others bore designs that were unlisted, suggesting that the creator had knowledge of, and access to, a number of genuinely old glasses. But since all of these “fantasy” shots listed with a starting price of a few dollars and still failed to attract bidders, their existence remained of academic interest only. [See examples illustrated in Figure 8 on the next page.] This all changed when the Foust glass shown in Figure 9 listed on eBay. Billy Foust’s Distillery was located in Glen Rock, Pa., and for unknown reasons, has gathered a cult-like following over the years. Shot glasses produced by the company during its pre-pro operations have been welldocumented and are highly sought-after, the rarest being a pair of shots featuring a label in the base under glass. The more common of the pair displays the distillery name in black text against a white enamel background and sells in the $250 - $350 range, whereas a rarer red-on-white version [Figure 10] sells for double or triple that amount. This same authentic pre-pro design is reproduced in crudely-rendered form on the
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Summer 2005
Figure 8. A gathering of some of the reproductions that have
appeared on eBay. The Golden Wedding shooter on the far right is the genuine article and presumably served as the model for the reproduction at its side (top center).
Figure 10
Photograph © Rich Lucchesi
Figure 9
Figure 11
Figure 12
side of a modern glass in Figure 9. It listed with a starting price of $20.00 and I was dismayed to see how quickly it was bid up into serious money range. A collecting colleague tipped off the auction participants about the true nature of the glass but, while the high bidder heeded the advice and withdrew, the others stood their ground and the auction closed at a few pennies short of $73. Not bad for a $2 glass with a home-made label! The seller went underground for several months after this auction but recently re-emerged with a new identity and with their
Bottles and Extras
feedback hidden from view. The glasses were now also offered in private auctions, presumably to prevent unwelcome interference from other collectors who recognized the glasses for what they were. The most recent offering was listed in April of this year and is particularly disturbing because the label has been applied to what appears to be a genuinely old, pre-pro blank [Figure 11]. As usual, the seller was careful about the claims made in the auction description, noting only that it was a “2 1/4” Shot glass . Very old thin glass. Age unknown. No chips. Very nice condition.” The glass was inscribed with a label that read “IMPERIAL WHISKEY,” as shown in Figure 11. The significance of the timing of this auction may have escaped many collectors, but it appeared just days after Rich Lucchesi had auctioned off an authentic Imperial Whiskey shot glass [Figure 12]. Imperial was sold by Goldberg-Bowen, a company located in San Francisco and Oakland in the years leading up to Prohibition. San Francisco glasses always sell at a premium and this one was no exception: the auction closed at $152.50. The reproduction was thus designed to ride the coat-tails of a genuinely rare glass. The fake-glass auction was terminated a day before it was due to close, with the cryptic message “The seller ended this listing early because the item is no longer available for sale.” Rumor has it that an unknowing collector had purchased it in a behind-thescenes deal for $135. As the value of pre-prohibition glasses continues to climb, it seems inevitable that someone will be driven to perfect the art of faking them. The first four months of 2005 alone saw 30 glasses auctioned for $100 or more, a two-to-three fold increase over an equivalent period of 2003 and a serious incentive for fraud. So what can a collector do to protect themselves, particularly if they’re new to the field? While there’s no real substitute for education and experience, there are options. Personally, I avoid any online auction where either the seller’s feedback or the bidder’s identity are marked “private,” because it usually means that the seller has something to hide. Perhaps the best advice is to seek out the help of collectors who know the field well. The shot collector’s website www.pre-pro.com has a thriving community that’s always eager to offer free advice via the chat room (http://www.pre-pro.com/ glasschat/mboard.php), and notices about fake glasses are typically posted on the site within hours of the appearance of a suspicious auction listing. Pre-pro glass collectors have often lamented the fact that their limited numbers has made it difficult to organize, but the lack of critical mass has also limited the opportunity to make a killing through selling fakes. Thus while suspect Roseville vases will continue to haunt the display shelves of antique stores, it’s unlikely that the shelf above will ever be filled with “rare” etched pre-pro glasses from San Francisco. But the threat of reproduction glasses finding their way onto the market remains very real. For now, all we can do is document their appearance and spread the word. My thanks to Bruce Silva for providing information about modern reproductions of antique bottles, Rich Lucchesi for allowing me to use his auction photo, and to the multi-talented “junkmoney” for his generous gift of the art glasses. Robin Preston is an enthusiastic collector of shot glasses and maintains the collector’s website www.pre-pro.com. He can be reached at 245 N 15th St., MS#488, Philadelphia, PA 19102, or by E-mail: oldwhiskey@pre-pro.com.
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HUTCHINSON BOTTLE DIRECTORY TO CATALOG OVER 12,000 BOTTLES! by Ron Fowler © 2005 Seattle History Company My involvement with the Hutchinson Bottle Directory initiative began when this small notice appeared in the January 1977 Old Bottle Magazine: HUTCHINSON BOOK(S) PROPOSED – STATE BY STATE: Printer and ex-commercial photographer Joe Nagy of Oklahoma City has plans for a stateby-state, comprehensive Hutchinson soda book series. He requests collectors in Texas and Illinois contact him first for the purpose of cataloguing Hutchinsons in their particular states…Sounds like a worthwhile project, Joe. Best wishes – Ed. Wow; it was very exciting to envision the entire antique bottle collecting community enjoying the use of state Hutchinson directories! Although I was hard-pressed to believe it would be practical or even possible to produce such a series of books, I contacted Joe and quickly became a believer. In short order I found myself contributing information on Oregon, Washington, and Washington Territory Hutchinson bottles. My initial contact with Joe blossomed into a long and very enjoyable friendship (and a tremendous amount of work!). During the next decade, hundreds of collectors from across North America contributed Hutchinson rubbings, drawings, photographs, bottle specifications, company and state histories, and other information to the project. I visited Oklahoma City twice, spending several days at Joe’s home and office preparing finished bottle drawings. We also exchanged almost 2,000 rubbings via mail that I turned into finished drawings. Sadly, a terrible series of personal and business misfortunes beset Joe in the late 1980s and he was forced to put the project on hold. Although he desperately hoped to finish the books, Joe lost a valiant battle with cancer and passed away September 12, 1993. Thanks to a very thoughtful friend, most of Joe’s files were saved and I acquired them in 1994. Based on over 30 years experience at authoring bottle collecting books, I estimated it would probably require five years of steady effort to complete the Hutchinson Bottle
Directory. Although I hungered to re-initiate work on it, I forced myself to wait until after my 2002 retirement when I would be able to devote the quantity of time required by a project of this magnitude. In late 2003 I reprioritized several other projects and decided to go for it; work on the Hutchinson Bottle Directory began anew January 1, 2004. During 2004 I devoted almost 1,400 hours to sorting, purging, and merging files, and then building personal computer spreadsheets containing data on more than 11,000 different Hutchinson bottles. The total now exceeds 12,000 and may reach 13,000 by the time we go to print! The project is substantially ahead of schedule, particularly because were using personal computers, the Internet, and E-mail to communicate and gather data.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES The primary project objective is for the Hutchinson Bottle Directory to serve as a comprehensive, detailed, accurate, and valued source of information for the antique bottle collecting community. It should also function as a highly useful reference for antiques dealers, local historians, and historical archaeologists. Hopefully the Hutchinson Bottle Directory will also be viewed as a fitting legacy honoring Joe Nagy’s intestinal fortitude for tackling such a worthwhile and challenging project that many thought impossible to complete. Hundreds of us have contributed to this project, and we can’t let those years of effort go to waste! Personally, completion of the Hutchinson
26 Bottle Directory is yet another opportunity to give back to this wonderful hobby that has provided me with so much enjoyment for over 44 years. Once the Hutchinson Bottle Directory is in print, I intend to complete several other major book projects that are currently at various stages of development. PROJECT SCOPE Joe Nagy’s original concept for the Hutchinson Bottle Directory included line drawings and (some) photographs of all known Hutchinson bottles, plus data accompanying each illustration to document bottle dimensions, glass color, and rarity. Very quickly the project scope ballooned to include state and individual company histories, and much more. Information poured in and Joe was somewhat overwhelmed when he estimated there were perhaps 7-10,000 different Hutchinson bottles. In order to ensure this initiative doesnt become unmanageable, I am striving to
Summer 2005 simplify, clearly define, and tightly control project scope. The Hutchinson Bottle Directory will include these three basic elements: 1. Spreadsheets listing all known Hutchinson bottle variants; 2. Illustrations of each bottle; and 3. Ordering information for each areaspecific antique bottle book that is currently in print. HUTCHINSON SPECIALISTS Once the information in my files was transferred to spreadsheets, I estimated the magnitude of the effort necessary to acquire additional bottle rubbings, photographs, and missing data. Whew, this was definitely going to be a huge challenge! In order to accelerate the process of obtaining the desired quantity and quality of information needed, I set out to identify advanced Hutchinson collector specialists from across the continent. This approach has proven successful beyond my
Bottles and Extras wildest dream. The Hutchinson Bottle Directory simply couldn’t be properly completed without the valued assistance and contributions of these fine folks. Today we have designated specialists for all of Canada, all but six of the U.S. territories and states (specialists are still needed for Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia), and the few foreign countries where Hutchinson bottles were utilized. As each specialist has been identified, I have been sending them a draft copy of their geographical area’s spreadsheet so they’ll know exactly what data has already been obtained. This jump starts the information gathering process and minimizes the possibility of wasting their valuable time. We are then working together to obtain missing information and data on additional bottles. Lastly we will jointly edit and quality control the finished spreadsheets and illustrations. Working closely with a team of advanced collectors from across North America is proving to be a highly rewarding and interesting experience. Although there are variations in approaches to collecting, we definitely have in common a shared, hard-todefine fondness for these wonderful glass objects known as Hutchinson bottles. HUTCHINSON BOTTLE VARIANTS Most collectors agree on bottle variations such as glass color, plate shapes, and base shapes. Beyond these basic differences, collecting preferences are a function of personal taste and the definition of “variant” becomes quite fuzzy. Some collectors differentiate between base, shoulder, and top shapes, various shades of aqua, bottle sizes, and other factors. There is no “right” or “wrong” approach and everyone is free to collect however they prefer; I certainly have no intention of dictating to others how to collect! Nonetheless, in order to gather data and produce the Hutchinson Bottle Directory, it is necessary to define “variant” and establish specific guidelines. Additional information on the Hutchinson Bottle Directory approach to variants is available on the web site. Although everyone won’t agree with this approach, at least its a starting point. The definition and guidelines aren’t cast in stone and can be modified as necessary to meet collectors needs. PLANNED BOOK FORMAT Hutchinson Bottle Directory pages will be printed in landscape fashion on 8.5" x 11" paper. Each spreadsheet page will provide detailed bottle listings and data, while the facing page will display illustrations for those bottles listed on that spreadsheet page.
Bottles and Extras
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27 Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the Territories, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Canada. Hopefully collectors will inform me of others that are available. Including advertisements for those books that are still in print in the Hutchinson Bottle Directory will provide collectors desiring additional information an easy means of obtaining it. Many of these books are hard to find and publication of the Hutchinson Bottle Directory is expected to increase their availability to each of us! YOUR SUPPORT IS WELCOMED! All Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors members are encouraged to follow the Hutchinson Bottle Directory initiative as it matures. Heres a sampling of what youll find at the www.SeattleHistoryCompany.com web site: · Hutchinson Bottle Directory Overview – this detailed project overview document is continually updated as decisions are finalized; · Hutchinson Bottle Directory Updates – track project progress and press releases, e.g. announcement of the target publication date;
Sample pages illustrating the format will be posted on the web site in weeks to come. SPREADSHEETS The spreadsheets for each country/state/ territory/province list bottles alphabetically by city and bottler. Individual listings include all available data on front, back, and base embossing, mold, glass color, height, diameter, plate shape, base shape, and rarity. Detailed explanations for each data category are available on the web site. Thanks to the Internet and the Hutchinson collector specialists I am continually adding new listings and filling in missing information. We will be able to add data right up to the as-yet-to-be-determined date of publication. Once the Hutchinson Bottle Directory is in print, additional bottles and data will be identified and continually added to the master data base. I am exploring the possibility of offering a fee-based service to periodically send subscribers updated pages. ILLUSTRATIONS Extensive surveying of many long-time Hutchinson collectors indicated that most prefer line drawings to photographs because accurate drawings better show bottle details such as punctuation, plate shapes, pictures, and monograms. Obtaining useable photographs of over 12,000 bottles isn’t
practical, and the cost of publishing them would make the Hutchinson Bottle Directory prohibitively expensive. Many of the finished drawings I prepared for Joe 20-25 years ago were missing from his files. When I was really on a roll, I could complete ten drawings per hour, but my hands tire quickly and I could only complete a limited number of drawings per day. It would take far too long to complete the illustrations at that rate, so I purchased graphics software that will both speed up the illustration process and facilitate the production of high quality, professional drawings. Even with the use of graphics software, much work remains in order to complete the illustrations. OTHER BOTTLE BOOKS I am aware of bottle books containing varying degrees of Hutchinson bottle information for Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland (Baltimore), Michigan (Upper Peninsula), Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,
· Can You Identify These Unknown Hutchinsons? – these maverick bottles need to be identified and properly assigned; · Hutchinson Stopper and “Soda Pop” History – review a brief history of the Hutchinson closure and the term “soda pop;” and · Books For Sale – check out the growing list of advertisements and ordering information for state and other bottle books. Please feel free to add the Website www.SeattleHistoryCompany.com to your favorites list and track progress on the Hutchinson Bottle Directory initiative! For any questions, please E-mail me at: HutchBook@yahoo.com.
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Bottles and Extras
“The Smallest Bottle Ever Made On An Owens Automatic Glassblowing Machine” Research Presented by Cecil Munsey Copyright © 2005
PROLOGUE Some of the following history about Michael J. Owens and his invention of the automatic glassblowing machine comes from an unpublished manuscript and notes of the late Julian Harrison Toulouse (1899-1974). Dr. Toulouse bequeathed an incomplete manuscript, and his notes regarding it, to me prior to his death on May 13, 1974. His plan was that when he felt the bottle collecting hobby was willing and ready to appreciate, and accept, the historical importance of bottles created by automatic bottle-blowing machines, that an article would be completed and shared with bottle collectors everywhere. This article is my attempt, 30 years after his death, to complete his plan. Hopefully, the hobby of collecting historic bottles today is more receptive than it was in the early 1970s toward collecting automatically blown bottles - after all, such bottles are now 100 years old.
Figure 1
“The Smallest Bottle Ever Made On An Owens Automatic Glassblowing Machine.” The Toulouse material came to mind during a recent visit with Scott Grandstaff and Kitty Roach, founders (1990) of Bottles and Extras magazine. As all bottle collectors will do, they shared their collection with my wife, Dolores, and me. The very first bottle shared was a paper-labeled miniature bottle that measured roughly 1” tall (exactly 1.071”) by 1/2” wide (.254”). The obverse of the bottle featured a red label upon which is printed, in white lettering [Figure 1]: A miniature Owens oval The smallest bottle ever made on an automatic machine. Owens Bottles Best for any purpose The reverse of the bottle features a vertically embossed OWENS, see Figure 2. I couldn’t get the little miniature sample bottle out of my mind as we traveled home from our visit in Happy Camp, Calif., to the San Diego area. I kept wondering how the little bottle and Dr. Toulouse’s files and history of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company were related. The following attempt is to illustrate and explain that relationship. MICHAEL J. OWENS Michael Joseph Owens (1859-1923) invented the automatic bottle blowing machine (patents in 1895 and 1904), capable of blowing four finished bottles a second by 1904. He organized the Owens Bottle Machine Company in 1903. He received more than 45 patents for glass blowing apparatus before he died at the age of 64 in 1923, see Figure 3. –––––––––––––––––––– Recent reports reveal American manufacturers produce an estimated 50 billion glass containers annually for domestic use, averaging more than 200 containers for every man, woman and child
in the United States. In addition, approximately 300 million bottles are shipped abroad. Few people realize that this has only been the situation for the last 100 years. Fewer still know that Michael J. Owens is largely responsible for the safety, standardization, quality, and convenience of glass containers which millions of consumers around the world purchase every day. Owens’ invention of the automatic bottle-making machine in 1903 was the most significant advance in glass production in over 2000 years. The origin of glass making is lost in antiquity. After
Figure 2
Figure 3
Bottles and Extras that nebulous beginning, the people of the Eastern Mediterranean are credited with the discovery of the blowpipe in approximately 300 B.C. Methods of creating glassware changed little between then and 1608 A.D., when John Smith established a glass factory as the first industry in North America at Jamestown. In the 19th century glassware was still produced by human skill and lung-power. Working in “shops” of three skilled glass blowers with three or four boys serving as helpers, craftsmen used a blowpipe and a few crude tools to create bottles, jars, and other glass objects. To produce relatively uniform containers for beverages, food, drugs and other products, glass workers learned to use metal molds. For example, a bottle was produced by gathering a “glob” of molten glass on the end of a blowpipe and lowering the glowing mass into a mold. By blowing into the pipe, the glass worker formed a bubble that conformed to the sides of the mold. After the glass was removed from the mold, the neck and shoulder of the bottle were finished with hand tools. Mechanization of the glass industry occurred in the latter part of the Industrial Revolution due to problems with the physical properties of glass and the dexterity and flexibility of the hand worker. But the increasing demand for bottles by major packaged-goods manufacturers was a strong stimulus to develop a mechanical means of producing glassware. Inventors in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany tried to create a bottle-making machine. The earliest known bottle-making machine patent, dated March 17, 1859, was issued to Alexander Mein of the United Kingdom. British inventors Josiah C. Arnall, H. M. Ashley, and J. R. Windmill, as well as Americans Philip Arbogast, and Thomas B. Atterbury, all patented semi-automatic bottle machines in the late 1800s. Each of these machines required three skilled workmen and two boys to operate. Although the designs were not completely commercially successful at first, the development of the semi-automatic machines continued. Their popularity grew as the number of workers necessary to operate them was reduced and the rate of production increased. Only 20 machines were in operation in 1897, compared to 250 eight years later. The Owens machine was the logical extension of the semi-automatic machines.
Summer 2005 Michael J. Owens, whose inventions were financed by Edward Drummond Libbey, produced the first commercially successful, fully automatic bottle-making machine in 1903, a goal towards which inventors had been working for more than 40 years. His machine could make bottles quicker, cheaper, and better than the semi-automatic machines. Owens had already developed semiautomatic machines to manufacture light bulbs, drinking glasses, and lamp chimneys. However, all of these machines still required that the glass be gathered by hand for each piece and on a separate blowpipe, just as in the old hand practice. In 1899, Owens turned his attention to the biggest challenge of all–a fully automated machine. The greatest obstacle was finding a way to machine-gather the glass in the proper quantities. His ingenious solution christened the “bicycle Pump” [Figure 4] because that is what it resembled both in form and function, gathered the glass by suction.
Figure 4 Withdrawing the piston rod on the crude hand pump created a vacuum that sucked up a charge of glass into a mold that formed the neck of the bottle. Suspended by the neck, the gather was then placed in a body mold, where the return stroke of the plunger blew the glass into the proper shape. The first attempts to blow a bottle with the “bicycle pump” yielded distorted “freaks,” but successive tries produced a perfect four-ounce petroleum jelly jar [Figure 5]. With the principle proven, work proceeded on the construction of a complete machine. In 1903, the machine and a specially designed revolving gathering “pot” were ready for trial. The machine, called “number 4,” had five of the “bicycle pumps” known as heads or arms mounted on a circular rotating frame. Each of these heads was a complete unit that dipped individually to suction up its gather of glass as it passed over the pot. Each head carried a blank mold, a neck mold and plunger for
29 forming the neck, and a finishing mold. In its first test, the number “4” made eight pint beer bottles (example: Figure 5) in a minute. What was remarkable about the test was not only did the machine make a satisfactory bottle but a narrownecked one. Previously even the semi-automatics were confined to the production of wideFigure 5 mouth ware. The first commercial model, offered in 1905 for production and license, was the “A.” This design used the experience gained in production runs and demonstrations of the number “4.” The model “A” carried six heads each with the same blank mold, neck mold and plunger, and finishing mold of the number “4” but the “A” was built much more ruggedly. Stationary cams attached to the framework operated the parts. The entire revolving machine oscillated up and down each time when a head came in contact with the molten glass to suction another gather. The “A” machine could manufacture twelve pint bottles per minute or 17,280 in a 24-hour period. This compared with approximately 2,880 produced in a day’s Figure 5
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time by a shop of six men and boys. The machine was operated by two men on 12-hour shifts at a cost of 10 to 12 cents per gross. Hand blown bottles cost $1.80 per gross to produce. Producing bottles in such large quantities required a new method of annealing, or tempering. Bottles allowed to cool too quickly shatter easily; the function of an annealing lehr is to provide a controlled environment where the glassware cools gradually. Instead of boys carrying the bottles to the lehr, an automatic conveyor was devised. The finished glassware was discharged onto an automatic conveyor, and slowly passed through a long heated tempering oven. After the machine had been kept in operation long enough to insure that it was a commercial success, Libbey, Owens, William S. Walbridge, Clarence Brown, and Frederick L. Geddes formed the Owens Bottle Machine Company for the purpose of building and licensing bottle-making machines. They also applied for the patent rights in all of the countries outside the U. S. where glass was made, and formed the Owens European Bottle Machine Company in 1905 for these international operations. Within a few years, Owens machines were in production in England, Germany, Holland, Austria, Sweden, France, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Hungary, Scotland, Ireland, and Japan. Patent rights had also previously been sold for Canada and Mexico. The “A” model remained the standard until 1908 when the “AC” model was Figure 7
developed. The 1909 “AD” model was the first to have 10 heads. The “AL” model was built in 1909 and rebuilt in 1911. The “AE” model was built in 1911. In 1912, an entirely new design, by Owens and Richard LaFrance, the “AN” model was introduced. The new “diphead” model had 10 arms and produced bottles ranging from a fraction of an ounce to around eight-ounce capacities. The improved design increased the speed of the machine to an average of 50 bottles a minute, or approximately 72,000 a day, with a maximum of 86,400 a day for halfounce bottles. Also designed and built in 1912 was the original “AR” machine. It was an enlargement of the “AN” model. It entirely replaced the outdated “AD” and “AE” machines. The “AR” design was enlarged to accommodate 15 arms, resulting in the “AQ” machine in 1914. Between the years 1905 and 1926, 317 Owens bottle-making machines were put into production, with 64 shipped abroad. This included models “A,” “AC,” “AD,” “AE,” Al,” “AN,” “AQ” and “AV.” In addition, 119 “AR” machines [Figure 7] were manufactured between 1912 and 1941, with 28 shipped overseas. In 1923, just 20 years after the successful trial of the number “4” machine, a study commissioned by the National Association of Bottle Manufacturers reported that 94 out of every 100 bottles in the U. S. were being made by machinery–either semiautomatic or automatic. The Owens machine not only revolutionized the glass industry, but had
Bottles and Extras a great impact on society. The bottlemaking machine drastically reduced the price of glass containers, making them readily available to the public for packaging and preserving food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, household cleaners, and other products. The Owens machine made a superior quality product, producing glass containers that were more uniform in weight and content than those made either by hand or semi-automatic machines. This had two far-reaching effects. First, the government was able to establish standard specifications and requirements through the Pure Food and Drug Administration that helped safeguard health as well as guaranteeing a specific measure of product in the container. In addition, the uniform height and capacity of the Owens-made bottles allowed highspeed packing and filling lines to be developed. Perhaps most importantly Owens’ invention also ended child labor in the glass industry. The long apprenticeships and carefully guarded trade secrets of glass blowing made it one of the most highly paid crafts of the nineteenth century. To reduce costs, glass manufacturers hired boys to assist the skilled workers. In 1880, when glass blowers were earning $200 a month, 6,000 boys between the ages of 10 and 15, constituting one quarter of the total work force, worked 10-hour days for as little as 30 cents a day. EPILOGUE & TOULOUSE RESUME Dr. Julian Harrison Toulouse was born in Marne, Iowa in 1899. He served two years in the U.S. Navy during World War I (1917-1919). He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1926 from Iowa State University and a doctorate degree in 1929 from the same institution. Both degrees qualified him as a chemical and glass engineer. He first became interested in bottles in 1931 when he opened and headed a research and service laboratory for the American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages in Washington, D.C. It was during his four-year tenure with this firm that he began to collect bottles “...for scientific reasons.” In 1935 Owens Illinois Glass Company employed Dr. Toulouse in Toledo, Ohio. He worked with this firm until his retirement, because of health reasons, in 1958. Throughout his long and distinguished career as a glass engineer he continued to collect and study bottles. His position as
Bottles and Extras Chief Engineer and Manager of Quality Control and Operations Research for Owens Illinois Glass Company gave him the opportunity to collect and study bottles even more and it was his collection and knowledge that he drew information for his later writings for bottle collectors. Dr. Toulouse was especially proud to have been selected as Chief of the Glass Container Section of the War Production Board in Washington, D.C. during World War II. He was designated as what was then prestigiously called a “dollar-a-yearman,” which meant that he was on loan from Owens Illinois for a dollar a year for the duration of the war. In 1958 just before his retirement he was named “Engineer of the Year.” After his retirement he consulted with glass manufacturing firms throughout the United States and other areas of the World. He was a “Fellow” in numerous national and international scientific organizations. He was listed in a number of “WHO’S WHO” books. He was a member of several bottle collecting clubs and the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, and was very active in GLASFAX, a group devoted to research of Canadian glassmaking history. Throughout his career and his active retirement he wrote over 300 technical and historical papers for glass industry and hobby periodicals. He was a regular contributor of bottle collecting articles to Western Collector magazine and Spinning Wheel magazine. Dr. Julian Toulouse will probably be remembered mostly by serious bottle collector/historians for his pioneering book on fruit jar history and his second book dealing with bottle makers and their marks which has become a mainstay for anyone involved in identifying and dating bottles. Both of his books (listed below) and articles important to bottle collecting (also listed below) are the result of 40+ years in the glass industry and over 35,000 miles of travel to all parts of the world for research. Many of those miles were expended in the United States visiting bottle collectors and studying their collections. He also lectured to bottle collector clubs throughout the nation. CONSULTANT 1972 Owens Illinois Glass Company classic “Bottle Re-Creation Program” (with Mr. Charles B. Gardner, Dr. Cecil Munsey, and Dr. Kenneth Wilson).
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BOOKS 1969 Fruit Jars, Thomas Nelson & Sons, Camden, New Jersey (542 pages) 1971 Bottle Makers and Their Marks, Thomas Nelson Inc., Camden, New Jersey (624 pages) MAGAZINE ARTICLES 1939 “Bottles Applied Color Labels,” First Annual Blue Book of the National Carbonator and Bottler, (February 1939). 1966 “Whittled Molds,” Western Collector, (October 1966). 1968 “Empontilling: A History,” The Glass Industry, (March-April 1968). 1968 “The Men Behind the Fruit Jar,” Spinning Wheel Magazine, (September 1969). 1969 “A Primer on Mold Seams, Part I, “ Western Collector, (November 1969). 1969 “A Primer on Mold Seams, Part II,” Western Collector, (December 1969).
Bibliography Heetderks, Dewey R.. MERCHANTS OF MEDICINE – Nostrum Peddlers – Yesterday & Today. Grand Rapids, MI: Drukker Press, 2002. Munsey, Cecil. The Illustrated Guide to COLLECTING BOTTLES. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1970. Toulouse, Julian Harrison. Unpublished research and notes. Circa 1973, Hemet, CA. Internet: Owens-Illinois History http:// www.o-i.com/about/coporate/history.asp
–––––––––––––––––––– To help readers determine approximate bottle age, “Age Identification Mold Seams of Bottles,” chart is offered here as Figure 8. [Reprinted with permission from “MERCHANTS OF MEDICINE” by Dr. Dewey R. Heetderks (see reference below).]
Figure 8
Cecil Munsey 13541 Willow Run Road Poway, CA 92064-1733 (858) 487-7036 cecilmunsey@cox.net
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Bottles and Extras
WESTERN SARATOGAS AND THE PACIFIC CONGRESS SPRINGS by Bryan Grapentine and Jeff Wichmann - Photos by Larry Grapentine MINERAL WATER BOTTLE HISTORY Saratoga, California. Its general location Natural mineral waters were often is south of San Francisco and west of San carbonated by nature and have dissolved Jose. appreciable amounts of salts and, in some The area voted to name the town cases, gas from the rocks and soil into Saratoga and the post office name was their underground rivers. These changed in 1865. Previous names natural waters were considered to have included Tollgate, McCarthysville and medicinal properties even in the Bank Mills. earliest days of Greece and Rome. In Darius Ogden Mills, the West’s Europe in the late 1700s it became outstanding banker, and Alvina fashionable to visit these springs and Hayward, a Mining Tycoon, formed a to drink and or bathe in them. corporation and purchased 720 acres of Congress Springs from In America, the spas were less George Cross, a pioneer, for elaborate but considered the $2,000 in 1865. The most fashionable resorts in the carbonated water was bottled land and a definite accessory to and sold for its medicinal the social life of the times. In qualities and invigorating addition to a spring, these flavor. resorts featured parks, hotels, Mills and Hayward sold gambling, and horse racing. stock to finance the building of Only the very rich could afford a public resort type 14-room to frequent these resorts, but hotel. The spa appealed there was a demand by the especially to nature lovers. average citizen for these waters. In 1872 Lewis Sage During the period of 1828 to bought the entire resort for 1889, the mineral waters from $15,000 and later spent $15,000 approximately 30 springs in Figure 4 more on improvements. Under Saratoga County, New York were bottled and sold around the world. The Sage’s management the resort had its distinctive bottle design now known as greatest popularity. Their dairy, orchard Saratoga-type was designed and and vineyard furnished milk, butter, fruit manufactured at the Mt. Vernon Glass and wine for the hotel’s tables. Sage Works of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., and were used advertised the baths, now called Pacific at the spring water bottling works in Congress Springs as efficacious in cutaneous diseases and rheumatic Saratoga Springs. This style bottle was later used by afflictions. The waters, similar to Congress mineral springs across the United States. Springs, N.Y., were tonic, purgative, These bottles were produced in pint and diuretic alternatives – a cure-all for man’s quart sizes, mostly in shades of green but diseases and afflictions. Congress Springs had its ups and downs also in amber and aqua. Bottles were made sturdy to absorb the pressure of the contents, over the years. In 1903 a fire destroyed the hotel. The hotel was never rebuilt and by shipping and rough handling. the mid-30s, the springs were closed to the SARATOGA SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA public. “Taking the waters” was fashionable and supposedly healthful in Saratoga, N.Y. Pacific Congress Waters were dug in the When bubbling mineral water springs San Francisco dig of 1998. Here’s an proved to contain the same chemical account by Jeff Wichmann. ingredients as those found at one of the As I sat staring in disbelief I was larger fountains in Saratoga, N.Y., it’s thinking, I can’t feel my legs? I had understandable that there became a
been kneeling so long. The scene that was unfolding in front of me was one of the most amazing sights I’d ever seen (in the bottle world anyway). I mean I’ve been to a World’s Fair, a picnic and a rodeo and I’d never seen anything like this. A friend and bottle digger was in a hole in the now famous San Francisco Dig of 1998, pulling one Pacific Congress Water Springs out after the other. Bright green, olive, yellow amber, 7-Up green; I needed a drink. That memorable scene was one of many that I witnessed at the Bryant street dig in February of that year. Although many of the most exciting moments of the dig were not experienced by me (although I did find a nice Crystal Soda Water in my first 20 minutes) the cache of Pacific Congress Waters was one of the most astonishing single hole digs I’ve ever seen. The dump was not really a dump at all but rather a bottle-recycling site from a much earlier age. You could tell that even if it wasn’t written on the fire map. The bottles found were all oddballs, misfits that weren’t the regular shape of a generic bottle, a whiskey or soda for instance. In other words, non-reusable. Instead there were things like the Pacific Congress Springs, some without the running deer and some with, too distinct to re-use. Everyone has most likely heard about the Bryant’s Stomach Bitters that our auction house sold for nearly $70,000, but there were others. Cassin’s Stomach Bitters, a new find in the name of AT&Co., the beautiful and elusive V. Squarza, the incredibly wonderful Dr. Parker’s Indian Tla-Quillaugh’s and many, many more. All rare, with San Francisco heritage, exotic and mostly very valuable.
Bottles and Extras In fact, before the big dig, there were but a dozen or so of this wonderful bottle. There are a few variants actually; the example that is just embossed Pacific Congress Springs, the running deer variant and the running deer that also has the Sage’s name on the reverse. The first Pacific Congress Springs bottles come in aqua, ice blue, cobalt blue and black glass. All shades were found in the S.F. dig. The running Figure 1
Figure 2
Summer 2005 deer versions come generally in bright yellowish green, olive and various shades of the former. No doubt there’ll be collectors out there that have seen them in other colors but generally that’s what I’ve seen. We’ve sold a number of the variants found in San Francisco and a few others over the years. The first we offered was a black-glass example from the Bob West collection. At the time there were only two known.
33 Now, maybe there are four. All these are much older than the running deer, we believe. Since the company started around 1865, I believe the bottles without the deer began then. By 1872, Sage had bought the company out and that’s probably around the time he had his name embossed on the back. CONGRESS SPRINGS BOTTLES The bottles are pint-sized Saratogashaped bottles most likely made at the San Francisco Glass Works in San Francisco. Only three different bottle styles are known but many color variants exist. The oldest is on the left in Figure 1. The bottle has some crudity and a slightly drippy blob top. This variant comes in ice blue, cobalt blue, greens, and black glass. Before the big dig, two of the black glass color were known, now there are perhaps four [Figure 4]. These bottles were likely made at the original Pacific Glass Works in 1865. The middle bottle was used next and has a top similar to the New York Saratogas. The reverse side has an attractive picture of a running deer [see Figure 2 and 3]. There are not many pictorial mineral water bottles, perhaps any with an animal. The final bottle used at the springs was the SAGE’S with the same embossment as the earlier bottle on the reverse side. The lip finish is a little different with a more rounded lower collar. Both running deer variants come in yellow green, medium emerald various shades of green and olive and everything in between. They were probably made at the San Francisco Glass Works between 1865 and the 1870s. Concluded on Page 39
Figure 3
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The Georgia Mini Jug Story: by Bill Baab
Above: Another collector’s store window display card indicated this mini jug’s contents were manufactured in Cairo, Georgia. [Photo by Bill Wrenn]
Here’s proof that the mini jug bearing the brand name, which endured through the 1950s, is from Cairo, Ga.’s Roddenbery plant. Other collectors thought it had come from Ala. [Photo courtesy of Jim & Pattey Daniel]
Bottles and Extras
During the latter part of the 19th century and into the first quarter of the 20th, one way of advertising a business was to give away sample products bearing the firm’s name. Patrons took home trade cards, calendars, thermometers, miniature bottles and ceramic containers, most bearing the company name, address and city of origin. Even today’s companies continue that tradition, mainly in the forms of calendars. The small ceramic containers were manufactured mostly in the shapes of jugs, although other utilitarian ware such as tiny water pitchers are known. The mini jugs advertised saloons, groceries, hotels, drug stores, vinegar works and even the brands of liquid samples they sometimes carried. After acquiring eight mini jugs from Augusta, Georgia over the last few years, this writer wondered just how many existed from his home state. He contacted several The Georgia min jug portion of Bill Wrenn’s outstanding collection. collectors who shared information from [Photo by Bill Wrenn] their own collections and so far has been
Examples of mini jugs, signed and unsigned, made by the John Bauer Pottery in Louisville, Kentucky. [Photo by Bill Wrenn]
Just a small part of more than 40 Macon, Georgia mini jugs in Tommy Mitchiner’s collection. Big jugs, in the background, were made during the 19th and early 20th centuries in Crawford County, Georgia. [Photo by Bill Baab]
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able to document 225 different. Mini jugs are generally about 3-1/4 inches in height or less. There are other, smallish jugs the writer likes to call “semi-minis” about 5-1/4 inches in height. Georgia examples include Augusta’s souvenir 1888 Exposition jug, another from Stevens Bros. Pottery in Baldwin County and another from Columbus. There may be more, but that’s another story. Majority of mini jugs are sealed with a modified Albany slip from the top of the spout about halfway down the side, resulting in various shades of brown (tan, chocolate). The bottom half is sealed with a clear glaze placed over the black or blue ink-stenciled message. It’s probably a Bristol slip, which turns white when fired. “Scratch” jugs are more labor intensive. Most are glazed with Albany slip, the brown clay sealant from that section of New York state. While the glaze is still wet, a sharp-pointed instrument such as a nail is used to inscribe the message after which the jug is placed inside the kiln and fired. The scratched portion stands out in yellowish-white against a dark brown background. Mini jugs contained a variety of liquids, including cider, vinegar and, of course, whiskey, while some contained nothing at all. The spouts were plugged with tiny corks, while in the author’s Augusta collection is one plugged with clay. It was not intended to be filled with anything although it touts “Moss Rose” whiskey from the Rose Distillery in Atlanta. Mini jugs likely were given away or sold as souvenirs to tourists or visitors. Mini jugs aren’t limited to the state’s major cities of Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Savannah, but hail from a variety of smaller communities, some of which cannot be located on today’s maps. Pottery representatives must have had remarkable powers of persuasion to talk a grocer in Leaf, Georgia into buying mini jugs. Leaf, by the way, is still on the map. Not on the map are Harmony Grove, Nyson, Parkman, Robinson, Silver Shoal and Webbsville, but mini jugs exist from those places. Check out the state listing accompanying this article. The author would like to hear from collectors having different mini jugs from cities, towns and communities or from businesses other than those listed. One of the more unusual mini jugs is a scratch jug inscribed Compliments of / R. Remler / Forest City Gun Club / Whiskey
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Quintet of Peach State mini jugs from four small towns, one large city (Adams.) [Photo by Bill Wrenn] Store / G.W. O’Connor. There is no city name, but there is only one Forest City Gun Club and it’s in Savannah. The club was founded in 1883 and is the oldest and largest continuously operated skeet, trap and sporting clays club in America, according to its history carried at www.forestcitygunclub.com. It boasts 26 fields, a 40-acre lake, a grand clubhouse and other amenities on its 537 acres. Yet another interesting example is a scratch jug inscribed Compliments of / Arlington Hotel Bar / Moss Rose / Augusta, Ga. The Arlington Hotel, grand late Victorian Age edifice complete with turrets, stood at the corner of 8th and Broad streets. When the original J.B. White department store down the block caught fire in 1899, the blaze spread to the hotel. As the conflagration raged, many men were seen running into the hotel bar and emerging with bottles of booze. Police soon called a halt, but the author likes to think that his mini jug, also called a “nip,” was among the pilfered items. Who manufactured these mini jugs? “I think about 90 percent of them were made by the Bauer Potteries in Paducah and Louisville, Kentucky,” said Jerry McKinley of Shelbyville, Ky., an expert on pottery from his state. “I know that the Congress Hall Saloon / Bainbridge, Ga., mini
From L to R: 1. One-of-a-kind (so far) mini jug from Montezuma, Georgia. 2. A super-rare small town mini jug from B. O. Cosby in Auburn, Georgia. 3. Small town Georgia minis from Silver Shoal (note transposition of letters making it read”Sliver Shoal) and Cartersville. [Photos by Bill Wrenn]
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jug was made by John Bauer in Louisville. His brother, Andy, operated the Paducah Pottery.” Dr. William C. Ketchum Jr., in his book, “American Pottery & Porcelain,” says stoneware miniature jugs were made at potteries from “New England west to Missouri and south to Kentucky” between 1860 and 1910. Chuck Neese, a self-described “jug bug” from Pegram, Tenn., has done research to confirm what McKinley said. Neese, author of “The Whiskey Jug Book,” learned that J. Andy Bauer bought the Frank Parham Pottery in Paducah in 1886. Since 1875, Bauer had worked with his brother John at the latter’s pottery in Louisville “where they made jugs, milk pans, fruit jars and specialized in sample jugs (minis) for the whiskey and vinegar trade.” Neese said J. Andy Bauer employed 75 workers in the Paducah Pottery and kept several salesmen on the road selling his brown-glazed jugs, white mixing bowls and milk jugs. Because of an asthmatic condition, J. Andy Bauer moved his pottery company to Los Angeles, Calif., in 1909, later becoming famous for his line of brightly colored dinnerware. Confirmation of McKinley’s and Neese’s research came to light in a wonderful book titled “Bauer — Classic American Pottery” by Mitch Tuchman (Chronicle Books, 275 Fifth Street, San Francisco, 1995). Among the illustrations in the book’s first chapter on the J.A. Bauer Pottery Company history
are photos of stenciled miniature presentation jugs from both Paducah and Louisville potteries. Profiles of 10 private Bauer collections come later in the book and the first of these from collector Ben S. Wood III has a color photo of many stenciled and scratch storage jars, large jugs and, of course, mini jugs. Another photo shows a wide variety of Paducah Pottery wares, including Albany slip-glazed face jugs! Few mini jugs were signed by either pottery, although longtime collector Bill Wrenn of Watkinsville, Ga., has a Louisville “Carnival” example stamped John Bauer / Pottery / Louisville, Ky., on the base. It features the head of a buck deer and Oct. 8, 1899 (the “8” inside the spread of the buck’s antlers) and its design outline is similar to the Bainbridge saloon mini jug. Potteries still abounded in the South during what the writer believes was the main merchant mini jug era from the 1890s to the first quarter of the 20 th century, notwithstanding incursions into the trade by glass “fruit jars” and local and regional efforts to establish prohibition. Introduction of fruit jars forced many potteries to abandon utilitarian forms and produce roofing tiles, paving bricks or water and sewer pipes or go out of business. There were still-thriving potteries in Georgia’s Crawford and Washington counties, as well as others in the northeastern section of the state, but no mini jug documentation exists, as far as the
author knows. The writer believes some of his Augusta minis may have been made by the Hahn Pottery Works in North Augusta, South Carolina across the Savannah River from Augusta. He found a mini jug fragment in a waster dump at the Hahn site. Dr. John Burrison of Atlanta, author of the folk pottery history of Georgia called “Brothers in Clay,” never found even traces of mini jugs being manufactured by any Georgia pottery, he said. He was able to explore waster dumps at many of those potteries. This author thanks the following who shared their knowledge and collections to make this story possible: Butch and Debbie Alley of Douglasville, Ga., Bob Simmons, Atlanta; Bill Wrenn, Watkinsville, Ga.; Dave Swetmon, Atlanta; Tommy Mitchiner, Gordon, Ga.; Paul Blatner, Savannah; Orville Seals, North Jackson, Ohio; Frank Langston, Marietta, Ga.; Tom Hicks, Eatonton, Ga.; Philip Haley, Carnesville, Ga.; Russ Butler, Havana, Fla.; Walter and Bruce Smith, Augusta, Ga.; Chuck Neese, Pegram, Tenn.; Vonnie Shelton, Special Collections, McCracken County Public Library, Paducah, Ky.; Dr. John Burrison, Atlanta; Jerry McKinley, Shelbyville, Ky.; Jim and Pattey Daniel, Sylvester, Ga.; Tony Riley, Belvedere, S.C.; Jack Hewitt, Lawrenceville, Ga.; Dennis Hendrix, Aiken, S.C., and Tim Ridge, Crossville, Tenn.
City-by-city master list of Georgiaʼs mini jugs: As of 4/05/05 SCRATCH JUGS AMERICUS (3) B.H. Jassey / Old / Gum Spring / Americus, Ga. Compliments / of / E.D. Ansley / Americus, Ga. Compliments of / Alliance Store / Americus, Ga. ATHENS (3) Use J.S. King & Co. / Pure Vinegars / Athens, Ga. Webb & Crawford / Pure Vinegars / Athens, Ga. Compliments / of / Gallaway Lambert / & / Co. / Athens, Ga. ATLANTA (21) Brooke Hill / Compliments of Hotel Aragon.* Compliments of / A.C. Lampkin / 122 Peach Tree St. / Atlanta. Compliments of / J.W. Kilpatrick / Atlanta, Ga. A. Dan S. / Kentucky Reserve Whiskey / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / O.T. Culberson / 131 Garden St. / Atlanta. Tappan & True / Pickling Vinegar / Atlanta, Ga. Moss Rose Whiskey / Compliments of / Jacobs Pharmacy.* Compliments of / B&B / Atlanta, Ga. E.L. Bradley / Fine Pickling Vinegar / Atlanta, Ga.
B&B / High Grade / Liquors / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / J.J. Childress / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / A.C. Lamkin / 122 N. Peach Tree St. / Atlanta. Hoyt & Thorn / Pure / Vinegar / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments / of / Stewart Bros. / 16 Decatur St. / Atlanta. Rice & Saxe / Pure / Vinegars / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments / of / P.N. Green / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / Hotel Aragon / Brooke Hill.* Compliments / of / R.S. Hilley / Atlanta, Ga. J.H. & W.A. Foster / Pure / Vinegar / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments / of / L.A. Smith / 820 Peach Tree St. / Atlanta. Pellegrini & / Castleberry / Atlanta, Ga. *–No city name, but it’s Atlanta. AUGUSTA (9) Compliments of / Arlington Hotel Bar / Moss Rose / Augusta, Ga. O.G. Ganter / I.W. Harper Whisky / Augusta, Ga. P.L. Nurnberger / Agt / Elk Co Apple Vinegar / Augusta, Ga. Compliments of / J.P. Saxon / 1469 Broadway / Augusta. M. Colclough & Co. / Pure / Vinegars / Augusta, Ga.
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Compliments of / M.J. & T.L. Murphy / Augusta, Ga. Compliments of / E.J. Smith & Bro. / Calhoun & Bro. / Augusta. Compliments of / J.C. Strom / 19 – Pine St. / Augusta. Old Watson Rye / Sold Only By / Stulb & Co. / Augusta, Ga. COLUMBUS (2) Compliments of / W.T. Gilbert / Columbus, Ga. Compliments / of C.A. Brinson / 1101 — Broad St., Columbus, Ga. DECATUR (1) Compliments / of / E.E. Bates / Decatur, Ga. GAINESVILLE (1) Mink Taylors / Old / Gum Spring / Gainesville, Ga. LAGRANGE (1) Compliments of / Bradford Drug Co. / LaGrange, Ga. LITHONIA (2) Compliments of / J.C. Johnson & Co. / Dealers in General Mdse. / Lithonia, Ga. Compliments of / J.C. Johnson & Co. / Dealers in / General Mdse. / Lithonia, Ga. MACON (12) Compliments of / W.H. Reynolds.* Old Gum Spring Whiskey.* B.C. Tinsley / Sole Agt. / George W. Hogan / Nelson Co. Ky. / Macon, Ga. Compliments of / B.W. Glover / 872 Hazel St. / Macon, Ga. W.T. Shinholser & Ray / Pure Vinegar / Macon, Ga. Compliments of / Walker & Little Co.* Brook Hill / Compliments of / M.G. Putzel.* Fleetwood & Co. / Sole Agts / Hal Walters / Nelson Co. / Ky. / Whiskey.* Compliments of / W.G. Middlebrooks / 462 First St. / Macon. Compliments of / Bullock & Fink / Cor. Walnut & Neer Streets / Macon. Elihn S. McLean / Pure Vinegars / Macon, Ga. Compliments of / J.A. Blalock / Macon, Ga. *–No city name, but it’s Macon. SAVANNAH (7) Compliments of / R. Remler / Forest City Gun Club / Whiskey Store / G.W. O’Connor. Diamond crown / Sold by / D.B. Lester / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / John H. Immen / Fancy Groceries / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / J.H. Tholken / 650 Oglethorpe Ave.* Jas. E. Owen / Compliments of / J.C. Slater / Savannah, Ga. M.C. Donnell & Son / Savannah, Ga. H. Harmes / Tattnall St. / Savannah, Ga. *–No city name, but it’s Savannah. THOMASVILLE (2) C.W. Wiggins / Harper’s Nelson Co Whisky / Thomasville, Ga. Compliments of / T.J. Ball & Bro. / Thomasville, Ga. WARRENTON (1) Use / E.B. Farmer’s Pure / Vinegar / Warrenton, Ga. STENCILED JUGS AMERICUS (4) Compliments of / T.Q. Bass / Americus, Ga. Compliments of / The McLeod Co. / Americus, Ga. Compliments of / G.W. Rollins / Americus, Ga.
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Compliments of / G.W. Stallings / Americus, Ga. ATHENS (5) Compliments of / B.S. Eidson / Athens, Ga. Compliments of / C.F. Bailey / Athens, Ga. Compliments of / Scott Bros. / Athens, Ga. Compliments of / W.H. Sheats / Athens, Ga. Compliments of / J.F. Brown / Athens, — Ga. ATLANTA (19) Compliments of / E.M. Jordan / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / A.E. Robertson & Co. / Atlanta. Glower & Pyland / 30 East Alabama St. / Atlanta. Compliments of / E. Davey / 23-27 Woodward Ave.* Childress & Andrews / Pure Apple Vinegar / Atlanta. Try Our Crystal / Spring Rye / 4 Quarts $3.25 / Express Paid / A. Samuels & Co. / Atlanta, Ga. 2 lb. Mercury / Lamar & Rankin / Drug Co. / Atlanta, Ga. Viaduct Rye / Compliments of / Jacobs Pharmacy Co. / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / T.O. Threlkeld / 80 Capital Ave.* Compliments of / F.M. Green / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / E.G. Murphy / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / A.O. Mc——? / Atlanta, Ga.** Compliments of / Hayden Hamilton / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / J.S. Prior / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / Stanley & Simmons / Atlanta, Ga. Compliments of / Chambers Bros. / Atlanta, Ga. Pappa’s Private Stock / Compliments of / Jno. Pappa, Atlanta, Ga. Private Stock / Compliments of / Jno. Pappa. Compliments of / Adamson & Son / Atlanta, Ga. *–No city name, but it’s Atlanta. **–Name indecipherable on most examples. AUBURN (1) Compliments of / B.O. Cosby / Auburn, Ga. AUGUSTA (11) Compliments of / J.R. Kidwell / Augusta — Ga. Compliments of / R.L. Swan & Co. / Augusta. Compliments of / Columbia Liquor Co. / Augusta — Ga. Compliments of / E.J. Smith & Bro. / Augusta. Compliments of / E.J. Smith & Bro., Cor. / Calhoun & 5 Sts. / Augusta, Ga. Compliments of / J.N. Barnes & Co. / Augusta. Compliments of / Youngblood Bros. / Augusta. Compliments of / Jerry Collins & Co. / 1035 Campbell St. / Augusta, Ga. Old Gum Spring / Edward / Collins / Augusta - - - Ga. Compliments of / Love & Norville / Augusta, Ga. Compliments / of / C. Ingram / Center St. / Augusta, Ga. BAINBRIDGE (1) Compliments of / Congress Hall Saloon / Bainbridge, Ga. BREMEN (1) (Front) The O.L. Gregory / Vinegar Co. / Elko County / Pure Apple Juice Vinegar / Paducah, Ky. (Back beneath handle) Compliments of / J.M. Nelson / Breman, (sic) Ga. BRUNSWICK (1) Compliments of / G.W. Harper / 310 Gloucester St. / Brunswick, Ga. CAIRO (1) Nigger / in de / Cane Patch / Syrup. No town, but Jim Daniels of Sylvester, Ga., has a store card showing it was
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manufactured in Cairo, Ga. CARLTON (1) Compliments of / Broach Bros. / & Co. / Carlton, Ga. CARTERSVILLE (1) Compliments of / Martin Collins / Cartersville, Ga. CLARKESVILLE (1) Compliments of / W.P. Furr / Clarkesville, Ga. CLEVELAND (1) Compliments of / H.A. Jarrard / Cleveland, Ga. COLUMBUS (3) Compliments of - - - J.B. Key / Staple & Fancy Gro. / 1813 Hamilton Ave. / Phone 320 / Columbus, Ga. Compliments of / S.C. Massey / Columbus, Ga. Compliments of / G.W. Mathuss / Columbus, Ga. CONYERS (1) Compliments of / J.C. Stephenson / Conyers, Ga. CORNELIA (1) Compliments of / S.C. Dixon & Co. / Cornelia, Ga. CRAWFORD (1) Compliments of / Walter Maxwell / Crawford, Ga. DAWSON (1) Compliments of / G.V. Pace, / Dawson, — Ga. DEMOREST (2) Compliments of / L. Brown / Demorest, Ga. Compliments of / A.D. Mullinax / Demorest, Ga. FIVE FORKS (1) Compliments of / R.P. Arnold / Five Forks, Ga. HAMPTON (1) Compliments of / Harris & Moore / Hampton, Ga. HARMONY GROVE (1) Compliments of / W.T. Thurmond / Harmony Grove, Ga.. HAWKINSVILLE (3) Compliments of / The F.M. Ethridge Gro. Co. / Hawkinsville, Ga. Compliments of / The F.M. Ethridge / Gro. Co. / Hawkinsville, Ga. Compliments of / W.T. Hendry / Hawkinsville, Ga. LEAF (1) Compliments of / G.B. Irwin / Leaf, Ga. LEXINGTON (1) Compliments of / W.J. Cooper & Co. / Lexington, Ga. MACON (40) Mohawk Cider & / Vinegar Works / Macon, Ga. Nelson Co. / J.W. Amason / Macon, Ga. J.W. Amason’s / Fort Hawkins / Corn Whiskey / 420 Poplar St./ Macon, Ga. J.W. Amason / Old Nelson County / Macon, Ga. Old Nelson / County / J.W. Amason / Macon – Ga. Old Gum Spring / W.T. Womack / Macon, Ga. Old Gum Spring / Compliments of / Long Bros. Long Bros. / Old Gum Spring / Macon, Ga. Old Gum Spring / D.F. Long / Macon, Ga. Old Gum Spring / T.W. & Co. / Whiskey. D.F. Long / Macon, Ga. / Old Gum Spring. Old Gum Spring / J.T. & C.P. Long / Macon, Ga. Old Gum Spring / J.J. Broxton / Macon, Ga. Old Gum Spring / Whiskey / Long Bros., Agents. Compliments of / W.M. Armstrong & Co. / 1602 4th St.* Compliments of / W.B. Bullock & Co. / Macon, Ga. Compliments of / H.F. Luquire / School & 2nd St.*
Bottles and Extras
Compliments of / H.P. Luquire / School & 2nd St.* Compliments of / O.R. Thorpe / Macon, Ga. N.J. Ethridge / Winchester Rye.* Compliments of / W.C. Fretwell / 1120 Elm St.* Compliments of / J.S. Frink / 410 Mulbery St.* Compliments of / F.D. Disroon / 117 Spring St.* Compliments of / W.H. Castello / South Macon, Ga. Compliments of / Mrs. O.L. Cook / Macon, Ga. Compliments of / L.H. Gardner, Gro. / Macon, Ga. Compliments of / J.W. Millirons / 1021 Hazel St.* Compliments of / W.H. Reynolds / 312 3rd St.* Compliments of / R.C. Keen / 212 Cotton Ave.* Compliments of / J.S. Mims / Vineville Branch* Compliments of / W.H. Arnold / Macon, Ga. Victoria Rye / Whiskey / Compliments of / Ed Devlin* Victoria Rye / Whiskey / Compliments of / Murphy & Cassidy* Compliments of / J.F. May / 228 W. Oglethorpe Ave.* Compliments of / N.L. Parr / 221 Ocmulgee St.* Compliments of / C.F. Collier & Bro. / 216 Cotton Ave.* Compliments of / W.M. Marshall / Columbus Road.* Compliments of / J.C. Langston / Macon, Ga. Compliments of / C.R. Oyes / East Macon. Compliments of / Medlock & Co. / Macon, Ga. *–No city name, but it’s Macon. MONTEZUMA (1) Compliments of / W.D. Avera / Montezuma, Ga. NEWNAN (1) Compliments of / J.W. & H.W. Taylor / Newnan, Ga. NYSON (1) Compliments of / C.P. Jones / Nyson, Ga. PARKMAN (1) Compliments of / J.B. Layfield / Parkman, — Ga. POINT PETER (1) Compliments of / Fleming & Burke / Point Peter, Ga. RHINE (1) Compliments of / J.L. Cravey / Rhine, Ga. ROBINSON (1) Compliments of / R.C. Monk / Robinson, Ga. SAVANNAH (35) Compliments of / J.A. Scherer / Savannah, Ga. Drink / Tremont Rye / Compliments of / Savannah Liquor Co. / Savannah, Ga. Savannah Liquor Co. / 1010-1014 West Bro. St. / Jacksonville, Fla. (Sunshine State branch). Compliments of / Jno. H. Grimm / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / J.H.H. Entleman / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / D.S. Entleman / 524 Jefferson St.* Compliments of / J.R. Finn / Savannah, Ga. Jas. E. Owen / Compliments of / J.C. Slater / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / E.M. (Or F.M.) Perry / Savannah, Ga. Diamond brown / Sold by / D.B. Lester / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / Wells & Lange / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / J.A. Alexander / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / Norton & Norton / Savannah, Ga.. H.O Brinkman / Wines & Liquors / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / J.F. Hayes / 615 E. Broad St.* Compliments of / Register Bros. / 117 Barnard St.* Old J.W. Palmer / Compliments of / J.W. Seay.* Compliments of / B. Leurson / Savannah. T.P. A. / Savannah, Ga. / 1905.
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Compliments of / C. F. Leurssen / 32nd & Bull St.* Compliments of / H.H. Geffken / 422 Broughton St.* Compliments of / M. Egan / Savannah. Compliments of / D.H. Konemann / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / Beach & Knight / 19 Henry St.* Compliments of / Jno. T. Evans / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / J.H. Schear / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / O.H. Monsees / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / John F. Wellbrock / Savannah, Ga. Compliments of / H.J. Schnarrs / Jones & Wilson St.* Compliments of / Theo. Groat / Savannah. Compliments of / Barnard / Gro. Co. / 911 Barnard St.* Compliments of / B. Crum / Savannah, Ga. (Front) J.W. Palmer / Nelson County, Ky. / Whiskey. (On back beneath handle): Compliments of / J.W. Seay / Savannah, Ga. Old J.W. Palmer / Compliments of / J.W. Seay.* Compliments of / J.W. Seay / Savannah, Ga. *–No city name, but it’s Savannah. SENOIA (1) Compliments of / Martin Bros. / Senoia, Ga. SILVER SHOAL (1) Compliments of / P.F.M. Furr / Silver Shoal, Ga. SYLVESTER (1) Compliments of / J.C. Westberry & Bro. / Sylvester, Ga. TIFTON (2) Compliments of / Giltedge Gro. Co. / Tifton, Ga. Compliments of / C.F. Bussey & Co. / Tifton, Ga. TENNILLE (1) Compliments of / C.E. Holmes / Tennille, Ga. VALDOSTA (2) “Cap” Sandlin / Valdosta, Ga. / That’s All. “Cap” Sandlin / That’s All / Valdosta, Ga. WAYNESBORO (1) Compliments of / George F. Brinson & Bros. / Waynesboro, Ga. WAYCROSS (2) Compliments of / Grace Brantley & Co. / Waycross, Ga. Compliments of / The Price McCulley / Co. / Waycross, Ga. WEBBSVILLE (1) Compliments of / A.J. Webb & Son / Webbsville, Ga. WINDER (1) Compliments of / A.S. Lay & Co. / Winder, Ga.
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Continued from Page 33 It is estimated that there are approximately 30 or so of the Pacific Congress Water bottles known, in any condition and variant. It is interesting to note that many, at least half of the known examples have chips on the lip, this being done with the help of an ice pick. The corks on these wide lipped bottles must have been tough to retrieve. Most recent sales have been via American Bottle Auctions, formerly Pacific Glass Auctions. Prices for undamaged bottles ranged from $750 to $4000 plus buyer’s fee. Unfortunately, there are not enough of these desirable attractive bottles to go around OTHER PACIFIC CONGRESS SPRINGS RELATED BOTTLES Blob top type soda bottles were also used to bottle Pacific Congress water. At least three variants are listed in Markota’s book, Western Blob Top Soda and Mineral Water Bottles. PACIFIC/CONGRESS/WATER (Sacramento), PACIFIC CONGRESS WATER w/running deer on the reverse (S.F.), and SAGE’S/PACIFIC/CONGRESS/WATER (S.F.)with a deer on the reverse. The water was likely shipped in bulk and bottled in San Francisco and Sacramento. Note that these bottles are embossed “WATER” and not “SPRINGS. REFERENCES Saratogas by Bernhard C. Puckhaber. Western Blob Top Soda and Mineral Water Bottles by Peck and Audie Markota. Collector’s Guide to the Saratoga-type Mineral Water Bottles by Donald Tucker. Article in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.
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Photographic Proof
Charlie Harris, Ooltewah, TN 37363 There are over 1500 different glass baby bottles made in the United States alone and who knows how many there are in all those other countries. Many are common, some are quite rare and all but unobtainable. You would think that with all of these glass baby bottles around that there would be no need for substitutes, but that is not the case at all. My mother-in-law remembers putting a rubber nipple on an old green Coca-Cola bottle to feed my wife when she was an infant and that was in the prosperous 1940s after WWII. They were a small farm family in southeast Tennessee and had to make do with what they had on hand. Up until the 1920s the breast was the preferred method of feeding babies. In fact, it is known that many fathers paid little or no attention to their children till they were about 6 or 7 years old because the childhood death rate was so high that they didn’t feel secure in becoming close to their child, only to lose it to disease. If the child made it to that age their continued survival rate was considered to be well above average. If the mother was unable to feed her young, there always seemed to be some
A little girl on the front porch of her home holding a Patent Medicine bottle with a huge nipple on it. Note the hob-nailed boots that she is wearing. This photo was most likely taken by a traveling photographer, of which there were many roaming the countryside. The photo probably dates to about 1900.
“wet-nursers” available for the task — those women who had weaned themselves from their small child or those that even had birthed a child just for the purpose of hiring themselves out as a “wet-nurse,” as the pay for that profession was quite good for a woman at that time. Surprisingly, some of the women that birthed a child just for this purpose often relegated their own child out to an orphanage for adoption. Sounds desperate, doesn’t it? Yes, I know that we are always hearing old stories that are handed down to us from relatives and friends and many of them are to be taken with a grain of salt. “Oh, well, yes, that sounds interesting.” “You got any proof to substantiate that story?” “That’s what my grand-pappy told me so it’s gotta be true, isn’t it?” When Teresa and I started collecting these old baby bottles, nothing thrilled us more than occasionally locating in an antique store these old photographs of babies actually using the bottles that we were collecting. You cannot ask for any better documentation than that of a photo taken over 100 years ago.
A wonderful studio shot of a little girl with her rectangular Patent Medicine bottle with the nipple in her mouth. This photo was taken about 1860.
Bottles and Extras The first ones that really excited us were those of babies actually using the “Murder” bottles. “Murder” bottles you say? Yes. These were the ones that had a cork with a hole through it that stuck down in the neck of the baby bottle. On the inside of the bottle was a tiny glass straw fixed into the end of a rubber hose running through the cork and on up to a ivory or bone disc, topped by a nipple through which the infant sucked the milk. The reason that these bottles were referred to as “Murder” bottles was that the hose apparatus couldn’t be cleaned very well and the doctors didn’t yet know what bacteria were. The bacteria that was left to grow inside the under-cleaned hose were the real killers. The TV series of “Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman” did a wonderful show on just this incident a few years ago. Then we started finding an occasional photograph of an infant drinking from a “murder- type” bottle that we could not identify as any known or catalogued baby bottle. Then I remembered my wife’s mother telling the story about using the old green Coca-Cola bottle as a baby bottle and things began to come into focus. We were obtaining photographic proof of the use of different whiskey and old patent medicine bottles being used as baby
This beautiful little girl is holding one of the murder bottles with its uncleanable hose and nipple. But this is not a baby bottle. It is a nice Pumpkin Seed whiskey bottle having been transformed for that double duty after Daddy finished using it for his purposes. The Pumpkin Seed bottle was one of the more commonly used whiskey bottles for feeding infants.
Bottles and Extras feeding bottles. Things were rough in many parts of the country, especially in the Deep South after the Civil War, when almost nothing could be obtained, even if you did have the money to buy it with. Quite often in poorer communities a hard working, or sometimes deadbeat, dad could always obtain a bottle of booze to relax his overworked body and brain, to the detriment of his wife and kids. After he finished it, Mama could confiscate it and use the bottle to feed her youngster. As you will notice from these photos, that have substitute baby bottles in them, that they are not always studio shots, but just taken on the front porch of their abode by a traveling photographer, of which there were many. The better known baby bottles are usually spotted in the studio shots of families who were affluent enough to have their portraits taken in such posh places. Do you have some favorite photos of babies with their Feeding Bottles? Please make some good scans and send them in to us for future use in articles for Bottles and Extras or for the ACIF’s “Keeping Abreast.”
This is one of my favorites. It is Grandpa with two little ones on his lap. Both are using the Murder Bottles with the nipple ends in their mouths. On the left you can also see the ivory disc that prevents the swallowing of the nipple. The left child is using the scarce Coffin (murder??) bottle while the younger one on the right is using a standard half-pint whiskey bottle. This photo dates about 1900-1910.
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This baby is sucking its milk from the very scarce La Forme’s Nursing Bottle which was patented in 1859. I firmly believe that some of this type baby bottle may actually be residing in someone’s collection of Ink Wells. The photo probably dates not much later than the 1880s.
This baby is sucking out of The Little Papoose baby bottle. This bottle was actually made in Great Britain for the American Market. It was patented in 1864 and is the first baby bottle known to have been imported into the United States. The bottle is hard to see but it is a turtle with the entire top surface to look like an Indian child strapped in its cradle backboard. Notice the hose has been sucked flat — I’m surprised that the eyes aren’t popping out if its eye sockets. This photo also dates to the 1870-80s.
This photo appears to be twins, both sucking out of murder bottles. The bottle on the left is mostly hidden, but the one on the right is very readable as to the maker. It is embossed “PERFECT CRADLE NURSER.” They appear to be very happy suckers.
This happy little boy has just finished his meal from the Betsy Brown Nursing Flask. The nipple is huge, for this is only an 8-ounce bottle. It is easily identified by the aluminum collar that is screwed down over the nipple, keeping it from being pulled off.
Charles S. Harris 6808 Benwood Drive Ooltewah, TN 37363 relicnut@bellsouth.net
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Summer 2005
The Man Behind The Womanʼs Face The story of a medicine peddler who traveled many roads except the one that lead to fame and fortune. © Andrew V. Rapoza, 2005 The serene face of a certain Victorian woman appears on trade cards for Mrs. Dinsmore’s Cough and Croup Balsam almost as frequently as Lydia Pinkham does for her famous Vegetable Compound. Both products were made in Lynn, Massachusetts, the town whose medicines I collect and of which I am writing a book. While the life of Lydia Pinkham is well established, I wanted to know if the lady on the Mrs. Dinsmore trade cards was real and, if so, why she was unknown when the female medicine maker across town was famous throughout the world. Was there really a Mrs. Dinsmore? The story of how this fascinating puzzle was put together might make for very interesting reading at a future time, but for now, I present to you the story behind the face. The die was cast for Alfred Dinsmore even before he was born in 1822. His Quaker parents had begat vigorously and Alfred found himself surrounded by fifteen brothers and sisters. Three of his four older brothers stayed home throughout their adult lives and farmed the family land along with their father, who himself refused to give it up until his 85th year. Although the family farm was located in the quiet rural town of China, Maine, the Dinsmores had a little city growing under their roof. Alfred needed, and probably wanted, to get off on his own and find his fortune. In 1848 he married Hannah Somes, already a widow in her mid-twenties. Alfred became an inn holder in Waterville, not far from China. The location seemed a solid prospect because the train stopped in the town, which was making its mark as a lumber center. Down the road could be found O. C. Wright who was actually listed in the 1850 census as a quack doctor and another hapless soul who was also demeaned by the census taker as a “D-d Fool.” Alfred employed one of his brothers as the inn’s barkeeper, another man to maintain the guests’ horses, and a young woman who probably shared the several duties of cook, waitress, and chambermaid with Hannah. The little inn and its staff were poised for success that never came. They were overshadowed by a much larger and more commodious inn a few doors away, and so Alfred and Hannah moved south. Alfred next showed up in Hallowell, Maine, in 1851, where he was convicted of selling liquor without a license. Stubborn and apparently not discreet, he was convicted a second time in 1853 for the same offence. Earlier that year, Hannah gave birth to their first child, Moses. Alfred and Hannah relocated still further
south to Portland and in 1858 Alfred was a restaurant keeper. Again the location seemed ideal for success. The restaurant was surrounded by businesses and boarding houses and once more was only steps away from a railroad station. It was in fact a huge station at a junction point of rail lines that coursed through New England and Canada. On the other side of the tracks were the docks that made Portland a major Northeastern port city. Sailors, travelers, longshoremen, train crews, and the like swarmed the area of the restaurant. Given Alfred’s history and the rough-and-tumble nature of his customers, the liquor must have flowed lustily with (or without) the meals; whether he was licensed to sell the stuff this time is unclear, but unlikely. While in Portland, Alfred and Hannah became parents to their second and last child, Benjamin Franklin Dinsmore. The Dinsmores disappeared from Portland as the Civil War broke out. Alfred next showed up in 1862, surprisingly, in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Not surprisingly, he showed up there in court, this time for selling liquor on Sunday. Dogged by the legal wrangles of selling liquor by the glass, but fully comprehending the widespread thirst for alcohol, Alfred tried his hand at selling medicine by the bottle. In 1864 he advertised his newest occupation as the General Agent for Sharp’s Tonic and Alterative Bitters and Sharp’s Balsam of Horehound and Aniseed. They were prepared by John G. Sharp, an apothecary in Saint John who proudly proclaimed his membership in the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain; it was an impressive credential – it just wasn’t true. The storyline for the bitters was that Sharp had received the recipe from a medical staff officer who served for thirtyfive years in India and China and found it
of great benefit to the British Army during the last twenty years. No such dramatic origin was offered for the balsam, but it is interesting to note that in 1841, when Sharp first started advertising medicines he had imported from London for his apothecary shop, he specified Ford’s Balsam of Horehound and Powell’s Balsam of Aniseed. He blended the two stated flavors to create his own mixture. Shortly after Dinsmore became a salesman for Sharp’s medicines, Sharp apparently died. Another Saint John pharmacist continued to make Sharp’s medicines and at least a half dozen businesses were crowding the Saint John newspapers selling them, but Alfred Dinsmore saw a much bigger opportunity looming over his shoulder. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox in April and Alfred M. Dinsmore was back in the United States by May. He took his family to Cape Elizabeth, Maine, just south of Portland. Alfred was now in the business of compounding and selling the medicine on his own, but had not established himself sufficiently to advertise or be listed as a medicine business in the Portland area. His personality might have gotten in the way of his product; in early 1866, one of Alfred’s older brothers wrote to another brother, “I should like to have about a gallon of Alf’s Bitters but I should not want [Hannah] to let me have them. He is too mean for me to deal with.” The Dinsmores borrowed and reborrowed against their home in Cape Elizabeth, perhaps to have funds to get the medicine business going. They then moved to a house in mid-state Carmel, Maine, that they purchased from yet another of Alfred’s brothers. In 1870 Alfred was listed as a manufacturing chemist there. While this could mean he was concocting a variety of
Bottles and Extras products from shoe blacking to perfume, medicine was still his driving focus. The singular contribution of this sleepy backwoods location to Alfred’s business plan was its proximity to a relative who had married well. Less than twenty miles away, Alfred’s sister Sarah lived with her wealthy husband, Jesse Connor. By comparison, Alfred’s estate was valued at $2,300 when Jesse’s was valued at $35,000; and Jesse was constantly looking for new business investment opportunities. Alfred and his brother-in-law formed the partnership of Connor & Dinsmore. For Jesse to be won over by Alfred to invest in a patent medicine venture might not have been too much of a leap of faith. Five out of ten of Jesse’s neighbors were involved in medicine: there were two apothecaries, one homeopathic physician, one eclectic physician, and one “medicine man.” There was also a medical student apprenticing with the homeopath, and a huckster (what
Figure 1: First known bottle of Mrs. Dinsmore’s Cough and Croup Balsam, ca. 1875. Over 500 were found in their original packing crates under a stable.
Summer 2005 he huckstered is not recorded). Health was a growing industry and Jesse Connor was an opportunistic businessman. He was also prone to a hot temper and use of blunt language; nonetheless, by at least 1872 they were in business together, recognized as “merchants of patent medicines.” The focus of this enterprise was the balsam recipe Alfred had secreted out of Canada. The name he copyrighted was “Mrs. Dinsmore’s Great English Cough Balsam of Hoarhound and Anise Seed For Coughs, Colds, Shortness of Breath, Asthma, &c.,” but as there was not a bottle made that would fit all that, their bottle was embossed, MRS. DINSMORE’S / COUGH & CROUP / BALSAM /CONNOR & DINSMORE / PITTSFIELD, ME. [Figure 1] In 1998 several cases containing over 500 of these bottles were found in the cellar of a stable attached to a house in Pittsfield – all in mint, unused condition, still packed in straw. Many of the bottles
43 had sharp edges, prickers, and fins from the glass-making molds. Most of the aqua, hinge-molded bottles suffered from weak embossing. The early 1870s was not a good time to launch the new venture. The country fell under the strain of an economic depression. The complete lack of advertising for Connor & Dinsmore medicines suggests a lack of Connor’s willingness to invest further in the business. The partnership struggled along from 1872 to 1876. The large cache of unused bottles suggests that the business venture ended abruptly. Perhaps the tempers that both men had exhibited had doomed their partnership before it had begun. With the partnership severed and his funding gone, Alfred did what he did best: he put his family back in the wagon and zig-zagged across the map once again, this time ending up in Lynn, Massachusetts, the prosperous city that was home to the now well-known brand, Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound. It is entirely possible that the family first stayed at the Lynn Hotel, an old establishment that had seen better days. It had become more of a boarding house than hotel and was run by Lemuel M. Brock, a successful, self-made businessman, just like Alfred Dinsmore wanted to be. Shortly after the Dinsmore’s arrival, Lemuel Brock became Alfred’s partner, purchasing a half interest in the Cough and Croup Balsam, which one nineteenth century account pointed out “was at that time struggling for an existence among the more widely advertised patent
Figure 2: Mrs. Dinsmore’s English Tonic Bitters, ca. 1878. Aqua, label-only, which makes this bottle all the more precious to me. Without the label the bottle is a common, with it, it is a treasure! Possibly the only remaining example? (Close-up of bitter’s label on the right.)
44 medicines.” Shortly after their 1877 arrival in Lynn, the Dinsmores relocated to a very sparsely populated section of neighboring Saugus where Alfred manufactured his patent medicines with Hannah listed as his chemist. Their two sons, now in their twenties, were still living at home, but were engaged in their own business ventures: Moses was a taxidermist and Benjamin made cigars. If the Dinsmore property was a multi-purpose workshop for Moses to eviscerate and mummify animals, Benjamin to make cigars, and Alfred and Hannah to mascerate, soak, and cook up plants for medicines, the pungent place could not have been remote enough for the neighbors’ comfort. Alfred and Hannah resurrected Sharp’s Tonic Bitters, calling it Mrs. Dinsmore’s English Tonic Bitters. They saved money by buying stock, unembossed aqua bottles and just gluing on a label. The label promised it was a “Sure cure for Dyspepsia, Indigestion, Diseases of the Liver and Kidneys, Bowel Complaints, and General Debility … and are peculiarly suited to females.” [Figure 2] With Lemuel Brock’s financial backing, they followed the Lydia Pinkham example and invested in creating a product image. An artist drew Hannah Dinsmore’s face from a family photograph taken a few years earlier. It was an honest, although unflattering rendering of the plain, middle-aged, tired-looking Hannah Dinsmore. [Figures 3 and 4] This image
Figure 3: The Dinsmore Family, ca. 1870. The image of Hannah in this carte-de-visite photo was the basis for the illustration that was used in the product advertising. Left to right: Alfred, Benjamin, Hannah, Moses.
Summer 2005 was transferred onto a trade card. So there really was a Mrs. Dinsmore, but it was her husband Alfred who had been trying for years to make the Dinsmore brand sell. The advertising copy inside this first Dinsmore trade card stated that the balsam had been in America for 20 years “and has only been advertised by parties that have used it.” This was all too true; the absence of advertising had always stopped Dinsmore’s medicines from becoming a success. In 1881, just a few years after they had tried once more to get the medicines off the ground, Hannah, “a most amiable woman, a good nurse, kind in sickness,” died of Bright’s disease; it was a kidney ailment that her bitters were apparently unable to cure. Alfred sold the rest of his share in the business to Brock. Alfred and his sons went back to where life had been kindest to them – Saint John, New Brunswick. Although Alfred had sold away the rights to his wife’s face and his own name in association with a cough balsam, he felt sure he could succeed once again by selling Sharp’s Balsam of Horehound and Anise-Seed like in the old days. He reestablished the partnership with his brother-in-law, Jesse Connor, and began the Sharp’s Balsam Manufacturing Company. Their twelve-sided bottle was embossed SHARP’S BALSAM, and the label that wrapped around the remaining eleven sides promoted the product in French (“Baume de Sharp”) and English,
Figure 4: First known trade card for Mrs. Dinsmore’s Cough and Croup Balsam, ca. 1879. This version is unflatteringly faithful to the real Mrs. Dinsmore, but was short lived. L. M. Brock is listed on the back as the “selling agent.” When he owned the firm outright, Brock commissioned a new and improved image of Mrs. Dinsmore.
Bottles and Extras the long title reading almost identically with the name he copyrighted in 1874, “of Horehound and Anise-seed for Coughs, Croup, Colds, Shortness of Breath, Asthma, etc.” [Figure 5] Advertising began in the spring of 1889, but stopped by the next spring. Alfred was not well and lingered for four more years. When he died there was nothing left; he was buried in the pauper’s field at a cemetery in Calais, Maine, where his sons were then living, just over the border from Canada.
Figure 5: Sharp’s Balsam, Connor & Dinsmore, Proprietors, Saint John, New Brunswick, ca. 1888. Clear, ABM with many bubbles and imperfections in manufacture. The entire label is duplicated on the back in French.
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Back in Lynn, Lemuel Brock had taken Alfred’s medicine business to the next level by investing heavily in advertising Mrs. Dinsmore’s Cough and Croup Balsam (Brock never seemed to invest any money or effort in the bitters) in dozens of newspapers throughout the Northeast and by producing sample bottles, advertising giveaways, store signage, and many dozens of trade cards. He had artists improve the bland image of Mrs. Dinsmore into a proper Victorian lady – successful, self-assured, trustworthy, and intelligent – in short, a copy of Lydia Pinkham’s famous face. [Figures 6 and 7] His efforts bore fruit; he built up the sales of Mrs. Dinsmore’s Cough and Croup Balsam from $3,000 when in partnership with Alfred Dinsmore in 1877 to $100,000 in 1892. [Figure 8] Flush with success, Brock had built a factory for the manufacture of the medicine, served a term in the state legislature, and invested in real estate, building over fifty homes in one section
Figure 6: The Faces, ca. 1882. This version of Mrs. Dinsmore (improved by Lemuel Brock’s artist) looked much less like the true Hannah Dinsmore than the original, but it was clearly meant to be in the same style and have the same impact as the amazingly successful cross-town advertising icon, Lydia Pinkham.
Figure 7: A selection of trade cards and other advertising items featuring the constantly tweaked face of Mrs. Dinsmore, ca. 18821895. All were produced by L. M. Brock & Co., and made Mrs. Dinsmore widely known; this familiarity brought the large-scale sales that Alfred Dinsmore had spent two decades struggling for in vain.
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of Lynn that became known for a while as Brockville. [Figure 9] I bought my first home in Lynn many years ago. Although I had no idea at that time, my house was one of those built by Lemuel Brock with money he gained by successfully selling Mrs. Dinsmore’s Cough and Croup Balsam. References I have abbreviated this list for reasons of space, but if you have further interest in any of the details of this store, please contact me at one of my addresses below. Family records of the descendents of Thomas and Eunice Dinsmore (Alfred’s parents); in a private collection. U.S. Federal Census of 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880. Concluded on Page 49
Figure 8: A timeline of Mrs. Dinsmore branded products, ca. 18791935. Left to right: A. M. Dinsmore & Co., Prop’s., Lynn (aqua BIM), ca. 1879; L. M. Brock & Co., Prop’s., Lynn (aqua BIM), ca. 1882; red stamped FREE SAMPLE (clear BIM), ca. 1885; backwards “N” variant (in embossing on reverse; clear BIM), ca. 1890; English & German text (clear BIM), ca. 1898; name change: Mrs. Dinsmore’s Balsam (clear BIM with contents), ca. 1902; name change: Mrs. Dinsmore’s Balsamated Compound, clear ABM; ca. 1935.
Figure 9: L. M. Brock & Co., Manufactory, July 4, 1890. Lemuel Brock stands triumphantly at the top of the stairs on the right. He told a newspaper reporter that his successful sales of Mrs. Dinsmore’s Cough and Croup Balsam were his proudest accomplishment in business.
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UNCOVERING GEORGE WASHINGTONʼS “SECRETS” by Jack Sullivan
Special to Bottles and Extras If this were one of those supermarket tabloids instead of Bottles and Extras, the headline would scream, “First President Unmasked Making Moonshine.” Lots of folks over the years, including both Prohibitionists and whiskey-makers, have found it useful to impute secrecy to George Washington’s distillery operations. The cover up, however, rapidly is coming to an end. As I earlier reported to readers of Bottles and Extras (May 2001), Washington’s distillery is being reconstructed from the ground up on a site near Mount Vernon, south of Alexandria, Va. Somewhat unexpectedly, the work has revived controversies that began more than 70 years ago. The Virginia Cover-Up In 1933 the State of Virginia, as part of a Depression-era public works program, decided to restore George Washington’s grist mill located in Fairfax County, not far from Mount Vernon. When the excavation and Washington’s records revealed that a whiskey distillery also had occupied the site, Virginia authorities quickly re-buried its foundation. Why? The most reasonable explanation is that this was the era of National Prohibition, when the sales of all alcoholic beverages were outlawed by Constitutional
George Washington as depicted on a Pickwick Whiskey mini-jug.
Amendment. Moreover, Washington was an icon of the Drys. For many Americans, it would have been a severe shock to learn that our first President not only took a drink, but actually made the stuff. So this “secret” had to be covered over - and was. Even today, some people find the distillery reconstruction objectionable. Mount Vernon curator Esther White notes that the staff has received several angry calls about the program. But the public vehemence could be nothing like the fervor generated in the 1930s. At that point, most Americans had been deluded into thinking that George Washington was a complete abstainer from alcohol. Washington: “Darling of the Drys” The Founding Father was frequently (but only selectively quoted) in Dry propaganda. Just as important, one of the most popular and effective anti-drinking groups - a forerunner of Alcoholics Anonymous - was called The Washington Temperance Benevolent Society. Founded in Baltimore in 1840 by self-confessed former drunkards, the movement became a national one. The organization explicitly identified itself with George and Martha, and its members eventually became known simply as “Washingtonians.” For a long time, The Father of His Country was clasped firmly to the Prohibitionist bosom.
In so doing, the Dry lobby conveniently overlooked (or ignored) Washington’s August 16, 1777 letter to John Hancock as president of the Continental Congress. The Revolutionary War Commander wrote: “Since our imports of spirit have become so precarious I would beg leave to suggest the propriety of erecting public distilleries in different states. The benefits arising from moderate use of liquor have been experienced in all armies and are not to be disputed.” Moreover, Washington also practiced what he preached. His account books for expenses during the Revolutionary War reveals that he spent significant sums to wine and dine his aides and other members of his entourage. National Prohibition was still in full swing in 1932, when the State of Virginia purchased land that once had belonged to Washington, intending to restore the grist mill and other buildings at the site as a tribute to its native son on the bicentennial of his birth. In excavating it - as shown here. A State Of Denial The discovery appears to have been leaked to a reporter for The Associated Press and the story was featured in newspapers from coast to coast. William Carson, the head of the Virginia State Conservation and Development Foundation, the agency
An artist’s rendition of the interior of Washington’s distillery. [Courtesy of Mount Vernon.]
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The distillery site in 1932 before being buried again.
Young archeologists working at the scene, summer of 2004.
undertaking the project, appears to have taken some extreme heat as a result of the ensuing outcry. Carson was a political appointee and a good friend of then Governor John Garland Pollard. Evidence uncovered by Ms. White includes a letter Carson wrote to a Texas publication denying any leak to the press and implying, quite disingenuously, that the distillery might actually have been a half-mile down the road rather than on Washington’s property. Citing Carson’s evasion as proof that the original story was untrue, the Texas journal thundered against “another infamous lie sent over the country by an element who would drag George Washington in the mire.” Chastened by such public outrage, and perhaps with limited funds for restoration, Mr. Carson and his Virginia state government minions decided that the path of least restrictions was once again to cover over the foundation. And so the site lay buried for seven decades.
whiskey warehouses. It was headquartered initially in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Soon after its formation, another whiskey conglomerate, the National Distiller’s Products Company, an outgrowth of the “Whiskey Trust” of the late 1800s, bought a controlling interest and moved AMS Corp. to Baltimore. When Prohibition ended, National Distillers owned 50% of the nation’s whiskey stocks and many of its best known brands - including Mount Vernon rye. National Distillers wasted no time in linking the whiskey to Washington. Shown here is a 1935 Mount Vernon Rye magazine
Exploiting Washington’s “Secret Formula” Once Prohibition ended, whiskey-makers got busy exploiting Washington’s “secret” for their own purposes. Mount Vernon Rye Whiskey earlier had been a brand name from the Harris Distilling Company of Martinsburg, West Virginia. The company in its advertising, however, did not link its products explicitly with the Founding Father himself. After the onset of Prohibition and the demise of Harris Distilling, the brand name came to be owned by the American Medicinal Spirits (AMS) Corporation. This outfit had been formed in 1927 by Col. R.E. Wathen from a combination of shut-down Mount Vernon Rye mini-jug from Hannis distilleries and Distilling of Martinsburg, W.Va.
Mount Vernon Rye “secret formula” ad from 1935.
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ad showing George Washington pointing to a barrel. It proclaims: “Its Formula was George Washington’s Secret...” The small print makes a claim that the whiskey recipe was a secret between Washington and his overseer, James Anderson, to produce a beverage “so palatable, so rich and mellow...” The whiskey ad contended that Washington’s heirs had continued to make this whiskey until 1835 when the distillery was moved to Baltimore, but the original formula was “zealously” followed: “It is from this great linage - this 140 years of accumulated skill - that Mount Vernon Bottled in Bond Straight Rye Whiskey inherits its incomparable excellence.” The Truth of the Matter This ad is almost entirely the product of some flack’s imagination. Washington’s distillery produced a whiskey much more akin to today’s moonshine than modern rye. His product was not aged and anything but rich and mellow. Washington’s heirs shut the distillery down several years after his death in 1799 and literally tore the building apart to recover the field stones. Nothing ever got moved to Baltimore. Finally, there was nothing secret about the formula. Anderson had learned distilling in his native Scotland and may have passed what was common knowledge in the Highlands to Washington. No evidence exists that the two men were innovating. In fact, production was only for about three years - 1797 to 1799- hardly enough time for experimentation. That said, Washington’s distillery, while not the first nor necessarily the largest in the colonies, was an important facility and highly deserving of reconstruction. The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) decision to finance the work has been a “gift that keeps on giving.” The industry has received press
Artist’s rendering of the outside of the restored distillery. [Courtesy of Mount Vernon.]
A cut-away view showing the second floor, where the museum will be placed. [Courtesy of Mount Vernon.]
attention from around the world for its efforts and has made the project a centerpiece of its public relations.
Mount Vernon Rye ad from 1940. Still colonial in theme, but with no direct reference to Washington, it pictures the traditional square bottles.
Whiskey Museum and Trial Sometime next summer the sides of the reconstructed distillery building will rise, and by 2006, the first visitors are expected. When it was discovered that Washington’s original building had a second story and that room would be available, it was decided to use that space to celebrate the historical roots of American distilling. DISCUS pledged to an additional $300,000 to create the museum, bringing the total cost of the project to $1.5 million. Among the displays are likely to be whiskey flasks, bottles and jugs of historical interest. Moreover, whiskey has been bottled in commemorative bottles and jugs, from barrels that were shipped down the Potomac for the distillery ground-breaking in 2001 and stored on the Mount Vernon grounds. Those spirits have been bottled and sold for hefty prices at annual auctions. Earlier this year additional whiskey was distilled at Mount Vernon itself using Washington’s not-so-secret recipe. That too is being specially bottled and sold at auction, with proceeds
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benefiting the restoration. These commemorative bottles and jugs - instant collectibles - also are likely to be on display in the new museum. Washington’s distillery also is being touted as the “Gateway” of what industry representatives are calling the “Whiskey Trail,” featuring distilleries, museums and historic sites. The trail includes Faunces Tavern Museum in New York City, where Washington bid farewell to his troops in 1783, and Alexandria’s Gadsby’s Tavern, ten miles up the road from Mount Vernon, where George Washington often dined. Among other stops on the Whiskey Trail are three in Pennsylvania, clustered around Pittsburgh: Woodville Plantation in Bridgeville, significant for its identification with the Whiskey Rebellion; the West Overton Museum in Scottdale, a pre-Civil War village on the National Register of Historic Districts with its Overholt Mill & Distillery on site; and the Oliver Miller Homestead in South Park, another Whiskey Rebellion locale and frontier landmark. As the trail moves west, a number of historic American distilleries will be stops. They include George Dickel (Tullahoma) and Jack Daniels (Lynchburg) in Tennessee and Jim Beam (Clermont), Maker’s Mark (Loretto), Wild Turkey (Lawrenceburg) and Woolford Reserve (Versailles) in Kentucky. The route ends at the Oscar Getz Whiskey History Museum in Bardstown, Kentucky, with its major collection of flasks, jugs and other whiskey items. Given the burst of publicity being given to Washington and his whiskey-making, hoopla that surely will grow as the distillery reconstruction nears completion, the last shreds of secrecy are falling away. In their place is open recognition that George Washington not only was first in the hearts of his countrymen, but also, first in their hip flasks. Material for this article came from a variety of sources, including the interviews with Mount Vernon staff, and the Mount Vernon and DISCUS websites. Particularly useful was a paper written by Esther White for a meeting of the Society for Historical Archeology in St. Louis in January, 2004. Portions of this article have also appeared in the Potomac Bottle Club’s Pontil newsletter.
49 Continued from Page 45. The New Brunswick Courier, 1841. Marriage Records of Waldo County, Maine. Kennebec, Maine County Court Records. Portland Civil Birth Records. Portland City Directories, 1855-1865. Daily Evening Globe, The Morning Freeman, The Halifax Sun and Advertiser, The King’s County News, The New Brunswick Courier (all published in Saint John, New Brunswick), various dates throughout the 1860s. Museum Collections, Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Grantee’s Records, Cumberland County, Maine. Land Records of Penobscoty County, Maine. The Maine Register, 1872-1873. The Maine State Yearbook, 1874-1877. New England Business Directory, 1877. Registration of Copyright, 25 April 1874. The Lynn City Item, 1881. Daily Evening Item, 1881. Saint John City Directories, 1887-1890. The Evening Gazette (Saint John, Newbrunswick), 1889-1890. Death Records of Calais, Maine. Correspondence and conversations with descendents of Lemuel M. Brock. Bottle labels and trade cards for Mrs. Dinsmore medicine products.
Andrew V. Rapoza 28240 Nancy Lane Conroe, TX 77385-9040 andrewrapoza@charter.net
A Platte Valley jug commemorating the 2001 distillery ground-breaking at Mount Vernon.
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CHARLES E. HIRES COMPANY 1870 - PRESENT PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA by Don Yates
Charles E. Hires was born in Elsinboro, Pennsylvania on August 19, 1851. Charles grew up on his father’s farm in Roadstown, Pa., but was an adventurer and did not want to become a farmer like his father. Charles E. Hires originally developed his root beer as a medicinal syrup or tonic, while still living on his father’s farm in Stow Creek Township. In 1867, Charles was hired as an apprentice to a Roadstown pharmacist, in his home town. He was paid $12 per week. In 1870, Charles worked as a Pharmacist’s Apprentice in Philadelphia, and experimented in mixing many natural ingredients to achieve a pleasing syrup or extract. Charles took night classes at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. At that time, shortly after the Civil War, there was a tremendous demand for any product with medicinal virtues. Some of the medicinal cure claims include tuberculosis, bronchitis, asthma, catarrh, pleurisy, Quincy, whopping cough, and diphtheria. Charles saved $400 and invested in a drugstore at Sixth Street and Spruce Street in Philadelphia. Charles was a natural born pharmacist and thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the business. Charles developed a side-line potters’ clay business making Fuller’s Earth and his bank account quickly reached $5000. This gave
him the capital to develop his new beverage, root beer. In 1875, Charles Hires was married in Roadstown, and spent his honeymoon on a New Jersey farm. It was there where he was served root tea made up of sixteen wild roots and berries, including, pipsissewa, spikenard, juniper wintergreen, sarsaparilla, and hops. Charles persuaded his hostess to part with her recipe for root tea. A similar beverage had been made by Native Americans for many years. Charles again mixed the ingredients and blended his own formulation, trying to get a perfect blend. Hires Root Beer Extract was then bottled in quantities for the first time, and sold in his Philadelphia pharmacy. The extract would be mixed by the buyer with water, sugar, and yeast on his premises. In a few months time, other soda fountains were purchasing Mr. Hires syrup and extract. Charles E. Hires’ obituary, which ran in the Brigeton Evening News on August 2, 1937, stated that the Rev. Dr. Russell Conwell, the founder of the Temple University, asked Charles Hires to help him develop a beverage that might be sold among hard drinking Pennsylvania miners, in the interest of the Temperance Movement. Charles, studying medicine at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia at the time, was happy to comply and was assisted by two
medical professors. Russell Conwell was given a sample of Mr. Hires beverage, and was highly enthusiastic. He convinced Charles to call it “Root Beer” instead of a “Tea,” thinking it would be more readily acceptable to the workers. Hires eventually became the world’s largest manufacturer of root beer. There were some slow periods in the beginning like growing pains. Charles sold his drug business and became a wholesale dealer in vanilla beans. He traveled to Mexico to study the native vanilla plant and wrote a book on vanilla. Do you think that vanilla was one of his secret ingredients? Dr. Russell Conwell convinced Charles to present his root beer at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Hires root beer was served at their soda fountains and was a huge success. Hires also sold their root beer extract and their cough syrup. In 1893, Hires offered bottled root beer for the first time. Once the public tasted Hires root beer, the demand exploded. Charles Hires sold 115,000 glasses of root beer during their first year. That
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Bottles and Extras quickly expanded to 700 million glasses. The Hires Root Beer Company lost the patent for the name “Root Beer” in 1879. Charles remained in charge of his company until 1925, when his two sons took over. Charles died at the age of 85, in Haverford, Pa., on August 1, 1937. Charles was active in the Temperance and Quaker Movements throughout his life. Although Charles Hires claimed to be the inventor of root beer, and applied for a patent, there were many earlier brewers of such a beverage. Root beer was being made even before Charles was born. Charles originally wanted to use the term “Root Tea” but changed it to “Root Beer.” It is highly unlikely that he did not hear about root beer being available in many regions. His medicinal claims were also stretched a bit. Root beer could “cure” cancer over a hundred years ago, as well as tuberculosis and twenty other serious diseases. This was typical of medical advertising at that time, prior to the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Hires Root Beer Extract, after several years of development, got its major introduction at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876. It received wide acceptance by
Summer 2005 the general public. In 1878, his first year, Charles sold 864 bottles of extract; and almost two million by 1891. The Charles E. Hires Company was located at 117 to 119 Arch Street in Philadelphia; a modest but ornate facility. Much of Hires early advertising was done with Victorian Trade Cards. These were artistic masterpieces, created by some of the most talented lithographers and artists of the time. The main period for Hires trade cards was from 1883 to 1910. After that period, they used magazine ads. Much of Hires early history was depicted on the back of their trade cards. If you look at the Hires trade cards, you will notice that the majority of them show young and healthy children. This was explained on the back of the trade cards; all of the healthful benefits including strength, rosy complexions and beauty; “It supplies nerves and the brain, as well as blood food. It vitalizes the energies, increased the mental as well as the physical strength.” A package of Hires extract sold for 25 cents, and it made five gallons of root beer, a delicious, sparkling, and wholesome temperance drink. From an 1896 trade card: “It cleanses the blood from impurities, gives vitality and energy, strengthens and invigorates the whole nervous & physical system. Sarsaparilla root, herbs & phosphates that go to make-up this pleasant & delicious drink, furnish muscle & increase the vigor of the brain & nerve forces.” Hires second major product of the 1800s was “HIRES COUGH CURE.” This product was also advertised on Hires trade cards. It contained white pine balsam, gum Arabic, roots, barks, and herbs; including sarsaparilla root, birch bark, and wintergreen. “It was the cheapest and the best.” Stoneware Mugs - Many of the early Hires mugs were made by the premier potteries of England and Germany. Again these mugs depicted exquisite pictures of a very young boy, to promote root beer for children. The utilitarian Hires stoneware mugs were made by the Sherwood Pottery of New Brighton, Pennsylvania. (Sherwood Pottery historical information from Jeff and Sandy Heasley of Beaver, Pa.). These mugs were mass produced for use at soda fountains all over the country. These large mugs were 7 inches tall and held 20 ounces of root beer, quite a large drink for the early
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1900s. Some American stoneware Hires Root Beer Mugs were made by Whites Utica Pottery in Utica, New York. These were made around the turn of the century and were an ornate cobalt blue and white Bristol glaze design. Stoneware Bottles - Around 1914, Hires again commissioned the Sherwood Pottery to make stoneware root beer bottles. These bottles were to be used for making homemade root beer by the general public. (Jeff and Sandy Heasley own the original transfer stamp used by the Sherwood Pottery on this enigmatic bottle). The Hires stoneware bottles were made by pressing each half into a mold, forming mating halves of a rabbet joint; the two halves were joined together after curing, by using slip clay, and a fixture for holding both halves together. A similar procedure to that used for making stoneware ginger beer bottles. After stamping the greenware bottle with the transfer, the lower half of the bottle was dipped in Bristol Glaze, which allowed the transfer to be seen. The top half of the bottle was carefully dipped in Albany Slip clay and the interior was thoroughly coated with Albany Slip clay by filling the bottle and dumping out the remainder. Don’t forget that the firing time was seven days in the kiln. The top of the Hires Stoneware Bottles had a dark chocolate Albany Slip coating, and the label transfer read “OLD HOME MADE ROOT BEER - FROM HIRES
54 EXTRACT.” These bottles had a crown top, designed for a bottle cap, but Hires developed a special closure for the home market. These closures were made of diecast brass, and consisted of an expanding rubber plug, which fit inside the bottle neck, and a screw and wing-nut, which tightened the closure. These special closures allowed the public to make their own Hires root beer, without purchasing a bottle capper. These stoneware bottles were only used for a short period of time, since glass bottles were being mass-produced by automatic bottle machines. Hires was the most successful early root beer producer, but they were not the first company to make root beer in the U.S.A. Root beer was first developed in the U.S.A. and was brewed by many prominent soft drink and mineral water bottling plants as early as 1830. Ginger beer was the principal predecessor of root beer, and was made in England a hundred years earlier. There may be 8,000 different English stoneware ginger beer bottles, but no root beer bottles. Ginger beer was their favorite national beverage up until around 1930, when Coca-Cola became available world wide. According to David Graci’s Book: “AMERICAN STONEWARE BOTTLES”, there were at least 45 known brewers of root beer prior to 1870. The term root beer may have originated around 1780. Doctor Chase used the term root beer in his 1864 book: “DR. CHASE’S RECEIPT BOOK AND PRACTICAL PHYSICIAN.” The following article was written by Charles E. Hires, telling how he got started.
Summer 2005 carries on a business which is the envy and admiration of half the drug world. At the solicitation of the editor of the AMERICAN DRUGGIST, Mr. Hires describes below the typical old fashioned Philadelphia drug store, in which he laid the foundation of his fortune and describes his first opportunity and how he took advantage of it. He still believes that business life is full of opportunities for those who are shrewd enough to see them and energetic enough to grasp them. Many thousands of men had passed the workmen excavating the cellar. Thousands of those who passed lingered to watch the busy scene. But only one Mr. Hires really saw what the thousands looked at. They only saw men carting dirt. He saw the dollars in the dirt. I was not a registered college of pharmacy student, but after serving my apprenticeship of four years in a country store, from the time I was twelve until I was sixteen, I came to Philadelphia and after obtaining a situation as clerk here, I attended lecture occasionally at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in the winters of 1867, 1868 and 1869.
AMERICAN DRUGGIST AND PHARMACEUTICAL RECORD OCTOBER, 1913 SEEING OPPORTUNITIES How Charles E. Hires Laid the Foundation for His Commercial Success - Opportunities Come to All - The Philosophy of a Successful Merchant HIRES ROOT BEER is known all over the world. It has been the prototype of a whole series of imitations and substitutes, but still retains its precedence. The maker, Charles E. Hires, began life as a drug store boy in a country town at the age of twelve, went to Philadelphia at the age of sixteen, by industry and economy accumulated a capital of $400, with which he engaged in business on his own account, and now
Ad from the Ladies Home Journal, July, 1889.
Bottles and Extras It was at the time customary to extend an invitation to drug clerks, whose preceptors were interested in the College of Pharmacy to attend lectures during their nights off, and this was about the extent of my attending the College of Pharmacy. About the year 1872, a state law was passed that all druggists should undergo an examination and be registered. I took this examination and was given a certificate of efficiency to carry on the drug business. When embarking in business at Sixth and Spruce, I had less that $400 and did a great deal of work in assisting the carpenter in fitting the place up, and it was through the good offices of my wholesale drug friends that I got started. Mr. Crenshaw, of Bullock & Crenshaw, Valentine H. Smith, Clayton French and Robert Shoemaker - these good friends gave me that credit I asked, and to them I owe a great deal of my success. Perhaps an incident of my first conspicuous success would be interesting. This occurred about a year after embarking in business at Sixth and Spruce It came about in this way: I had always been active and energetic, and the time spent behind a prescription counter, especially in the dull part of the day, often became irksome and I longed for greater things to do. One day when walking out on Spruce Street, I noticed a cellar being dug and from this excavation I noticed a lead colored clay like substance, which attracted my attention, as it seemed almost of the consistency of putty. I picked up some of it and took it back: to the store and after drying it and examining it, I found it was Fullers’ Earth or potters’ clay. I returned to the place the next day and saw the contractor and asked him if I could have some of this clay. I only wanted the clay from this certain strata. As they had some distance to cart the dirt from this excavation, he very gladly, when he learned where to deliver it, assented to my having all I wanted of it, and was glad to give it to me. I had him bring it to my place, and after boarding up a passage along the side of my cellar, I filled the entire balance of the cellar, up to the ceiling with this clay. It occurred to me that I might put up potters’ clay in convenient sized cakes that would be handy to retail and more
Bottles and Extras convenient for people to use, as at that time potters’ clay was sold in a loose way in broken clumps and powder, which caused a great deal of dirt and dust in handling. At this time, I was boarding next door, or taking my meals there, as I slept over my store, and I recalled having seen the women folks using an iron ring on which to stand their irons on ironing day. It occurred to me that this would be the proper instrument to cut out or mold these cakes of clay. I borrowed from my landlady a couple of these rings, after being charged very particularly to take care of them and return them in good order. I then wet the clay, working it into a paste, from which I molded a dozen or two round cakes about one inch thick and about three inches in diameter, and put them on a board out in the yard in the sun to dry. These after a day or two became thoroughly dried, and I found them to be a very fine texture of Fullers’ Earth of potters’ clay, and was very much elated over my project and the possibility of selling quantities of it. I then went down on Third Street to a stencil and letter place and bought some lead letters, and after cutting out a round block, I glued these letters on to the block, spelling out the words “Hires Refined Potters’ Clay” in a circle. My thought was that these cakes could be sold for five cents. While the cakes were soft, I pressed these letters ink which made a very distinct impression. After doing a few, however, I found that the moisture soon melted the glue and the letters would fall off. Then I had to have a cast iron one made, with which I could work much more rapidly and which made a very neat impression. Together with a boy and my assistant in the store at leisure times, we worked up several gross of these cakes. In fact I first made up enough to fill a barrel and I found that a barrel would hold about ten gross. Having everything ready and with two or three nice samples done up in tissue paper, I started out to visit the wholesale drug trade. I remember I called on Mr. Crenshaw first and told him of my project and showed him my sample. He thought it was a most excellent idea and would take because it saved a great deal of weighing out and dirty work that the
Summer 2005 old method of dispensing Fullers’ Earth necessitated. At that time Fullers’ Earth was used quite extensively for taking out grease spots and cleaning woolens and flannels and had quite a large sale. I continued to put the price of $3.50 a gross on the cakes to the wholesale trade and they could sell them for 35 or 40 cents a dozen. Mr. Crenshaw took hold of it at once and said: “You may send me ten barrels.” I then visited Valentine H. Smith, who also took ten barrels. Robert Shoemaker, John C. Hurst & Co., McKeon, Bowen & Ellis, Mahon K. Smith & Co., afterwards Smith, Kline & Company, and I believe every wholesale druggist took three to five barrels. Clayton French took twentyfive barrels. I sold this mostly with the understanding that the amount was to be taken out in drugs or sundries as I should want. In this way I suppose it was much easier to sell the quantity I did. From these sales I was able to better stock my store, and after selling this supply of clay, I renewed it several times from cellar excavations, because I found that nearly all Philadelphia is under laid with a strata of three to four feet of Potters’ Clay. After supplying Philadelphia, I went to New York and sold quite a lot in exchange for goods. It this way I had quite a revenue from my drug business, having to pay but little out for merchandise. But in the course of a year or two, I soon had competitors; others finding out about it commenced to put it up in a large way and it was very soon at prices that hardly made enough profit for the labor. I have often thought when I have heard of the difficulties of a young man in getting along, that surely the reason for their not getting along is because of their lack if initiative or the lack of making or seizing opportunities when they come, because I think a business life is continually full of opportunities if one can grasp and utilize them. Charles E. Hires had three sons who joined him in the extract business. Charles E. Hires was the president. Charles E. Hires Jr., was the vice president from 1900 through 1918. In 1900, William N. Hires was the secretary and lived in Camden, New Jersey. In 1919, J. Edgar Hires was the vice president and Charles E. Hires Jr. was
55 the secretary. In 1900, the Charles E. Hires Company was located at 1 Fairmount Avenue in Philadelphia. Charles was the president and lived in Merion, Pa. In 1905, the Charles E. Hires Company was located at 210 North Broad Street. They also added Hires condensed milk to their product line at this time. Charles had a brother George A. Hires, who was also in the extract business during this period. The following article is from an article in the Philadelphia Daily News, February 14th, 1891. This was written by a newspaper columnist, who was given a tour of the Hires Root Beer Depot. It was titled: “AS OTHERS SEE US” The history of the growth, the method of manufacturer, and the present dimensions of the Hires Root Beer Extract business reads like a brilliant romance, yet the truth is beyond question. It was during the year 1878 that Charles E. Hires, then in the wholesale drug business, conceived the idea of making and combining roots, barks, and berries with flowers in such a form that from it could be readily produced a home-made root beer, such as our forefathers used in “ye olden time.” The idea was at once put into execution, and after months of labor was rewarded with success beyond the most sanguine anticipation, for, beside making a most delightful drink, there is combined with it elements not only of a great health beverage, but one of the most valuable diuretics and blood purifiers in the world. MERIT WILL WIN It is one thing to design and conceive a good article and another to successfully introduce it to humanity. The growth of the Hires business illustrates the saying, “merit will win.” In conversation, Mr. Hires always attributes the success primarily to the merit of the article. The extent of the sales of the Extract are best shown by the number of bottles used to contain the Extract. The first year the trial order given to the box maker was for 1000 boxes, and 800 packages were sold, while the cost incurred in advertising and selling exceeded the amount of money received. Mr. Hires was not discouraged. Letters of praise and
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commendation of the merits of the new Health Drink were received, and the insurance of greater sales was positive. The second year brought a sale of three thousand packages, and this proportionate increase in sales, and likewise increase in the cost of selling the Extract, was continued for several years. Persistency in advertising, strict integrity in all business relations, and careful, conservative and truthful statements about the Extract, have established the business on the basis of the confidence of the public, a rock worthy to stand upon. THE GRAND FULFILLMENT I have been told by the readers of this paper the beginning of this wonderful business, and now for the fulfillment. The supply is hardly to be kept equal to the demand for the Extract at present. The past year it reached a consumption of over a million and a quarter of bottles, and the demand is rapidly and constantly increasing. The million two hundred and ninetysix packages used this last year represent 6,480,000 gallons when made up into root beer. This, if bottled in quart champagne bottles, would represent 32,400,000 bottles, sufficient to quench the thirst of every man, woman and child in America and Great Britain. This vast amount gives effective proof of the high appreciation and favor in which it is held, and fully demonstrates that the demand has been created by its superior excellence. AT COMPANY HEADQUARTERS Our readers will be interested in a perusal of a description of the house of the Company that has accomplished so astonishing results in the sale of such a boon to humanity. We present several views of the establishment. The new building is four stories high, the front of pressed brick with brown stone trimming, and has a frontage on Arch Street of 28 feet, running back 115 feet. In addition to the four floors, there is a light and airy basement under the entire building and extending 15 feet under the pavement. It will readily be seen that the area of floor space occupied is very extensive. The arrangement of the interior is especially made with a view to perfect facilities to the business. In the view first presented the interior
Mr. Hires’ Private Office. of Mr. Hires’ private office is shown. This office is handsomely furnished, but not excessively so. The second view is a pictorial simile of the main office, with the corps of clerks at work attending to the large mail business. These offices and the shipping rooms are located on the first floor. The basement serves admirably as a packing and storage room. Passing to the second floor the well stocked printing office of the Company occupies a lion’s share of the floor space, and is a marvel of completeness. Steam power turns job presses whereon thousands of trade cards and circulars are printed. WHERE IT IS MADE The entire third floor is given up to
the bottling and packing of the Extract. Scores of comely maidens, neat as the typical pin, bright, and perhaps, chattering as girls will do when two or more are gathered together - are occupied bottling, corking, and packing in cartons or boxes the root beer Extract, the daily capacity being from 125 to 150 gross each working day. The fourth floor is fitted up for and devoted to the purpose of a laboratory, where Hires Root Beer and Cough Cure are compounded and stored in reservoirs, from which the liquid is conveyed through pipes to the floor below for bottling. First the roots, barks, herbs and berries are carefully selected and ground, then placed in an immense caldron of one hundred gallons capacity, where they are steeped
Second Floor - Printing Office.
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57 several hours in water, then transferred to a large press of eighty tons pressure and pressed. From our Book Ginger Beer & Root Beer Heritage. DONALD YATES
Third Floor - Bottling and Packing Room.
Fourth Floor - Laboratory.
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HOSTETTERS VARIANTS by Richard Siri
Having collected Hostetters for some 35 years, you would think that I would have paid attention to the base markings. Well, I did, sort of, I mean I looked at them and made mental notes that I filed away in the corner of my mind. I know all collectors know there are lots of Hostetters, but how many different ones are there? It was when I purchased another 30-plus-year collection of Hostetters that I decided to put things down in print. The collection I purchased was put together on the east side of the country while mine was built on the west side. Both collections were built with variations of color and mold in mind. I had some one hundred and sixty examples to look at, all in one place, and the time and space to spread them out. Generally speaking, the largest bottles are the oldest. Collectors speak of big ones and small ones. But how about five different big ones with fifteen different molds? The sizes I have are as follows: 7 ½ x 3, 7 3/8 x 3, 7 ¼ x 3, 7 ¼ x 2 7/ 8 and 7 1/ 8 x 2 7/ 8 . I measure the height from the base to the top of the middle panels. The other measurement is width. The total height means almost nothing as in each mold and body size there are differences in total height. All applied top bottles vary in height, hand-made you know. In this large group, there are at least fifteen distinctively different molds. The base markings in this group vary. There are bases with an embossed slash, one with a ¼ inch dot in the center, one with two ¼ inch dots spaced 7/8 inches apart and others with x’s from ¼ inch to ½ inch to 5 /8 inch to 1¼ inch. There is also one with an asterisk design, another with a number three that is 3/8 of an inch high, and some with plain bases. In the large sizes, colors are shades of amber and green. These colors are generally dark, so finding a shade that passes light easily is a plus. One of the large bottles has a sticky or open pontil. I own this bottle. Personally, I think it was an accident pontil, not from a series of bottles that were all pontiled. I have the same mold that does not show any pontil. There are two different molds that have distinct improved or graphite pontils. Both of these bottles also have non-pontiled counterparts. There are four of one and only
one of the other. It should be noted that the improved pontiled examples are shades of amber and both have deep inset pontils. The small size bottles measure 6 5/8 x 2 ¾ and vary in overall height by as much as an inch. This group, by far, has the most variants. It should be noted that some of the small sizes date pre-1864. One way you can tell if a labeled example is pre-1861 is that it will only have a black or dark blue label with gold writing. After 1860 they had two labels. It is then that they used St. George slaying the dragon; this information is available in the first almanac, 1861. When looking at a large group of bottles this size, sometimes it appears like a lot of different sizes, but it is the embossing size that makes it seem so. The earliest ones in this group have plain bases for the most part. I’ve dug plain base, small size Hostetters in holes where all the other bottles were pontiled. Other examples have Xs or dots. If judging by the crudest examples, I would have to say that the ones with embossed As are the first with lettering on the base. They could be one of two glass houses: Agnew & Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., 1854-1866 or Adams and Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., 1851-1891. One of the biggest early producers of the bottles for Hostetters was Lorenz and Wrightman (L&W), Pittsburgh, Pa., 18621871. The first L&W [Figure 1] has only the letters on it. There are two different, one with small letters and one with large letters; the face molds are also different. The next one has an L&W with an irregular shaped lump below the L&W. After this, it is numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on, up to 19 [Figure 1a]. All these examples have a different face mold. From this you can assume the numbers correspond to the face molds and are not a batch number as previously thought. Proof of this theory is the #4 which has two different bases, but the face molds are the same. This tells me that the base fell out, broke, or something equivalent. They then made a new base, with a L&W #4 on it, keeping the same face mold. On #12 the 2 is backwards. On the #15 the L is backwards on the base and the J is backwards on the face mold. On another example you can see where the J on the face mold has been corrected but the
Figure 1
Figure 1a
Figure 2
Figure 3
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Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Summer 2005 base remains the same. The #17 also has a backwards L but it varies from the #15. The #17 also has a correct L. The face mold is different from the one with the backwards L. There are two variants of #19; one has L&W across the middle of the base and the #19 below it while the other has the L&W above the center line and the #19 below it. Both of these #19s have different face molds, suggesting that the first one broke. My group of L&Ws only goes to 19, although there may be more. Another large group of Hostetters is the bottles from W. McCully & Co., a firm which lasted from 1832 to 1909. Although I think the time they made Hostetters was from 1860 to circa 1886, they probably started making Hostetters in the early 1860s. There are different groups of molds as follows: there is one that has “McC” in the circle with a straight line above it and a straight line below it [Figure 2]. The way I have it figured, the molds without the numbers or letters are the earliest. All the bases are basically flat with a depressed circle in the middle. The rest of McCully bases are as follows; W. McC & Co. around the edge of the depressed circle [Figure 3] and W. McC & Co. around the depressed circle that is inside a larger circle and has a different face mold [Figure 4]. Then there is W. McC & Co. Pitts around the edge of the depressed circle [Figure 5] with a large X in the middle of the base and a different face mold than the other [Figure 6]. Then there are the letter variants with W. McC & Co. around the edge of the circle and the letter A in the middle [Figure 7]. I also have B, E and G. All these bottles have a different face mold, and if there are no breaks in the letters, I need to find some more. Numbered variants have W. McC & Co. around the edge of the circle with the #1 in the middle [Figure 8]. I also have #6, #7 and #9. Starting with #10, Pitts is added to the mold and #11 is embossed the same way. There are numbered variants with W. McC & Co. in a straight line across the middle of the circle with the number 4 below it [Figure 9]. There is a #4 that is in a smaller circle on the base in a different base mold but the face is the same. Another one has McC & Co in a straight line [Figure 17]. I have a 2 and a 5 in that mold. McCully, like L&W, numbered the molds to match the face molds and not the batches produced. I also have a #5 and a #6 embossed like the #4 in a straight line.
59 The glasshouse S.McKee & Co. Pittsburgh, Pa., circa 1834-1906, also produced numerous Hostetters bottles. Some of these molds are as follows: S. McKee & Co. is around the circle on the base. This mold has the tops of the letters pointed towards the center of the circle and has the #1 in the center [Figure 10]. Then starts a series with S. McKee around the circle on the base with the letter tops pointed out towards the edge [Figure 11]. It has a #1 in the center and also has a different face mold than the #10 mold. I have molds 1, 2, 3 and 4. Another one is embossed S. McK & Co. around the edge of the circle and these have a #1, 2, 3 or 4 in the middle [Figure 12]. There are not as many molds in the McKee’s as there are in L&W or McCully’s, but together these three glasshouses produced the bulk of the applied top Hostetters. There were other glasshouses that made applied top Hostetters bottles. Thomas Wrightman & Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., circa 1871-1883 [Figure 16]. A & D. H. Chambers, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1841-1889. Their bottles were base embossed A & D.H.C. around the edge of the circle with a letter in the middle [Figure 13]. I have seen letters from A to N. Ihmsem Glass Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., circa 1878-1900, with IG Co. L [Figure 14] or IG Co. [Figure 15] embossed on the base of their bottles with mold numbers above or below the letters. Numbers go up to at least 79. This would indicate they produced the most variants of the Hostetters bottles. The number 6 is dated 1885 on the label and the number 52 is dated 1889. Other markings on applied top bottles are an A, three different Bs, M, Q, P and numbers 2/ 7 as well as a dot, diamond shaped mark and a triangle shape symbol. I have no idea who or what these marks represent but they were most likely around Pittsburgh, Pa. Tooled top bottles are more plentiful than applied top bottles but with less variety. American Glass Works was a big player, their molds ran most of the alphabet. Owens Illinois Glass Co. made the ABM bottle that is embossed “Stomachic.” The miniature has an H in the middle of the pyramid shaped symbol. This is JH & A Hamilton Pittsburgh, Pa., 1880-1944. Other un-identified tooled top symbols are numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 and 13. Letters are A, B, L, M and C. There is also a series of bottles with a large C with a small number inside the curve, 1, 3, 4, 7 and 9. This could be the mark for Cunningham & Co., circa
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Figure 8
Figure 9
1845-1870. I do not think they made Hostetters until the late 1890s or early 1900s. The obvious rarities are the pontiled ones, the miniature, and the one embossed with Hotsetters, [sp] although there are no doubt rarities in some of the other molds. I think the crude ones from the John Agnew & Co. are also rare. Aside from the above, all are rated common. The 60s, 70s and early 80s bottles have in them some great colors of amber running from yellow amber to dark almost black amber. There are greens that are citron, yellow-green to apple-green. There is an example that is close to aqua-green and one has turned up that is purple. In the early years of collecting (1960s), I heard people speak of a milk glass example, but I have never seen one nor talked to anyone that has ever seen one. There is also talk of some of the early black glass bottles being blown in San Francisco. There is no proof of this at all. I think if any bottles were produced in the West, it would have been in the late 1880s. All this is pretty dry reading but it gives you an idea of just how many different Hostetters that there are out there. This listing is by no means complete and it would be nice to find out the unknown makers. Also there are the ABM bottles, but that is another story.
Figure 14
Figure 15
Comments, questions or if you have molds not mentioned, let me know. I can be reached at RTSIRI@sbcglobal.net, or 707-542-6438 or P.O.Box 3118, Santa Rosa, CA 95402.
Figure 10
Figure 12
Figure 16
Figure 13
Figure 11
Figure 17
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61
ANCHOR MASONʼS PATENT (dot) Embossed, Bead Seal Jars by Barry L. Bernas
What Firm Made These Jars? Both The Fruit Jar Works and The Standard Fruit Jar Reference attribute the ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) smooth lip, bead seal jar series to the Anchor Glass Company of M o u n t Pleasant, Pennsylvania.1 Although plausible, I’m not convinced this was the case. Information I’ve acquired seems to indicate workers for the L. E. Smith Glass Company, the successor to Anchor Glass, may actually have made these jars for several years after Mr. Smith purchased the former Anchor plant. Since I haven’t been able to find any advertisements or Company literature showing these jars being offered for sale by L. E. Smith, my statement is pure conjecture based on some facts and some assumptions. The pieces of my theory fit together to my satisfaction. Once you’ve seen why I think my hypothesis is valid, you can decide if you also agree with it. Bead Seal Introduced Glass companies began to introduce the bead as a sealing mechanism on threaded finish jars in 1909. The Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Company of Greenfield, Indiana may have been one of the first ones to do so. The BOYD PERFECT MASON pictured on the right above came from a circa1909 Greenfield trade blotter. As the solid line arrow points out, the bead was prominent on this fruit jar. By November 1909, the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing
Company of Muncie, Indiana had purchased Greenfield. Thereafter, BALL PERFECT MASON embossed, bead seal jars began to be produced by employees from that concern.2 In addition to this trend, records show John Schies submitted an application on August 23rd, 1909 to patent a jar closure that had an interior and exterior sealing means. On the jar’s exterior, a rubber ring rested on an annular ledge or bead at the base of the thread. The drawing below, taken from Mr. Schies’ request, clearly shows the bead feature. The arrow points at it. This patent was the first one I could find that used a bead on a threaded jar to at least help seal the contents.
Mr. Schies’ submission was approved on November 30th, 1909.3 Later, an undated promotion from the Pennsylvania Glass Company of Anderson, Indiana showed a jar with a finish made to the above patent. The Standard Fruit Jar Reference stated this bead seal container (embossed Mason with a looped underscore) was made in the decade of the 1910s.4 As I’ve shown both glass company marketing pamphlets and patent records indicate the bead seal started to come into prominence during 1909. In succeeding years, several glass makers began to put this innovation on their fruit jars. Now let’s look at what was happening at the Anchor Glass Company during the same periods. Could workers in its factory have been making the ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) marked jars with this closure before their compatriots at Greenfield, Ball or Pennsylvania? If so, then Anchor Glass hands pioneered the introduction of the bead sealing concept throughout the fruit jar industry.
1908 - Anchor Glass in Receivership The last half-year in 1908 was not a kind one for Anchor Glass Company management or plant workers. Under Westmoreland County Court receivership since April 1908, two separate receivers could not make Anchor profitable. The Company’s factory operated on a sporadic basis between May and December according to Commoner and Glassworker, the Greensburg Daily Tribune and other reports. By late December, the second receiver had had enough. They decided to close the Anchor factory for good and sell the firm. The plant was closed on New Year’s Eve 1908.5 1909 - L. E. Smith Buys Closed Anchor Works The New Year didn’t change things for Anchor’s receiver. The works sat idle for all of 1909 until it was sold to L. E. Smith on October 30th. In the purchase, Mr. Smith was representing his firm, the L. E. Smith Glass Company of Jeannette, Pennsylvania. After the sale, the former Anchor Glass plant was reopened under L. E. Smith auspices in late January 1910.6 Did Anchor Glass Hands Make the ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) Bead Seal Jar? The possibility exists this container could have been manufactured in 1908 by Anchor factory employees. However, the likelihood of that occurring was remote at best. If this jar was turned out, it was done without any fanfare or notice that another sealing technique was being débuted. Also, it would have been before officials at the Greenfield Fruit Jar & Bottle Company advertised containers with this feature or John Schies had thought to patent the concept. Considering all of the other problems Anchor Glass officials were having during 1908, the introduction of something new in either a line of fruit or packer’s ware wouldn’t have been a sound move. If jars were produced at all during this year, the shoulder seal model would be my choice for the style that was made.
62 As employees for Greenfield began making fruit jars with a bead seal in1909, Anchor workers were leaving the Company in the first quarter for jobs elsewhere. Court records and newspaper coverage didn’t indicate that any glass making operations occurred in 1909 at the Anchor plant before it was sold. Based on these facts, I’m forced to conclude bead seal jars were not made by hands at the Anchor Glass Company when the firm was in business between May 1907 and December 1908. If not Anchor Glass, Who Made the ANCHOR Bead Seal Jars? I think workers for the L. E. Smith Glass Company, the successor to Anchor Glass, could have produced these jars. My thought was developed from several pieces of factual information and other circumstantial data. These certainly imply L. E. Smith was the manufacturer but don’t conclusively prove this firm was the producer. Glass Factory Directories The natural place to start to see if the L. E. Smith Glass Company made the ANCHOR bead seal, fruit or packing vessel would be in the Glass Factory Directories for the early years of the firm’s presence in Mount Pleasant Township. Unfortunately, these were of marginal help for my cause. The 1910 through 1914 Directories stated L. E. Smith manufactured only novelties in flint glass (AL). Separate listings for 1915 showed the same firm making novelties in clear glass along with vault lights and machine made bottles and jars (AL7X).7 Other than 1915, the Directory entries didn’t carry any mention of fruit or packer jars being turned out by Company workers. Since the information on what the concern was making came from L. E. Smith officers, one would think they would have provided a comprehensive input. But it seems they didn’t for some reason. Newspaper Article Contradicts Glass Factory Directories To the contrary, I have received information from Dick Wible of Rector, Pennsylvania that shows the L. E. Smith Glass Company probably did manufacture fruit jars during the first years the firm was operational on the Duncan Plan of Lots. Mr. Wible’s grandfather was Charles M. Wible, one of the original shareholders in the L. E. Smith Glass Company of Jeannette. From family records, he provided a 1969 newspaper article about
Summer 2005 L. E. (Lewis or Louis) Smith.8 In the column, the reporter wrote, “Surprisingly enough, old-timers around Mt. Pleasant will tell you, Lew turned out to be a good glass man. He started out making fruit jars for home canning, and did better than meet expenses. “9 When L. E. Smith purchased the Anchor plant in October 1909, “…everything in the factory including machinery and implements of all kinds were included in the sale.”10 If the Pittsburgh newspaper article was accurate and L. E. Smith did make fruit jars, he had to get the fruit jar molds from somewhere. Anchor would have been the most logical and ready source. I don’t know if this occurred as a result of the sale. On the other hand, I don’t know it didn’t happen either. The Pittsburgh Press article also indicated that after Mr. Smith left the Company in 1911, Charles Wible reorganized the concern and continued to make fruit jars among other products for some years. This would mean these containers could have been made from about 1910 until 1914 or beyond. Other Information Contradicts the Glass Factory Directories The December 4 th, 1909 edition of Commoner and Glassworker carried the following. “The L. E. Smith Glass Co., having acquired the concern formerly owned by the Anchor Glass Co., are making arrangements to commence operations at Mt. Pleasant, Pa. about the middle of January. Mr. Smith was in New York this week in the interest of his concern. The plant will likely be devoted to making mustards, olives, jars and other similar lines, including some souvenir ware. A mustard manufacturing department is being annexed.” About a month and a half later, a reporter for Crockery and Glass Journal wrote, “Machine-made salt and pepper shakers are being made a specialty by the L. E. Smith Glass Co., Mt. Pleasant, Pa., the line being shown by C. W. {sic - M.} Wible at the Seventh Avenue hotel. Sodas, tumblers and packers’ goods are other productions of this concern.” 11 In January 1912, a columnist for Crockery and Glass Journal penned the below account.
Bottles and Extras “It’s reported that L. E. Smith has withdrawn from the management of the L. E. Smith Glass Co., at Mt. Pleasant, Pa., and that he has located in Chicago with a number of lines as manufacturers’ representative. The Weible {sic – Wible} Brothers now have the active management of this plant. Specialties are made for the packers’ trade, together a line of souvenir goods. The firm was formerly in the decorating business at Jeannette, Pa., and removed to Mt. Pleasant over a year ago.”12 Ten days later the same weekly carried the next entry. “Smith Glass Co., Mt. Pleasant, Pa. – represented by Swaney Hall. A small line of glass specialties for the general trade and a number of new items for special trade purposes are displayed. Packers’ goods are also made by this concern.” 13 As these reports substantiate, hands in the Duncan Plan factory for the L. E. Smith Glass Company were making more than just flint glass novelties during the initial three years that the organization was operating a Mount Pleasant Township plant. Although there was no mention of fruit jars, there was mention of packer’s ware being turned out. More Information About ten years ago, on one wall of the outlet store for the L. E. Smith Glass Company in Mount Pleasant, there was a picture of an early football team from that firm. The photograph was dated 1911. See a copy below.14
I didn’t think much about this item until I later ran across comments in The Mount Pleasant Journal about a football team, known as the Anchors, playing games in October 1913. For some reason, the name Anchors and the photograph from 1911 reentered my mind. When I looked closely at the football and jerseys of the players in the picture, there was an anchor on the football and a slanting emblem of the same design on the player’s jerseys.
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The above resized extracts from the L. E. Smith picture seem to indicate that the nickname of this organization’s football team in 1911 had something to do with an anchor. Well, what does this association have to do with the ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) bead seal version of a fruit or packing jar? If my sleuthing is accurate, the name ANCHOR was affiliated with the L. E. Smith Glass Company for several years after the demise of the Anchor Glass Company. Perhaps, a reason for this was that one or more products with that name were being made by workers in the Smith factory. This would be one explanation; albeit hypothetical, for the use of an anchor logo on the football and uniforms of the L. E. Smith team during the 1911 era. In addition to this iffy correlation of data, I’ve located two subsequent reports which seem to validate the 1969 Pittsburgh Press account. At the very least, these fragments show L. E. Smith Glass was capable of making fruit jars.In 1916 and 1917, the Commonwealth produced two descriptive reviews of industrial development within Pennsylvania. Each document stated the Borough of Mount Pleasant had large tableware, glass and fruit jar plants.15 The tableware firm was undoubtedly Bryce Brothers Company. This leaves only the L. E. Smith Glass Company as the one having a glass and fruit jar plant. Besides the picture, newspaper account and Commonwealth documents, I’ve come across another clue as to when the threaded, bead seal packing jars, the ones embossed with ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) on the front, were being used. To no surprise, it wasn’t while the Anchor Glass Company was operating! The tip-off came to me via Frank Sternad of Fulton, California. His information concerned the wording for food labels which resulted from the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906. Section 9 from the above legislation established provisions for a manufacturer’s guarantee. It read in part as follows,
Summer 2005 “That no dealer shall be prosecuted under the provisions of this Act when he can establish a guaranty signed by the wholesaler, jobber, manufacturer, or other party residing in the United States, from whom he purchases such articles, to the effect that the same is not adulterated or misbranded within the meaning of this Act, designating it…”16 According to Mr. Sternad, the implementing instructions for Section 9 stipulated that “…a general guaranty could be filed with the Secretary of Agriculture by the manufacturer and be assigned a serial number. The serial number was to appear on each and every package of goods sold under the guaranty along with the words, ‘Guaranteed under the Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906.’” The phrase requirement became effective on January 1st, 1907.17 Subsequently, the above direction was amended by Food Inspection Decision (FID) 99 on December 8th, 1908. The new guidance became effective on January 1st, 1909. It provided “A general guaranty may be filed with the Secretary of Agriculture by the manufacturer or dealer and be given a serial number, which number shall appear on each and every package of goods sold under such guaranty with the words ‘Guaranteed by (insert name of guarantor) under the Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906.’”18 Once again, the 1909 directive was modified by FID 153 issued in early May 1914. This change read as follows. “…The guaranty legend “Guaranteed by ____, under the Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906,’ or any similar guaranty legend, should not by used on products packed or labeled on or after May 1, 1916. On or after November 1, 1916, no such guaranty legend should appear on any article of food or drugs while in the channels of commerce described in the Federal Food and Drugs Act…” This regulation was supplement by FID 155 on May 29th, 1914. It read “…The last-mention decision (155) postpones the effective date of the new regulation until May 1, 1916, except that, as to goods packed and labeled prior to May 1, 1916, in accordance with law and with the regulations in force prior to May 5, 1914, it further postpones the effective date of the regulation until November 1, 1916…”
63 Curiously, FID 153 also stated, “…No objection, however, would be made by this department to a statement, if true, that the guarantor himself guarantees the contents of the package to be pure, wholesome, or free from adulteration; nor, in the opinion of the department, would it constitute a violation of the regulation if it were stated, in substance, that the article is warranted by the manufacturer, or other designated person, to comply with the requirements of all State laws, or of the laws of certain named States.”19 I used these regulations to date two labeled, ANCHOR embossed containers. Ironically, both of the jars held cocoa. One carried a label from the Hooton Cocoa Company of Newark, New Jersey.20 The other came from The Holbrook Marshall Company of Nashua, New Hampshire. The former had the following wording on the paper promotion “Guaranteed by Hooton Cocoa Co., Newark, N. J. Under Food and Drugs Act June 30, 1906, Serial No. 151.” Per the prior information, this style of verbiage was required to be on a food label for an item packaged or labeled between January 1st, 1909 and May 1st, 1916. After November 1st, 1916, it wasn’t to appear anywhere on the label. The latter jar is from my collection and can be seen below. Its label carried the following guaranty “Guarantee The contents of this can is {sic - are} absolutely pure cocoa with the excess of oil extracted by mechanical
64 means only. The manufacturers warrant it to be packed in compliance with the Pure Food Law of all the states.” While not in strict compliance with the wording required by FID 153, this style of verbiage did meet the overall directive’s objective. The empirical data from the two labeled ANCHOR jars indicates these containers were filled with cocoa and/or labeled between January 1 st, 1909 and November 1st, 1916. The full time span was possible for the first jar. However, the swath of time was reduced for the second container to between May 1914 and November 1916. Regardless of the period, neither one of these containers were filled while the Anchor Glass Company was in business. Also, it is extremely likely they were manufactured at some distant point after January 1909 but before November 1916. Again, this period was outside of the window of opportunity for any involvement by employees from the Anchor Glass Company. However, this span of time puts these bead seal jars well within the period when hands at the L. E. Smith Glass Company were said to be making fruit jars and packer’s ware. Equipment Did L. E. Smith Glass have the requisite machinery to manufacture either fruit or packing jars during the 1910 to 1915 timeframe? The answer is yes. While in operation, the former Anchor Glass factory had at least four semiautomatic glass pressing and blowing machines installed.21 As we have seen when L. E. Smith purchased the idle works on the next to the last day in October 1909, all of the machinery in the plant came along with the sale. Subsequent accounts in glass trade periodicals or newspapers mentioned machines being used to produce glass items in the Smith factory. For example, reports appeared in the January 20 th , 1910 edition of Crockery and Glass Journal; the February 19 th , 1910 version of Commoner and Glassworker and the April 9th, 1913 copy of The Mount Pleasant Journal. In addition, other notices contained references to packer’s ware being made by Company employees up to 1915. These items along with novelties were undoubtedly being blown on the same semiautomatic machines.
Summer 2005 What We Know So Far The Pittsburgh tabloid column which stated fruit jars were made at the L. E. Smith Glass Company’s plant; glass trade journal accounts mentioning packer’s ware being manufactured in the same works; a Company football team with anchor insignias; label wording from the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906 and the availability of glass pressing and blowing machines in the Smith works all create the impression that some kind of Anchor product could have been turned out by hands at Smith Glass from 1910 to about 1915 or longer. Since the ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) threaded, bead seal jars were probably product containers that could function also as a fruit jar, these vessels may have been one of the items made under the rubric of “packer’s ware” at the L. E. Smith Glass Company. Speculative, yes but the attractiveness of my conjecture is too good to ignore. Smith Moves On I’d like to close out my speculation with another fact. Below, I’ve reproduced the top of a letterhead from L. E. Smith that was hand dated February 2nd, 1917 on the rear side.22
You will notice fruit jars or packer’s ware were not listed among its product lines. Perhaps, L. E. Smith Glass Company only made fruit and/or packing jars from 1910 to 1916 and then stopped for one reason or another. The above extract infers none of these containers were still being made at this point in time. But once again, were these being turned out and company officials not mentioning them? Who knows for sure. Did Ball Make the ANCHOR Bead Seal Jars? There is one style of ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) embossed, bead seal jar with an unthreaded vice threaded finish. Dick Roller first reported this example in the December 1988 edition of his Fruit Jar Newsletter. In the article entitled - A Very Special ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT. Jar - Mr. Roller posed
Bottles and Extras the following questions: “…What is this supposedly Pennsylvania-made jar doing with a Ball packer finish? Was the jar made for the Anchor Glass Co. by Ball? Or was it made by the Anchor Glass Co., using a 1902 E. B. Ball semi-automatic machine purchased from Ball?” Mr. Roller’s musings were turned into a statement of fact in Red Book No. 9. Under number 85-3 in that document, the below comment was appended. “…Circa: 1902 Made on E. B. Ball machine; BALL MADE”23 The implication I’ve drawn from the Red Book extract is that this jar was made by the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company around 1902. By association, the other ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) threaded, bead seal containers would be lumped into the same maker’s bin and timeframe of manufacture. Mr. Roller had unprecedented access to Ball company records. In none of his reviews of their files did he find any reference to Ball making ANCHOR embossed jars. Likewise during my detective work concerning the ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) bead seal containers, I uncovered no evidence to support any Ball Brothers involvement. Quite the opposite was found. It seems these vessels were made after 1909 most likely between that date and November 1916. The maker remains uncertain; however, a possible candidate is the L. E. Smith Glass Company. Summation The question I posed in the title of this article remains partially unanswered. Maybe we will never get an acceptable answer. Nevertheless, I have crafted a theory about where the ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) embossed, bead seal jars were made. I’m firmly convinced hands from the Anchor Glass Company didn’t make them. But if L. E. Smith did, empirical vice circumstantial confirmation of that fact awaits discovery. I’d enjoy a further discussion of my postulation. If you have information to share or just want to talk about the issue in more detail, please don’t hesitate to contact me. BLB Endnotes 1 The Fruit Jar Works Volume II, Alice Creswick, copyright by Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr., P.O. Box 5417, North
Bottles and Extras Muskegon, Michigan, 1995, page 5 and The Standard Fruit Jar Reference, Dick Roller, Acorn Press, Paris, Illinois, 1983, page 46. The following magazine article also stated the ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) embossed jars were made at the Anchor Glass Company between 1907 and 1909. The Label Space, Tom Caniff, Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, May 2002, page 46. For the sake of accuracy, the Anchor Glass Company was actually located in Mount Pleasant Township adjacent to the Borough of Mount Pleasant. 2 The Standard Fruit Jar Reference, Dick Roller, Acorn Press, Paris, Illinois, 1983, pages 47 and 71-72. 3 Fruit Jar Patents Volume III 1900-1942, Dick Roller, Phoenix Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1996, pages 276-278. 4 Fruit Jar News Clearing House, Dick Roller, Old Bottle Magazine, July 1975, page 37 and The Standard Fruit Jar Reference, Dick Roller, Acorn Press, Paris, Illinois, 1983, page 209. John Schies - King of the Packer Patents, Tom Caniff, The Guide To Collecting Fruit Jars Fruit Jar Annual , Volume 7 - 2002, Jerome J. McCann, 5003 W. Berwyn Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, pages 20-21. This article also mentions the Mason with looped underscore marked jar. 5 Westmoreland County Equity Book, Volume 4, Equity 647, pages 93, 95, 331 and 313; Greensburg Daily Tribune, April 17, 1908; Ibid, May 4, 1908; Ibid, August 8, 1908; Ibid, October 16, 1908; Ibid, December 29, 1908 and Ibid, January 1, 1909; Crockery and Glass Journal, May 7, 1908, page 21; China, Glass and Lamps, May 9, 1908, page 7; Commoner and Glassworker, May 9, 1908, page 4; Ibid, June 25, 1908, page 4 and Ibid, December 12, 1908; The Mount Pleasant Journal, August 13, 1908; Ibid, September 3, 1908; Ibid, October 29, 1908 and Ibid, December 30, 1908; The Scottdale Independent, December 24, 1908 and National Glass Budget, December 26, 1908, page 1. 6 Greensburg Daily Tribune, April 15, 1908; Ibid, December 21, 1908, Ibid, January 1, 1909; Ibid, November 1, 1909 and Ibid, February 12, 1910; The Mount Pleasant Journal, January 20, 1910 and The Anchor Glass Company, A Southwestern Pennsylvania Corporation, Barry L. Bernas, 239 Ridge Avenue, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 2003, pages 5171. 7 1910 American Glass Trade Directory, Commoner Publishing Company, Box 555, Pittsburg, Pa., page 25; American Glass Trade Directory 1911, Commoner Publishing Company, Pittsburg, Pa., page 25; American Glass Trade Directory 1912, Commoner Publishing Company, Pittsburg,
Summer 2005 Pa., page 25; American Glass Trade Directory 1913, Commoner Publishing Company, Pittsburg, Pa., page 25; American Glass Trade Directory 1914, Commoner Publishing Company, Pittsburg, Pa., page 25; American Glass Trade Directory 1915, Commoner Publishing Company, Pittsburg, Pa., page 25 and Glass Factory Directory, compiled by National Glass Budget, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1915, page 20. 8 In glass trade journals, Mr. Smith’s first name was usually listed as Louis. However, in the same publications and other accounts I’ve run across, it spelled as Lewis. I presume Louis vice Lewis was his correct given name. 9 The Man Who Cooked With Glass, George Sweetness, The Pittsburgh Press, February 2, 1969, page 8. 10 Greensburg Daily Tribune, November 1, 1909 and The Jeannette Dispatch, November 4, 1909. 11 Crockery and Glass Journal, January 20, 1910. 12 Crockery and Glass Journal, January 4, 1912, page 23. 13 Crockery and Glass Journal, January 14, 1912, page 14. 14 A copy of the photograph was provided by an employee of L. E. Smith in response my request. 15 Historical, Industrial, Commercial and Agricultural Review of Pennsylvania, George F. Cram Company, 107-119 North Market Street, Chicago, Illinois and 130 Fulton Street, New York, New York, 1916,
65 page 135. The same publication was republished in 1917. It contained the same reference to a fruit jar plant in Mount Pleasant. 16 United States Statutes at Large, 59th Congress, Session I, Chapter 3915, pages 768-772. 17 THE FOOD AND DRUGS ACT GUARANTY, Frank A. Sternad, 2005. The reference for the quotation came from the United States Department of Agriculture, Circular #21, US Serials, 59th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Document 252, page 10. 18 American Pure Food and Drug Laws, James Westervelt, M. A., Vernon Law Book Company, Kansas City, Missouri, 1912, page 34. 19 Dunn’s Food and Drug Laws, Federal and State (Annotated), Charles Wesley Dunn, M. A. Volume 1, United States Corporation Company, 150 Broadway, New York, 1927-28, page 108. 20 The Label Space, Tom Caniff, Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, May 2002, page 46. 21 The Anchor Glass Company, A Southwestern Pennsylvania Corporation, Barry L. Bernas, 239 Ridge Avenue, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 2003, page 38. 22 This piece of ephemeron was given to me by Dick Wible of Rector, Pennsylvania. 23 The Collector’s Guide to Old FRUIT JARS, By Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr., P. O.. Box 5417 North Muskegon, MI 49445, page 10. The number 85-3 was the entry for the ANCHOR MASON’S PATENT (dot) unthreaded finish jar.
2004 Awards Show Poster Contest: 1st Place: Southeast Bottle Club 2nd Place: Potomac Bottle Collectors 3rd Place: Northwestern Bottle Collectors Association Richmond Area Bottle Collectors Association Authors Contests: Best Original True Story 1st Place: Andy Goldfrank – “The Rookie” 2nd Place: Howard Dean — “Poland Springs” 3rd Place: Ned Clarke — “Now That Was A Great Night” Authors Contest: Best Researched Article 1st Place: John P. Eiss — “The History of Brewing in Tonawanda, New York” 2nd Place: Jack Sullivan — “Sherwood Brothers and Those High Class Bottles” 3rd Place: Joe Terry — “Do Re Mi Fa So Zo-Ro-Lo” Newsletter Contest: 1st Place: “The Potomac Pontil” - Jim Sears, Editor The Potomac Bottle Collectors 2nd Place: “The Ohio Swirl” - Don & Betsy Yates, Editors & Terri Grove, Editor The Ohio Bottle Club 3rd Place: “Bottle Talk” - David Tingen, Editor Raleigh Bottle Club Special Editorial Staff Award: Dottie Daugherty, Editor, “The Punkin Seed” Las Vegas Antique Bottle & Collectibles Club Elmer Lester Award: Most Active Club: Mohawk Valley Antique Bottle Club President’s Award: Bill Baab and Kathy Hopson-Sathe
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Let’s Talk About Ink with Ed & Lucy Faulkner Ephemera, Labeled Inks and More... I started this article twice and nothing was working, so I put it aside and we headed for the Mansfield Bottle Show. The show and the trip home provided the inspiration for this article. (Another good reason to go to bottle shows!) Finding old ink ads, trade cards, and letterheads is hard. Most are sold as soon as they come on the market. But one dealer at the 2005 Mansfield show had some ink company letterheads he was selling. These letterheads often provide information on companies when no other information is available. The first one [Figure 1] is from the Stafford Company. Other than one paragraph in the book, FORTY CENTURIES OF INK, I haven’t found any other information on Stafford. But the letterhead to the right shows the date of establishment, 1858, address in 1883, and a list of products which includes Stickwell Glue. These bottles are common, but I had never connected them to Stafford until finding a Stafford letterhead. Also note that this one was a receipt for a demijohn of Stickwell glue. It hadn’t occurred to me that glue was sold in demijohns until I saw this. The second letterhead (or billhead) [Figure 2] is from Law’s Bluing and Superior Ink Company. A lot of ink companies made bluing, and a lot of bluing companies advertised using their bluing full strength for ink. (For you young people reading this, bluing was added to the rinse water when washing white clothes. Old cotton turned yellow or dull with repeated washings. Blue is on the opposite end of the color wheel from yellow and adding blue to the water gave the appearance of a whiter color to the clothes.) This was probably a cheap ink for many people to use. On the same note, many dye companies, such as Diamond Dye, advertised the use of their dye as ink for school children. One ten cent package made a pint of ink. The third letterhead [Figure 3] I did not get at Mansfield, but am including it because of a question a club member asked at our last meeting. He wondered if Bixby actually made ink, as most bottles he had seen were for blacking or shoe polish. This billhead not only shows ink as a product, but also shows they had a warehouse in Cincinnati in 1879. Their labels show New York as the main address. Pictured [Figure 4] is an umbrella ink with Bixby label. We had not intended to go to the Mansfield auction (held after a wonderful meal, free to dealers and early admissions), but decided to just check out the items in case something of interest to us might be there. A Carter’s bottle listed as “Carter’s Ink with label” turned out to be for Carter Bros. & Co. This name dates the bottle to the period of 1867-1872, according to Carter Company history. Also listed was the address for the Boston company as well as J. P.
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Dinsmore’s address in New York. Most early Carter’s labels just show Boston and New York. This had 27 Milk St., Boston Figure 9 for Carter’s, an address previously unknown to us, and 36 Dey St., New York for Dinsmore. But it gets more interesting. Deciding to take a long way home, we went to Gettysburg and New Oxford, Pennsylvania, to visit the antique malls there. I always check out old almanacs and magazines for ads, and imagine my surprise when I opened one and there was an ad for Carter Bros. & Co. at the Milk Street address. The magazine was from February 6, 1869. So we determined that they were at this address sometime before then. Pictured here is the bottle, a green pint, vertically embossed with pour spout. Also pictured is the ad we found. [Figures 5 and 6] As of this writing, we can find no reference to this address in Carter literature, so possibly it was an office address. The label is similar to later ones except for the version of the Carter name and address. In New Oxford we found an ad by the Stephens Company of London, advertising its ink for shipment to the US. This ad is from 1847. [Figure 7] There are many bottles found, in both pottery and glass, with the Stephens name. Stephens and Arnold’s Ink companies both had a large share of the US market in the mid19th century. Next [Figure 8] is a bottle with a label, found in Gettysburg, that has nothing to do with ink. It is included, not only because it is interesting, but for informational purposes. In auctions, ebay, and at shows, a pottery bottle with pour spout is nearly always identified as “probably an ink bottle”. This is not always true. This large 10 3/4” bottle with pour spout and a Bourne & Denby Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
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Figure 4
< Figure 6 ^
pottery mark, has a label for a product that cleans the scarlet hunting coats of the English fox hunters. On the sides are testimonials from individuals who say it is wonderful for cleaning the coats when they fall from their horses into the mud. Who would have thought a product just for fox hunters would have been created and found a niche in the market place. One testimonial is from 1888, the other 1910, so this dates the bottle to the early 20th century. Lastly, a note about some bottles we had wondered about for years. There are a number of small bottles embossed with only A & F. No one seemed to know for sure what A & F stood for. We found two with an exact patent date which we looked up. These A & F bottles were for the Adams and Fay Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The small bottle pictured here was designed not to need a label and it was used for both glue and ink.[Figures 9 and 10] Adams and Fay also secured a trademark for Young America School Ink in 1872, so it seems they patented their bottles to be unique to their ink company. Many bottle collectors don’t seek out information relating to their area of interest, but these labels and other scraps of paper illustrate what interesting bits of history are available if you look carefully. Information on companies can be helpful in determining if a bottle is a replica or has an incorrect label. Another benefit is that ephemera is often inexpensive or free from internet sites such as the patent office. Some ephemera can be framed and mounted on the wall next to your bottles, an attractive addition to your display.
Figure 5
Fig. 8
References: Boston Farmer’s Almanac, 1847 (Stephen’s) Littell’s Living Age, Feb. 6, 1869 (Carter Bros. & Co.) US Patent Office (A & F)
^ Figure 7 Figure 10
Ed & Lucy Faulkner Ink Bottle Collectors (& glass works bottles) http://home.comcast.net/~edandlucy1/
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NA ZO I AR
GRAND CANYON GLASS By Michael Miller
ARIZONA'S BEST - PART FOUR
The New Year has just begun but there has already been a very exciting find in the realm of Arizona bottles that has prompted me to take some time away from the other projects in my life to finish the final segment of Arizona’s Best. On the 3rd of January I received an email from Karl Harrar who has been doing some digging in Prescott. Much to my surprise this gentleman, who six months earlier had just begun in the hobby, had found the first undamaged example of the only Arizona pumpkinseed flask. It now seems quite ironic that I had jokingly told him, when I had learned of his intentions to dig Prescott, to go out and find us a couple of Thorne’s Palace bottles. Call it beginner’s luck or perhaps the deserved result of his hard work, but all I can say is “way to go.” Since this find has gotten my blood pumping again, it is only right that I should address the area of Arizona whiskey bottles and stoneware. Now you may say, “Hey, this is supposed to be the top ten Arizona Whiskey bottles,” like the other “best of” articles, but to tell the truth we don’t have that many, so humor me.
Whiskey Bottles and Stoneware Through the years, we have all seen the reoccurring scenes of the old west saloon with its bottles of rot gut whiskey. Though it may be true that the Arizona territory was ripe with dance halls and saloons, it seems that very few of them took the time or expense to emboss their names on to bottles. To date only five different bottles have surfaced, and all but one of these are very rare. More obtainable than the bottles, though still very scarce and desirable, are the stoneware jugs, which various saloons, liquor dealers and groceries supplied and come in sizes ranging from mini jugs to three-gallon. 1. JULES BOURBON JULIUS GOLDBAUM, INC. TUCSON A.T. - Julius Goldbaum opened his liquor distributing business in the city of Tucson in 1887. Located at 182 W. Congress, the business
soon became the largest of its kind in the city. Goldbaum continued in the liquor business until 1903, when he became part owner of the Tucson Grocery Co. By 1906 he had moved into real estate and purchased several large buildings in Tucson. The “Jules” backbar bottle is very rare with three known examples and is very attractive with its gold and white enameling and six stars. 2. MATLY WHISKEY FROM THORNES PALACE PRESCOTT, ARIZONA The Palace Saloon is located on the historic whiskey row in the town of Prescott. Once the territorial capitol of Arizona, Prescott perhaps best represented the picture of the old west that comes to mind in the world of Hollywood. Frequented by miners, soldiers, cowboys, railraoders, thieves and respectable businessmen the Prescott bars were a microcosm of the changing west.
Bottles and Extras Built in 1877 and operated under a different name, The Palace opened in 1882. That year, Daniel C. Thorne had purchased two adjacent buildings with the second becoming The Cabinet Chop House. The following year both buildings were damaged by a large fire. Re-opening soon after, Thorne continued as owner until 1891. The Palace continued as a saloon and was rebuilt after its complete destruction by fire in 1900. Only prohibition closed the saloon but The Palace later served as a restaurant and hotel. It exists to this day on Whiskey Row. As mentioned earlier, only three examples are known of this bottle and just one of those is undamaged. 3. OLD SOUR MASH A. HITTINGER TUCSON A.T. - Anton Hittinger opened his liquor business in 1881 at 326 Meyer Street. He later operated his store under the name Tucson Liquors, which it stayed until its closure in 1899. After the turn of the century, Hittinger is listed in Tucson directories as a capitalist and he died in 1921. The one of a kind Hittenger jug is one of only two known Arizona Territory marked jugs. 4. COMPLIMENTS OF TUSCON GROCERY CO. TUSCON ARI - Gust A. Hoff had worked previously in Tucson as a clerk for Seligman Co. and later operated a fruit supply business. In 1893 he opened the Tucson Grocery Co. at 43 E. Congress St. A decade later the company was moved to 1925 Stone Avenue and Hoff took Julius Goldbaum as a partner. Goldbaum had operated a successful liquor distributor business in Tucson and soon the company’s ads listed the business as “wholesale & retail dealers in groceries, liquors, cigars & tobaccos, delicatessen.” In 1906 Goldbaum left the business and Hoff continued alone until the company’s closure in 1908. These mini jugs are very rare and can be found with Tucson both spelled correctly and mispelled. 5. RETURN TO JOE GRIBBLE OLD CROW SALOON DOUGLAS A.T. - A very rare ground screw top flask with only three known examples, this flask has been found in both half-pint and pint sizes. All of these flasks were found in a single privy back in the 1970s. At this time, no information has been found on the Old Crow Saloon. We do know that Joe Gribble operated another saloon, called The White House, in Douglas in 1903. This saloon was located on 10th Street as was operated by Gribble until 1905. 6. VOGE’S WHOLSALE WINES & LIQUORS PRESCOTT A.T. - Herman Voge began in Prescott running an ice and cold storage company called Kleiner & Voge
Summer 2005 in 1895. Several years later Kleiner left the partnership and Voge continued under the name Voge Bottling Works selling beer to Prescott until the company’s closure in 1903. The following year Voge went into the wholesale liquor business. Naming the business simply “The Wholsale Liquor Company,” Voge solely ran the company until 1911. This one of a kind half-gallon jug is the only wire bail handled jug from Arizona. 7. JULIUS GOLDBAUM INC. TUCSON ARIZONA - Several examples of this clear brandy style bottle were found back in the seventies but were put away in a shed and left for re-discovery years later. The bottles were very sick in nature and since the shoulder seal area revealed no embossing, it was thought that these bottles were unembossed. Later while inspecting to determine whether the box of slicks contained anything worth keeping the owner noticed the embossing on the reverse side from the seal. Even though both examples were damaged it was rightfully determined that these bottles were keepers. Since that time a third mint specimen has surfaced in a local Tucson museum. 8. DIAMOND CROWN WHISKEY. NOTHING NEW BUT THE JUG THE W.A. WATTS CO PHOENIX ARIZ. or “DIAMOND CROWN” THE WHISKEY WITHOUT A HEADACHE THE W.A. WATTS CO. PHOENIX, ARIZ. - This mini jug can be found in two stenciling patterns with different mottoes. These are the only mini jugs from Phoenix and both variants are very rare. In 1898 the W.A. Watts Company opened at 110 W. Adams in the O’Neil Building. The following year H.W. Berryman was added as a partner but the company was short lived and by 1901 it had closed its doors. 9. THE F.G. McCOY CO INC. THE WELLINGTON SALOON PRESCOTT, ARIZ. - Located on S. Montezuma Street, The Wellington Saloon was opened in 1902 by J.E. & F.G. McCoy. By 1904 B.L. McCoy was added to the partnership which continued until late 1906. Though not listed from 19071911, F.G. McCoy resurfaced running a Prescott saloon in partnership with F.C. Whisman in 1912. These Olympia style flasks can be found in half-pint and pint sizes and are scarce (halfpint) to rare (pint). Even though these are the most common whiskey bottles from Arizona, they still rarely come up for sale and are highly prized by collectors of Arizona bottles and western flasks. 10. GOLDMAN & CO. PHOENIX, ARIZ. - Leo & Charles Goldman began
69 selling groceries, liquors and hardware in Phoenix in 1878. Located at 2-4 E. Washington Street, their store was one of the very first in what would become the state capitol of Arizona. In the 1890s the Goldman’s had expanded into the farm implement business. In 1895 they sold their liquor stock to Louis Melczer. The brothers continued with their other businesses and later changed store locations and added Eugene and Sydney Goldman as partners. In 1916 the business was split and the grocery concern was moved to 114-118 W. Adams. By 1918 the Melczer Brothers had begun taking over the grocery business. In 1923 Leo and Eugene Goldman closed their implement store and Leo Goldman became vice-president of the National Bank of Arizona. This one of a kind one-gallon jug is desirable for its uniqueness and its company’s place in early Arizona history. Well that’s the story on Arizona whiskey containers. For the bottle purest rest assured that I left no Arizona whiskey bottles off this list. For you jug collectors - if you want to know more, please feel free to contact me or buy the new updated Arizona book when I finish it. One last note: One unique Arizona bottle was left off of these listings. It is an extract bottle belonging to the Barkley - Berryman Mercantile Co. of Phoenix, A.T. Since this bottle was no easy fit with any of the categories discussed it was omitted, but would easily ranks as one of Arizona’s Best. Michael Miller 9214 W. Gary Road, Peoria, AZ 85345 (623) 486-3123 helgramike@earthlink.net
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Louisville Glass Factories of the 19th Century - Part 2 by David Whitten
This article continues a look at early Louisville glass factories; part one appeared in the Spring 2005 issue, pages 45-49. SITE No. 3: NS of Montgomery Street between 28th and 29th Streets (mistakenly listed as NS of High Street in one directory listing, also listed as "Montgomery at 4th Crossing" in some directories) Louisville Plate Glass Works (c.1874c.1888) This factory was started in 1874 by Captain John B. Ford, and was located in the Portland area of Louisville. In "The Roots Grow Deep" by William Earl Aiken (1957), a letterhead from the company is reproduced, with the name given as "Louisville Plate Glass Manufacturing Company". Be that as it may, the factory was known in most contemporary records as the "Louisville Plate Glass Works." The 1875 Louisville city directory lists John B. Ford as the company president, and the factory was referred to in some sources as "Ford's Glass Works." In 1875 Ford abruptly ceased his relationship with the company, and by 1880 the factory, or a majority of the interest, had been purchased by Washington C. DePauw who was already operating a glass factory in New Albany, Indiana at the time (W.C.DePauw's American Plate Glass Works). Julian Toulouse (Bottle Makers and their Marks) states that the firm name was "Louisville Kentucky Glass Works" and he
seemed to promote the idea that it was a relatively smooth continuation of the Louisville Glass Works which had ceased the year before. Not so... this was a different company, under different ownership, which did not make bottles. This misunderstanding has caused confusion for researchers who did not carefully check and cross-reference their sources of information. Although this factory was listed as the "Louisville Glass Works" in a few directory listings, that was merely a shortened, more "familiar" form of the official company name. LPGW did not make glassware such as bottles or jars, but instead concentrated on rough plate glass and mirrors. The rough plate glass produced in Louisville was then sent over to New Albany and polished at the DePauw plate glass works. In a newspaper article dated Saturday, Jan 31, 1880 (from the LOUISVILLE COMMERCIAL), the operation was apparently about to be sold (or more likely, leased) to French interests who were planning to bring over highly skilled workers from Europe to help revitalize the works. I did not find out what happened with this scenario, but W.C. DePauw was still involved in this factory as late as the mid1880s, and probably until it's closing. A survey of the surnames of employees show that the majority of the glassworkers at this factory were of English or French descent, in contrast to the bottle-making plants in Louisville in which case the majority of workers were of German heritage.
This ad appeared in the 1878 Carsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Louisville City Directory a few months after Southern Glass Company (dba Stanger & Co.) opened for business.
Bottles and Extras The plate glass works were often closed down for several months at a time. By approximately 1888, the factory had apparently failed, and on the 1892 Louisville Sanborn fire insurance map showing the site, a notation reads "Buildings Vacant- Machinery Removed". By 1905 (per the Sanborn map of that year), the factory had been completely demolished. The site where this factory once stood is now the location of Portland Park, a small neighborhood park which occupies most of one city block. SITE No. 4: NW Corner of 11th Street and Monroe (now Rowan) Streets. SOUTHERN GLASS COMPANY, dba "Stanger & Company" (1877-c.1879). SOUTHERN GLASS WORKS (c.1879c.1885) John Stanger, Sr. teamed up again with veteran glassblower Charles Doyle, (his sonin-law, who had married his daughter Rebecca in 1866) to start up a new firm doing business as "John Stanger & Company" (or just "Stanger & Company") in 1877. The factory name was referred to as either Southern Glass Company or Southern Glass Works, although the former name seemed to have been preferred in the first year or two of business. Others involved in the company were John Stanger, Jr, Joseph Husak, Frederick Rau, Patrick Daly, Charles Thomasson, Philip Zell, Conrad Opperman and Joseph Markel Stanger (also a son of John, Sr.). John Schaupp, Thomas F. Stanger, Daniel Powell, John Zell, Edward Koegler, George P. Hess, Henry Geisel, Isaac Delph, James Cunliffe, Charles Cannon, Michael Doyle, and John Rau were some of the glassblowers who were employed there at one time or another. Other workers included William Woerner (watchman), Peter Kasheimer (fireman), John Pfarr and William Woods (packers) and Jacob Court (potmaker). Incidentally, in 1888 glassblower John Rau was to become involved in the startup of the Fairmount Glass Works at Fairmount, Indiana, and later (at least by 1904), was president of that company with several of his sons involved in the operation as well. John Stanger held the position of superintendent of the window glass department of W.C. DePauw's "Star Glass Works" in New Albany, Indiana during the c.1871-1877 stretch and evidently decided to embark upon yet another venture, as a leading man, on the Louisville side of the Ohio River.
Bottles and Extras According to CROCKERY & GLASS JOURNAL, an early trade magazine of the glass manufacturing industry, in the August 23, 1877 issue, mention is made that the first bottle production was scheduled to start about ten days later (September 2, 1877). A brief newspaper ad first appeared for this company in the Louisville Courier Journal, dated Dec 2, 1877. An advertisement also appeared a few months later (in the 1878 city directory) which reads: "Southern Glass Company--Cor. Eleventh and Monroe Streets--Near the Canal--Louisville, KY. Our new company is now well established and in full operation. All orders for wine, ale, beer and mineral water bottles, and also for flasks for druggists, and fruit jars, will be promptly filled at lowest rates. We also keep on hand a large stock of the above named goods. Our goods can not be surpassed by those from other factories. We employ only the most competent workmen. Stanger & Co." Sometime in either 1879 or 1880, John Stanger, Sr, departed and T. H. Sherley & J. G. McCulloch then became proprietors
Summer 2005 of the works. J. L. (John Lewis) McCulloch was listed as bookkeeper, but his relationship to J.G. isn't clear at this time. (John Lewis McCulloch was to become partowner of the Marion Fruit Jar & Bottle Company of Marion, Indiana, in 1888). The period of about 1880 to 1883 seems to have been the most prosperous time for this company, with a large variety of bottles and jars being produced. Embossed identification marks used by Southern Glass Company on various articles (always found on the base) are: 1) SOU.G.W. (Wax sealer fruit jars) 2) SOU.G.WS. (Square pickle bottles) 3) S.G.W.LOU.KY (Wax sealer jars, medicines, pickles, cathedral peppersauces, cylinder whiskies, hutchinson sodas, many others) 4) S.G.Co. (Chemical bottles, wax sealers, ginger ovals, John J. Smith tonic bottles) 5) S.G.W. (Pumpkinseed flasks) All of the Southern Glass Company bottles I've encountered bear applied lips (that is, a ring of glass has been added in a second step to form the lip of the bottle, but with no further "tooling" evident which
71 would have otherwise smoothed over the clearly visible line of separation between the lip and the body of the bottle), and they usually show a rather crudely-made appearance more characteristic of the bottles of a somewhat earlier period of time (i.e. the Civil War era). They often contain very prominent bubbles as well as smaller seed and tear bubbles, and exhibit "drippy lips", swirl or "whittle" marks, faint amber wisps, and other irregularities so attractive to the antique bottle collector. Presumably the "S.G.Co." marking was used mostly in the first two years or so of operation, although it is likely that some of the bottle molds with that marking were used into later years until they wore out. The S.G.CO. marking was also used by at least two or three other glass companies, including the Scranton Glass Company, Scranton, Pa., and Southern Glass Company of Los Angeles, Calif. (1916-1931). Swayzee Glass Company of Swayzee, Ind. used an "S.G.CO." but always in the form of a monogram which appears only on fruit jars. In the case of the Louisville-made bottles, I suggest that if a bottle or jar seen with this mark is handblown with a true applied lip, is crudely made, aqua, is basemarked, and found primarily in the
From L to R: 1. Example of a generic bluing, or “ginger oval,” bottle, made by many glass factories of the period. This one is marked “S.G..W.LOU.KY.” 2. Plain square “American Pickle” bottle made by Southern Glass Works. These have been found in four sizes, raning from 7 inches to 11 1/2 inches in height. An “F.C.G.CO.” marked pickle bottle is known which is 13 1/2 inches tall. 3. Aqua pumpkinseed (“picnic”) flask with the marking “S.G.W.” on the base. 4. John J. Smith tonic bottle manufactured by Southern Glass. This is one of a great many variants known of this commonly found bottle. These bottles are also found marked “KY.G.W.CO.,” as well as key-mold versions believed to have been made by the Louisville Glass Works in the 1860s and ‘70s, not to mention the much earlier open- and iron-pontiled versions.
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Louisville and surrounding area of Kentucky and southern Indiana, it is likely a product of Southern Glass Works. Some notable bottles with the "S.G.W.LOU.KY" mark include a variant of the K C & CO hutch sodas (Klee, Coleman & Company, bottlers of mineral water with offices in Dayton, OH and Louisville, KY); Ameliorated Schiedam Holland Gin; S.S. Clarke's Diamond Family Tonic/R.H.Higgins & Co.; Brown, Thompson & Company whiskey; and Thos.A. Hurley's Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla. The Southern Glass Works was certainly not in operation for at least part of the time during the years 1884 and 1885. No individual employee listings were found for glassblowers employed by Southern in the city directories from those two years, although the company itself was still listed in the business section. All glassblowers employed by Southern in 1883 are listed as employed elsewhere in ‘84 and ‘85 so I assume that the factory was not actually in operation for all or much of the time during the period, or at least during the period of
time when the data for the city directories was being collected. According to 1884 city directory listings, some of the SGW employees were listed as then working at the Falls City Glass Company, and I feel this serves as strong evidence that the Southern Glass Works shut down operations at some undetermined point in time during 1884, and in fact may have continued to remain idle into the early months of 1885. In the spring of 1885 the factory re-opened for a short time under the name "Louisville Glass Works Company", as discussed below. Louisville Glass Works Company (c. April 1885-January 1886) A listing for the "Louisville Glass Works Company" appears in the 1886 Louisville city directory. This company was a reopening of the Southern Glass Works factory location at 11th and Monroe streets, with a new---and confusingly similar---firm name. Joseph M. (Markel) Stanger, son of John Stanger, Sr., was listed as the superintendent, and a number of the
employees of the Southern Glass Works operation were employed there as well. The operation evidently was quite unsuccessful and in January of 1886 an item appeared in the COURIER JOURNAL stating that two employees, George Coleman & John Flynn, both glassblowers, were suing the defunct company in Common Pleas court for wages due them which they had not received. No marked bottles or jars are known as far as I am aware, but there is a good likelihood they continued to use some of the old molds with the Southern Glass markings on them. One reference (Edelen) states that they produced bottles with an "LGWC" entertwined logo, but I know of no evidence to show there is any truth in that statement and I suspect that to be a non-existent mark. The Sanborn fire insurance maps shows the glass factory was in "ruins" in 1892. By 1905 the Sanborn maps indicate the factory was no longer in existence and Illinois Central railroad tracks covered much of the site. The location of this factory is now (2004) a gravel parking lot used by the Kentucky Container Service, and the Interstate-64 highway passes overhead just a few feet to the north of the site. I would like to thank Hemingray Glass Co. researcher/historian Bob Stahr for generously sharing articles he found in early issues of the glass trade periodicals COMMONER & GLASSWORKER, NATIONAL GLASS BUDGET, and CHINA, GLASS & LAMPS. His assistance is very kindly appreciated. Part three, which will appear in the next issue, concludes the series. David Whitten may be contacted by E-mail: drw90459@iglou.com.
Southern Glass Works advertisement which appeared in the Jeffersonville, Indiana 1880 directory.
Left: Ribbed (or “fluted”) peppersauce bottle made by Southern Glass Works, probably circa 1878, marked “S.G.W.LOU.KY.” This is a classic shape often found in earlier pontiled versions from the 1850s-1870s. Right: Close-up showing the mark on the bottom of the bottle.
Section of Sanborn map showing the defunct Southern Glass Works site (1892).
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SMITH BROTHERSʼ
COUGH DROPS AS A PATENT MEDICINE Copyright © 2004
by Cecil Munsey Over 150 years ago, in the bustling river town of Poughkeepsie, New York, a carpenter named James Smith put down his hammer and saw and took to the stove – he opened a restaurant. Smith was a good carpenter but he was an even better cook. The Smith family had come to Poughkeepsie from their home in Scotland by way of a fifteen-year layover in St. Armand, Quebec, Canada. According to a recently found menu from the Smiths’ original restaurant, in 1946 the Smiths’ food business was celebrating its 99th year (1847-1946). The cough drop business all started one day in the late 1840s, when a roving peddler named Sly Hawkins swapped James Smith a cough candy recipe for a meal. Smith made his first batches of his new cough candy at home on the kitchen stove. The first batches were five pounds each. He began giving it away to his restaurant customers. It was well received and soon people were coming to James Smith’s restaurant specifically to get cough candy. And so it was that in 1847 while the American Medical Association was being created in Philadelphia, the patent medicine “Smith Brothers’ Cough Drops” was being created in Poughkeepsie. The business of selling cough drops was slow in growing. James was tied to his restaurant business and could not devote the needed time to promotion. James, however, had two sons – William and Andrew, the “Smith Brothers” [Figure 1]. Like almost all young men, these two boys had a need for spending money. Together they came up with an idea that was the foundation of a business that has produced, over the years, enough cough drops to ease the roughened throats of all the people in the world. Figure 1
William and Andrew had their father make up an extra batch of cough candy and then they waited patiently for the New YorkAlbany stagecoach to make its scheduled stop in Poughkeepsie. When it did, the boys, with great vigor, descended upon the passengers and sold them cough candy. This innovative merchandising technique not only had immediate but residual results. Just as restaurant customers came back for cough drops, stagecoach passengers began to send back for more cough drops. This latter development further inspired the Smith brothers and soon they were traveling up and down the Hudson Valley, peddling their cough candy and taking orders on wholesale lots. Their success encouraged them to venture into the Catskill Mountains area. Here again their efforts met with success. From the kitchen stove at home, the Smiths moved the cough candy manufacturing business to a furnace in the basement of the restaurant. Business continued to grow. They then started a factory on Church Street that could produce six tons of candy a day. James first advertised the candy in early 1852 in the local newspaper as James Smith & Sons Compound of Wild Cherry Cough Candy “for the Cure of Coughs, Colds, Hoarseness, Sore Throat, Whooping Cough, Asthma, etc. etc.” In December of 1852 young William, the
73 older of the two brothers, ran another newspaper advertisement under his own name [Figure 2] in which he told the world that the “Cough Candy” was sold wholesale and retail at 23 Market Street. From this early advertising, the Smiths learned what so many other proprietary medicine men of the period already knew – it pays to advertise! Years later the brothers credited their success to “Continuous advertising, small space, plenty of insertions, simple copy…” From those first ads it can be noted that the Smiths promoted their product as a “Cure” [for everything] instead of a “Specific [one thing].” It can also be noted that a doctor, E. Trivett, and the Van Valkenburgh & Cofin drugstore, were retailing the cough candy for the Smiths. William and Andrew took over the restaurant after their father’s death in 1866, devoting more and more of their attention to the cough candy. They converted a barn on the edge of town into the country’s first cough-drop factory. They expanded sales by offering the candies to other retailers, maintaining their own brand name by providing glass dispensing jars and paper envelopes clearly marked “Smith Brothers.” Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but this was small consolation to William and Andrew Smith in the late 1860s, when unscrupulous competitors tried to capitalize on the popularity of Smith Brothers Cough Candy (later to become “drops”) by bringing out similar medical confections with names like “Schmitt Brothers,” “Smyth Brothers,” and even “Smythe Sisters.” Clearly, something had to be done to Figure 2
74 distinguish the brothers’ red and their black aromatic product [black cough candy] from its many imitators. With this thought in mind, the Smiths registered their portraits as a trademark [Figure 3] and had their likenesses fixed to glass display jars [Figure 4] that were used to display their drops at general stores and apothecary shops. It is, indeed, a lucky collector who owns one of these historic relics. The jars, as can be seen in the illustration, are about 14 inches in height, bulbous-shaped with a pedestal base, capped with a nickel-plated cover, and featured an under-glass label with their trademark portraits; the ovalshaped label was bordered in gold. The envelope that contained drops sold from the display jars is shown as Figure 5. The most logical question at this point is: what happened to the hundreds of store jars with the beautiful under-glass labels used by the Smith brothers for the six years between 1866 and 1872? No doubt many were kept and used for other things and many were just discarded. But as is almost always the case, interested people kept a small number of jars. It is from this small group that occasionally a collector will have an opportunity to buy a specimen. [Warning: Because of the seemingly perpetual popularity of the Smith Brothers, “fantasy items” are offered on the current marketplace. For example, I have seen jars with screw lids (Figure 6) and even a glass marble (Figure 7) imprinted with “Smith Bros. Cough Drops.” These and other contemporary items are not authentic.] Despite the protective steps, the problem of counterfeit drops continued to plague the brothers. Any merchant who wished to pad his profits could do so simply by filling the “Smith Brothers jar” with a cheaper brand of cough drops and then passing the bogus lozenges off as the real thing. William and Andrew finally came up with a foolproof way to safeguard the integrity of their product in 1872, when they began selling Smith Brothers Cough Drops in prepackaged boxes [Figure 8]. This was the first time that cough drops were marketed in “factory-filled” packages. In fact, the brothers were among the earliest confection makers of any kind to box their product. Most other manufacturers of the day sold their candies loose from large counter jars. To further discourage counterfeits and substitutions, they molded the initials SB onto each drop. Figures 9 and 10 show two early packages. How those first boxes of cough drops
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were packaged is an interesting story in itself. As related by one historian: “Not only did the Smiths’ farsighted packaging thwart their imitative competitors, it also spawned a thriving cottage industry in the brothers’ hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York. Early every evening, a wagon loaded with five-gallon milk cans of cough drops left the Smith Brothers factory and traveled down a nearby street, depositing a can of drops and a supply of boxes at some thirty houses along the way. After dinner, the families who lived on what became known as “Cough Street” would sit at their kitchen tables and package the cough drops, sixteen pieces to the box.” Like the glass bowl displays it had replaced, the new cough drop box featured
Figure 5
Figure 4
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Figure 7
Figure 8: 1-cent Smith Bros. box.
Below: Figure 10: 1872 package for Smith Brothers’ Cough Drops.
Figure 9: Sample Smith Bros. box.
Figure 11 the distinctive trademark-portraits of the two brothers. By pure chance, the word Trade was printed under William’s likeness, and Mark appeared under Andrew’s. Although they probably grew tired of hearing Trade and Mark jokes, the brothers voiced no objections, especially since the ensuing notoriety was good for business.
Aided by their unintentionally humorous trademark on the novel “prefilled” package, William and Andrew sold cough drops at a prodigious rate. During the course of the brothers’ lifetimes, output increased from five pounds to roughly sixty tons of drops or one million packages a day. Sample advertising of the first two
75 decades of the 20th century is shown here as Figures 11, 12, 13, and 14. It was William (Trade) who was clearly the dominant brother. He controlled the company’s finances and had the biggest voice in major policy decisions. The depth of William’s frugality was legendary; to save paper, he kept the firm’s bookkeeping records on the backs of old envelopes. An ardent prohibitionist (he forbade the serving of ginger ale at the family restaurant because its name was suggestive of an alcoholic beverage), William believed that money led workers to drink and other evils, and so he dutifully kept wages at rockbottom levels. William did, however, give generously to charity. Among his benefactions to Poughkeepsie were YMCA and YWCA buildings, the Old Ladies Home, College Hill Park (called Cough Drop Park by townsfolk), and the local chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Encouraged by his WCTU dry supporters, William Smith entered politics, making unsuccessful bids for the state senate, governorship, and mayor’s office. Ironically, William Frank, a Poughkeepsie brewer, resoundingly beat the temperanceminded cough drop maker in the mayoralty race. Andrew (Mark) Smith did not share his brother’s prohibitionist views. A goodnatured bachelor, he was not averse to lifting an occasional glass at the local tavern. He differed from William in matters of money as well. Generous to a fault, the younger Smith brother was such a soft touch for any friend in need of a fast loan, that he became known in Poughkeepsie as “Easy Mark.” Andrew (Mark) died in 1895 and William (Trade), who saw the firm through the tough Pure Food and Drug legislation of 1906 by developing modified claims, died in 1913. Five generations of Smiths carried on this fantastically successful business which contains all the ingredients of the American dream – log cabin beginnings, first product made over kitchen stove, product sold from door to door, and then the slow ascent to great wealth and world influence. In 1915, the Smith family built a new factory with all the latest automatic machinery with a capacity of thirty tons a day. In 1919, the business was incorporated, becoming “Smith Brothers, Inc.,” with the third and fourth generation of the founders
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Bottles and Extras as its officers. In 1920, another plant was built at Michigan City, Indiana, with the same capacity as the Poughkeepsie factory, making a total capacity of sixty tons of cough drops a day. In 1922, Smith Brothers started making menthol Cough Drops. In 1927, they started putting on the market Smith Brothers’ Triple Action Cough Syrup. In 1963, the family-held business sold out to the pharmaceutical giant WarnerLambert. In 1972, The last Smith Brothers cough drop was made in Poughkeepsie. You can still buy the famous cough drops, now an offering of F&F Food, Chicago. Renamed “Throat drops,” they’re right there on the shelf in a different but still familiar package, between the Robitussin menthol eucalyptus and the Hall’s ice blue.
Figure 12 Figure 13
Figure 14
Referemces Books Capitman, Barbara Baer. AMERICAN TRADEMARK DESIGNS – a survey with 732 marks, logos and corporate-identity symbols: Dover Publications, Inc., New York, © 1976. Fucini, Joseph & Fucini, Suzy. ENTREPRENEURS, – the men and women behind famous brand names and how they made it: G. K. Hall & Co., Boston, © 1985. Munsey, Cecil. The Illustrated Guide to COLLECTING BOTTLES: Hawthorn Books, Inc. New York, © 1970. Morgan, Hal. SYMBOLS OF AMERICA: Viking Penguin, Inc, © 1986. Watkins, Julian Lewis. THE 100 GREATEST ADVERTISEMENTS, – who wrote them and what they did: Dover Publications, Inc., New York, ©1949, and 1959. Periodical Munsey, Cecil. “SMITH BROTHERS, – Not To Be Sneezed At”: The Antiques Journal, 1971, Vol. 26, No. 10, Babka Publishing Co., Dubuque, Iowa. © 1971. Internet http://cityguide.pojoews.com/fe/ Hertiage/stories/hesmithbrothers.asp http://www.hopefarm.com/smithbrs.htm http://www.packagemuseum.com
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Bottle and Extras Membership and Display Advertising Rates Membership in the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors includes:
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Bottles and Extras Advertising Rates Ads: Ralph Van Brocklin 1021 W. Oakland Ave., #109, Johnson City, TN 37604 Phone: (423) 913-1378 E-mail: thegenuine@comcast.net
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Bottles and Extras
Summer 2005
Classified Ads FOR SALE For Sale: Out of print and hard to find books & reference material on bottles and glass. 1. American Glass, George S. and Helen McKearin. Over 630 pages including line drawings and photographs. An outstanding and invaluable reference book. $30.00. 2. Two Hundred Years of American Blown Glass, Helen and George S. McKearin. 382 pages, 105 full-page plates. Another great reference work. $25.00. 3. Ink bottles and inkwells, William E. Covill Jr. 431 pages, currently the “bible” for students and collectors of ink bottles. $125.00. 4. Patent and Proprietary Medicine Bottles of the Nineteenth Century, Joseph K. Baldwin. 540 pages, a rare and very difficult book to find. $125.00. 5. The Glass Gaffers of New Jersey, (and their creations from 1739 to the present), c. 1971, Adeline Pepper. 330 pages, another very good reference book. $85.00. 6. Stiegel Glass, Frederick William Hunter, c.1950 (softcover). 270 pages, 169 illustrations including 16 in color. $20.00. 7. American Glass, Mary Harrod Northend, eight printing, June, 1944 (original copyright, 1926). 209 pages, many interesting illustrations. The pages and binding are in very good condition, the hardcover is generally faded with some wear. $10.00. All books are in good to very good condition with only reasonable and normal wear unless otherwise specified. In addition, we generally carry an inventory of many hard to find and out of print reference books on bottles. Please feel free to call with any special requests that you may have or items that you are searching for. Items will be shipped via regular 1st class mail unless other arrangements have been made in advance. Shipping & insurance will be $7.50 for the first book, and $5.00 for each additional. Please send check or money order to: JOHN PASTOR, 7288 Thorncrest Dr. SE, Ada, MI 49301; Ph: (616) 285-7604.
BOOKS / PERIODICALS FOR SALE: A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO ARIZONA BOTTLE & STONEWARE - A HISTORY OF MERCHANT CONTAINERS IN ARIZONA 124 pages of very detailed sketches of bottles and stoneware from the state of Arizona (1999) Spiral bound, $25.00. Contact: MICHAEL MILLER, Miller Antiques, 9214 W. Gary Road, Peoria, AZ 85345, PH: (623) 486-3123 or by E-mail: gramike@earthlink.net.
Federation Goodies from the Past ~ Please Note: Prices include shipping ~ Commemorative Flasks - Fabulous Fakes! $8.50 ea.
1969 ABCA 10th “Success to the RR” Green; 1976 EXPO, St. Louis (Scroll) Blue, Amber, Olive, Aqua; 1988 EXPO, Las Vegas “Celebration of Am. Glass” Blue; 1994 FOHBC Nat’l, Cherry Hills, New Jersey; FOHBC 25th (free-blown date seal) Olive
EXPO & National Show Programs $5.30 ea. 1984 EXPO Souvenir Program, Montgomery, Alabama; 1988 EXPO Souvenir Program, Las Vegas, Nevada; 1994 National Souvenir Program, Cherry Hill, New Jersey 2001 National Auction Catalogs $4.30 ea. 1984 Update & Price Guide, C Ring & S Ray $3.30 ea. 116-pg. update to For Bitters Only by Carlyn Ring
FOHBC Decals $1.00 ea. Please specify INSIDE or OUTSIDE… FOHBC Pins & Buttons $3.00 ea. The Original Emblem, from the 1976 EXPO, St. Louis, Mo.; 1984 EXPO Button, Montgomery, Alabama (Very limited quantities); 1988 EXPO Pins, Las Vegas, Nevada T-Shirts, 1988 EXPO, Las Vegas 2 XL only! $10.50 ea. Back Issues: “Federation Journal” $13.30 ea. Spring 1974 (V2-1), Fall 1974 (V2-2) Spring 1975 (V3-1), Fall 1975 (V3-2) Back Issues: “Bottles & Extras” $5.30 ea. Only a few issues not available… Coffee Mugs (1992 EXPO) $7.50 ea.
Submit orders to: Federation Merchandise, c/o Kent Williams 1835 Oak Terrace, Newcastle, CA 95658
Special Offer - EXPO 2004 Souvenir Items EXPO T-Shirts picturing some of Memphisʼ finest bottles on the front and “Celebrating 50 Years of Rock and Roll” on the reverse are available. Beautiful! Sizes: L, XL and XXL EXPO Souvenir Program - This 72-page guide to the 2004 EXPO contains color photos of some of the finest bottles from the state of Tennessee, directory of EXPO dealers and collector ads, plus four articles about Tennessee Items and all the details regarding the show. Lovely! EXPO Auction Catalog - 78 lots pictured in full-color. Includes a listing of prices realized. Add this catalog to your reference library.
All three for $20.00 Postage Paid! To order, please contact: Ralph Van Brocklin 1021 W. Oakland Avenue, Suite #109 Johnson City, TN 37604 thegenuine@comcast.net
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Classified Ads KETCHUP, PICKLES, SAUCES 19th Century Food in Glass 498 pages of pictures & research of glass containers the early food industry utilized.
Smyth Bound - $25.00 to:
MARK WEST PUBLISHERS PO BOX 1914 SANDPOINT, ID 83864 FOR SALE: CD-rom on Dr. Hatchett’s Drug Store Museum of Lumpkin, Georgia. Descriptions of hundreds of pharmaceutical bottles, patent medicines, etc. – dating from late 19th to mid-20th century. Indexed by product and by manufacturer. Cost - $12. Available from Stewart County Historical Commission, P.O. Box 818, Lumpkin, GA 31515 or contact: ALLEN VEGOTSKY, 2215 Greencrest Dr., Atlanta, GA 303462629; PH: (770) 270-1034; E-mail: a.Vegotsky@att.net.
FOR SALE: A limited number of 2002 and 2003 Federation Auction catalogues with prices-realized lists are available at $5.00 each plus $2.00 postage. Full color and beautifully photographed they make a handy reference! Contact JOHN PASTOR, 7288 Thorncrest Drive SE, Ada, MI 49301; Phone: (616) 285-7604 or RALPH VAN BROCKLIN, 1021 W Oakland Avenue, #109, Johnson City, TN 37604; Phone: (423) 913-1378. FOR SALE: THE PILL ROLLERS, Third Edition, C.G. & L.C. Richardson. This is the only comprehensive book on apothecary antiques available to collectors with a serious interest in pharmaceutical antiques and collectibles. The book has 185 pages with 800 items illustrated. A separate price guide is included with the book price. The glossary includes information to help identify pharmaceutical artifacts including an extensive listing of names to help identify drug jar and apothecary bottle inscriptions. The price is $37.50, includ-
INSURANCE for Bottles
Your homeowners insurance is rarely enough to cover your collectibles. Weʼve provided economical, dependable collectibles insurance since 1966. • Sample collector rates: $3,000 for $14; $10,000 for $38; $25,000 for $95; $50,000 for $190; $100,000 for $278; $200,000 for $418. Above $200,000, rate is $1.40 per $1000. • Our insurance carrier is AM Best’s rated A+ (Superior). • We insure antique to modern bottles (breakage included), and scores of other collectibles. “One-stop” service for practically everything you collect.. • Replacement value. We use expert/professional help valuing collectible losses. Consumer friendly service: Our office handles your loss - you won’t deal with a big insurer who does not know collectibles. • Detailed inventory and/or professional appraisal not required. Collectors list items over $5,000, dealers - no listing required. • See our website (or call, fax, E-mail us) for full information, including standard exclusions.
Collectibles Insurance Company P.O. Box 1200-FHBC - Westminster, MD 21158 E-mail: info@insurecollectibles.com
Call Toll-Free: 1-888-837-9537 - FAX (410) 489-5318 Need Info? Need a Rate Quote? Apply online.
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ing shipping, and can be ordered from: CHARLES RICHARDSON, 1176 South Dogwood Drive, Harrisonburg, VA 22801. FOR SALE: Two books on whiskey jugs by Bottles and Extras writer Jack Sullivan. THE AMERICAN WHISKEY JUG features 200 richly illustrated pages with index. $20 plus $5 postage. THE WHISKEY CERAMICS OF SCOTLAND, IRELAND and ENGLAND features 100 pages with index. $10 plus $3 postage. Or buy both for $25 plus $5 postage. Contact: JACK SULLIVAN, 4300 Ivanhoe Pl., Alexandria, VA 22304; PH: (703) 370-3039; E-mail: jack.sullivan9@verizon.net FOR SALE: GINGER BEER & ROOT BEER HERITAGE, 400 pages, all Photos are in full-color. $30.00 + $4.00 S/H. Contact: DON YATES, 8300 River Corners Road, Homerville, OH 44235; Phone: (330) 625-1025.
2001 EDITION ... “The Fruit Jar Collectorʼs Bible”
RedBook
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Reflects Recent Price Influences of Auctions and the Internet, as well as Current Price Trends Soft Cover, 432 Pages Over 10,000 Entries $35 US - $40 Non-US - Post Paid Order from Author : DOUGLAS M. LEYBOURNE, JR. P.0. BOX 5417 - NORTH MUSKEGAN, MI 49445
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Bottles and Extras
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Classified Ads
FOR SALE: Can you tell the “Real” from the “Repro”? Now you can with Tippecanoe & E. G. Booz Too! A book about cabin bottles, by Thomas C. Haunton. Detailed info on 57 different bottles, with new “McKearin” numbers, over 140 photos, and new information on E. G. Booz - the man! A price guide and free CD with 200 color photos are also included. Send $32.95 postpaid to: TOM HAUNTON, 48 Hancock Ave. #1, Medford, MA 02155-5621. E-mail: tchaunton@comcast.net FOR SALE: GEORGIA CROWN TOP BOTTLE BOOK. 260 pages with over 1400 bottles. Includes Georgia Bottling Works, 263 different Script straight-sided Coca-Cola bottles from Georgia, 236 different Georgia Chero-Cola bottles. Many others also listed. All Color! $39.95 + $3.95 Shipping. Send to: Georgia Soda Bottle Book, 1211 St. Andrews Drive, Douglas, GA 31533.
FOR SALE: Two books on whiskey jugs by Bottles and Extras writer Jack Sullivan. THE AMERICAN WHISKEY JUG features 200 richly illustrated pages with index. $20 plus $5 postage. THE WHISKEY CERAMICS OF SCOTLAND, IRELAND and ENGLAND features 100 pages with index. $10 plus $3 postage. Or buy both for $25 plus $5 postage. Contact: JACK SULLIVAN, 4300 Ivanhoe Pl., Alexandria, VA 22304; PH: (703) 370-3039; E-mail: jack.sullivan9@verizon.net. FOR SALE: COLLECTING APPLIED COLOR LABEL BOTTLES, Third Edition (2002). 1200 full-color photographs with over 1600 ACL soda bottles listed and over 1650 prices realized in an easy to read format. $45 includes postage Contact: KATHY HOPSON-SATHE, 414 Molly Springs Road, Hot Springs, AR 71913; E-mail: kathy@thesodafizz.com. FOR SALE: “BOTTLE IDENTIFICATION AND PRICE GUIDE – 4 TH EDITION” The “BOTTLE BIBLE” for everyone – comprehensive, updated pricing guide, (3) new chapters: Cobalt Blue Medicine Bottles, Violin Bottles and Museum & Research Resources. Expanded & updated chapters: Determining Bottle Values, Trademark Identification, Dealer/Club Guide / Glossary / Auction Houses, Bibliography. 300 b/ w photos – 16 page color section - $21.00 (includes book/shipping/handling).
FOR SALE: “AMERICAN PATRIOTIC MEMORABILIA” Comprehensive Pricing Guide – 17 chapters including Uncle Sam items, political, folk art, flags, World War I & II posters, stamps, sheet music, advertising - $20.00 (includes book/shipping/handling). Check or money order to: MIKE POLAK, P.O. Box 30328, Long Beach, CA 90853; PH: (562) 438-9209; E-mail: bottleking@earthlink.net. FOR SALE: Now, finally available! BIG BOB BEST BITTERS is a comprehensive price guide for collectors of bitters bottles reporting auction prices realized for
the last 17 years. This printing contains nearly 4000 accurately described bitters in a convenient, easy to read format. Listing bottle description and condition, Ring/Ham number, sale date and realized auction prices, this reference is a must-have for the collector or dealer of bitters bottles. To encourage your attendence at bottle shows, the price is an affordable $10. Price postage paid is $15. Send check or money order with your mailing instructions to: BOB STRICKHART, 3 Harvest Drive, Pennington, New Jersey 08534.
WANTED Wanted: Moulton items! I collect bottles and related items with my name on them and am interested in purchasing anything which I do not have. Contact: TOM G. MOULTON, 1911 Preservation Dr., Plant City, FL 33566-0945; Ph: (813) 754-1396; or E-mail: corkscru1@aol.com. Wanted: Large aqua rectangular bottle, “DR. IRA BAKER’S / HONDURAS / SARSAPARILLA” in mint or near mint condition. Also looking for MONTANA bottles, OWL DRUG bottles, and LARGE size GILLETTS EXTRACT bottles with embossed picture of Owl. Contact: MARC LUTSKO, P.O. BOX 590, LIBBY, MONTANA 59923, Ph: (406) 293-4048 or E-mail: letsgo@montanasky.net. Wanted: Sacrament whiskey related material. Fair Oaks, California related material. Contact: STEVE ABBOTT, 2077 Promontory Point Lane, Gold River, CA 95670; PH: (916) 631-8019; E-mail: foabbott@comcast.net Wanted: Oregon pumpkinseeds and “gowiths.” Bureau pt.; A.P. Hotling pt. & 1/ 2-pint; G. Ginocchio 1/2-pt., Billy Winters pt. & 1/2-pt. Contact: GARTH ZIEGENHAGEN, 2596 S.W. Pumice Ave., Redmond, OR 97756; PH: (541) 548-4776; E-mail: ZIGS@bendcable.com. Wanted: Michigan labeled bottles, including medicines and whiskeys. Contact: A.N. ARGENTATI, 60695 Trebor Dr., South Lyon, MI 48178; PH: (248) 437-6104; E-mail: dargentati@comcast.net.
Wanted: Mint or near mint medicines, bitters and flasks in the $75.00 to $300.00 range. Such as: Rohrer’s, Lindsey’s, Warner ’s, Log Cabins, Wishart’s. Any bitters or flasks in this range unless payments are accepted. Contact: MICHAEL A. KOVER, 920 Weirich Ave., Washington, PA 15301; PH: (724) 222-5329. Wanted: Rare poisons, figural bitters, sandwich colognes, Pike’s Peak flasks. Buying single bottles or collections. Contact: BOB BARBOUR, 19207 W. 74th Tr., Shawnee, KS 66216; PH: (913) 248-1478. Wanted: MONTANA, MONTANA, MONTANA bottles, including sodas, whiskeys, flasks, beers, patent medicines, drug stores, labeled bottles, jugs, crocks, shot glasses and anything in between. Also, Owl Drug bottles from each state, so still need many different states. Still looking for small oval pill bottles that are embossed or labeled. Contact: MARC LUTSKO, P.O. Box 590, Libby, MT 59923; PH: (406) 2934048; E-mail: letsgo@montanasky.net. Wanted: Any type of Illinois advertising stoneware. Crocks, jugs, pitchers, rolling pins, mini jugs, beater jars. Also interested in Illinois bottles, especially blob sodas, bitters, early medicine. Contact: MIKE HENRICH, PH: (815) 455-5934; E-mail: illadv1@aol.com. Wanted: Tuscaloosa, Alabama bottles. Contact: Dennis Humphrey, 16760 Northfork Farm Rd., Northport, AL 35475; PH: (205) 339-2290 after 6pm Central.
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Classified Ads
McMURRAY ANTIQUES & AUCTIONS
I am the cataloger of Tennessee trade tokens. My book TRADE TOKENS OF TENNESSEE is sold out. The book is constantly being updated. Any help with the historical undertaking, by sending me any information on tokens, will deeply be appreciated. I also collect tokens and would appreciate the opportunity to buy/trade for tokens that I need. Also, wanted are Tennessee Centennial items, Natiional Banknotes and obsolete banknotes, replies will be answered.
Specializing in Drugstore, Apothecary and Country Store Antiques and Collectibles
A Leader in the Field - Conducting 3 Cataloged Auctions Annually Collector of Dr. Kilmer Swamp-Root and Patent Medicine Bottles & Advertising Always Buying One Piece or Entire Collections
TERRY MCMURRAY P.O. Box 393 - Kirkwood, NY 13795 Phone: (607) 775-5972 - Fax: (607) 775-2321
Feel free to write, call or E-mail me: JOE COPELAND, P.O. Box 4221, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 Ph: (865) 482-4215; E-mail: joecopeland@comcast.net est. 1979
Full Colour BBR
SHOPS AND SERVICES CHAPEL ANTIQUES Specializing in antique furniture, bottles, Western Relics, Victorian glass collectibles, etc. Contact: CHAPEL ANTIQUES, 112 N. Curry St., Carson City, NV 89703; PH: (775) 885-8511
The world’s first full color bottle magazine simply got BETTER and BIGGER PACKED FULL of all the information you need on the UK & worldwide scene Well-researched articles & All the latest finds Upcoming sales & Full show calendar “the classified ads alone make a subscription worthwhile, but the color pictures make it absolutely ESSENTIAL. Heck, what
SPRING STEEL PROBES
1 year Air Mail subscription still just $20 - 2 years $40 Personal Check, MasterCard/Visa, even $ bills!
BBR, Elsecar Heritage Centre, Barnsley, 2, Yorkshire, S74 8HJ, England Tel: 011-44-1226-745156; Fax: 011-44-1226-361561
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OXIDES Aluminum, Cerium, Tin, Silicon Carbide TUMBLING COPPER New 12-gauge chisel point in 3 sizes Copper Wire: $4.00/lb.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
R. Wayne Lowry 401 Johnston Ct., Raymore, MO 64083 E-mail: JarDoctor@aol.com Website: www.jardoctor.com (816) 318-0161 FAX: (816) 318-0162
Length 36” to 48” Diameter 1/4” to 5/16” “T” Handle 1” Dia. x 12” and Ring 4” above tip, both welded. $37.50 includes S/H $3 Extra for Rush Shipping Cashier Check or M.O. R. L. Wilcox 7422 Park Drive Mechanicsville, VA 23111 Phone: (804) 746-9854 or E-mail: Wilcox7422@aol.com
Churchillʼs Antique Bottle Cleaning Service Introductory Offer: Will clean one bottle at no charge ! (minus postage) Try me fee free! Less than 10 bottles: $15 each. 10-14: $12.50 each. More than 15: $10.00 each.
MARK CHURCHILL
PO Box 7023 Grand Rapids, MI 49510
(616) 248-3808 E-mail: mdiscoidalis@netzero.net
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FOHBC SHO-BIZ FOHBC Sho-Biz is published in the interest of the hobby. Federation affiliated clubs are noted. Information on up-coming collecting events is welcome, but space is limited. Please send at least four months in advance, including telephone number, to: FOHBC Sho-Biz, c/o Ron Rasnake, 6301 Lilyan Parkway, Fort Pierce, FL 34951, or E-mail: RonOldGins@bellsouth.net. Show schedules are subject to change. Please call ahead before traveling long distances. All listings published here will also be published on our web site at http://www.fohbc.com.
JULY 8 - 10 - SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA The 36th Annual National Insulator Association Convention at the DoubleTree Hotel, 1-800-222-TREE (1/2 mile away from the San Jose International Airport), San Jose, California. INFO: DAVE ELLIOTT, PH: (650) 988-1893; E-mail: pabell121@yahoo.com or COLIN JUNG, PH: (408) 732-8736; E-mail: muddhogg99@hotmail.com; Website: http:// www.peninsulators.org/2005.html and http:// www.nia.org. JULY 10 - MUNCIE, INDIANA The Midwest Antique Fruit Jar & Bottle Club’s Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM) at the Horizon Convention Center, 401 S High St, Muncie, Indiana. INFO: NORMAN BARNETT, P.O. Box 38, Flat Rock, IN 47234; PH: (812) 587-5560 or DICK COLE, 1200 Minnestrista Pkwy., Muncie, IN 47303, PH: (765) 213-3349, Ext. 117. JULY 16 - DEER LODGE, MONTANA Montana Lineman’s Rodeo & Insulator Show (Sat. 9 AM – afternoon) in Deer Lodge, Montana. INFO: JUSTIN MARTIN, PH: () 967-3153, E-email: wendymartin8@aol.com. JULY 16-17 ADAMSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA The 4th Annual Shupp’s Grove Bottle Festival (Sat. 6 AM - dark, Sun. 6 AM - dusk) at Shupp’s Grove, Adamstown, Pennsylvania. INFO: JERE HAMBLETON, 12 S. Eastland Dr., Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602, PH: (717) 393-5175, E-mail: jshdetector@webty.net or STEVE GUION, PH: (717) 560-9480. JULY 22-23 - RENO, NEVADA Reno Antique Bottle & Collectibles Club’s 43rd Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission Fri. noon) at the Reno/Sparks Convention Center, 4590 S. Virginia St. (north entrance), Reno, Nevada. INFO: WILLY YOUNG, PH: (775) 746-0922 or HELENE WALKER, PH: (775) 345-0171. JULY 30 - LEADVILLE, COLORADO Antique Bottle Collectors of Colorado’s Summer Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM - 4 PM) at the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum Convention Center, 117 10th Street, Leadville, Colorado. INFO: JIM & BARB SUNDQUIST, PH: (303) 674-4658, E-mail: barbsund@msn.com. JULY 30 - MERLIN, OREGON Crown Jewels of the Wire Backyard Swap Meet & Potluck BBQ (Sat. 9 AM - ?) a few miles north of Grants Pass (I-5 exit 61), Merlin, OR. INFO: HOWARD & LIN
BANKS, 1560 Hugo Rd., Merlin, Oregon, PH: (541) 479-8348, E-mail: editor@cjow.com. AUGUST 5-6 - AUBURN, CALIFORNIA Nor-Cal Insulator Club’s 21st Annual Show & Sale (Fri. 2 PM – 8 PM, Sat. 9 AM – 3 PM) at the Gold Country Fairgrounds, Auburn, CA. INFO: PAT PATOCKA, PH: (916) 663-3681. AUGUST 13 VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI The 8th Annual Vicksburg Antique Bottle Show & Sale (Sat. 8 AM – 4 PM) at the Battlefield Inn, 4137 I-20 N. Frontage Rd. (I-20 exit 4B), Vicksburg, MS. INFO: CASON SCHAFFER, 107 Eastview Dr., Vicksburg, Mississippi 39183, PH: (601) 638-1195. AUGUST 13 - PORTLAND, OREGON The 9 th Annual Greater Portland Insulator Swap Meet (Sat. 1 PM - early evening) outdoors on Mt. Scott in southeast Portland, OR. INFO: DAN HOWARD, 9999 SE Frenchacres Dr., Portland Oregon, PH: (503) 659-3520, E-mail: strains@msn.com. AUGUST 13-14 GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN Federation of Historical Bottle Collector’s 2005 National Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission Sat. 1 PM – 5 PM) at DeVos Place, Exhibit Hall C, 303 Monroe Ave. NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan. INFO: JOHN PASTOR, 7288 Thorncrest Dr. SE, Ada, MI 49301, PH: (616) 285-7604, E-mail: jpastor2000@msn.com. AUGUST 20 TELLICO PLAINS, TENNESSEE Dixie Jewels Insulator Club’s Summer Swap Meet (Sat. 9:30 AM -late afternoon) at the Community Center, Tellico Plains, TN. INFO: GARY & ELIZABETH TILSON, 342 Cedar Lane Rd., Madisonville, Tennessee 37354, PH: (423)442-3775, E-mail: gtilson@bellsouth.net or HOWARD & LILLIE CHOAT, 406 Old Tellico Hwy., Madisonville, TN 37354, PH: (423)442-9085, E-mail: choathowarda@bellsouth.net. AUGUST 27 PORTERVILLE, CALIFORNIA The 6th Annual Merzoian Bros. Tailgater (Sat. 8 AM - ?)under the pole barn at Mark & Diana Merzoian’s home, 22593 Ave. 112 (a little more than 1 mile west of Hwy. 65), Porterville, California. INFO: MARK MERZOIAN, PH: (559) 783-8759, E-mail: memerzoian@ocsnet.net or BOB MERZOIAN, PH: (559) 781-7372, E-mail: bobmerzoian@mac.com.
AUGUST 28 - ROSS, OHIO The 10th Annual Tristate Glass & Porcelain Insulator Show (Sun. 8 AM – 5 PM) at 1476 Hine Rd., Ross, Ohio. INFO: ALAN HOHNHORST, PH: (513) 892-370, Cell (513) 478-7086, E-mail: porcinscol33@yahoo.com. SEPTEMBER 10 EAST HAMPTON, CONNECTICUT Yankee Pole Cat Insulator Club’s Annual Swap Meet & Picnic/Cookout (Sat. 8 AM – 2 PM) at the home of Larry & Mary Emmons, 68 Long Crossing Rd., East Hampton, Connecticut. INFO: JOHN RAJPOLT, PH: (203) 261-1190, E-mail: rajpolt@earthlink.net or LARRY EMMONS, PH: (860) 267-8584. SEPTEMBER 10-11 - MERRITT, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA Welcome to the Insulator Ranch at 3045 Spanish Creek Place, Merritt, B.C. (Take exit 286, [Merritt, Spences Bridge] from the Coquahalla Hwy., and then go south 4 blocks on Coldwater Road to Spanish Creek Place. No more than 3 minutes from the exit. There will be lots of signs to guide you, but the route to the show is very simple and direct.) If people wish to arrive on the Friday night to get set up, that’s fine. We have room for RV’s and tents. INFO: BOB SCAFE, PH: (250) 378-2787; E-mail: bobscafe@telus.net. SEPTEMBER 11 - LEWES, DELAWARE Delmarva Antique Bottle Club’s 13th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission 7:30 AM) at the Cape Henlopen High School, Lewes, Delaware. INFO: PETER BEAMAN, PH: (302) 684-5955 or FERD MEYER, PH: (302) 945-7072, E-mail: jfmeyer4@cs.com. SEPTEMBER 11 - PEKIN, ILLINOIS Pekin Bottle Collectors Association’s 36th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 8 AM – 3 PM) at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 715 N. 11th St., Pekin, Illinois. INFO: JIM SEARLE, 1003 Illinois St., Pekin, IL 61554, PH: (309) 3467804 or JIM MORGAN, PH: (309) 6491946. SEPTEMBER 18 - KIRTLAND, OHIO The Ohio Bottle Club’s 37th Annual Bottle Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 2 PM, $2 Donation; early adm. Sat. 7 PM - 9 PM) at the Lakeland Community College, 7700 Clocktower Dr., Kirtland, Ohio. INFO: ROBERT SMITH, Ph: (440) 2854184, E-mail: ris2ride@adelphia.net or TIM KEARNS, Ph: (440) 285-7576, E-mail: tkearns4@aol.com.
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ANTIQUE BOTTLE COLLECTORS OF COLORADO SHOW
~ RENO ~
Antique Bottle & Collectibles Club 43rd Annual Show & Sale
Saturday July 23, 2005
Reno/Sparks Convention Center 4590 South Virginia Street North Entrance Saturday Show: 9:00 A.M - 3:00 P.M. Admission $3.00 Friday Dealer Setup; 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Friday Early Bird: 12 P.M. to 6 P.M. $10
Show Info: Willy Young (775) 746-0922 Reservations: Helen Walker (775) 345-0171
Over 100 Tables !
BOTTLES - COINS - TOKENS ADVERTISING - INSULATORS ANTIQUES - AND MORE!
Antiques
Glassware
Old Bottles
Collectibles
Paper
Photo Courtesy of Chris Buys: Historic Leadville in Rare Photographs & Drawings
HISTORIC LEADVILLE JULY 30 9 AM to 4 PM $2 Adm. Dealer Setup: 6 AM
National Mining Hall of Fame & Museum Convention Center 117 10th Street
INFO: Jim & Barbara Sundquist (303) 674-4658 7th Annual Columbus Day Event
October 8th, 2005 Woodstock Valley, Connecticut - 9:00 am - 11:00 aml Preview a “country barn” auction that will take place at 11 am. Auction includes approximately 75 glass and antique related items. - 9:00 am - 2:00 pm Old-Fashioned Tallgate Party, Antique Bottle and Glass Swap - in the Heckler hayfield. FREE SETUP! - 9:00 am - 12:00 pm A preview of our upcoming fall (October 19th and November 16th, 2005) Absentee Auction. A timely opportunity to view these items! Great glass! - 11:00 am Participate in the live “country barn auction of approximately 75 glass and antique related items. Refreshments , including Woodstock Orchardʼs fresh apple cider, Lizʼs famous New England Corn Chowder, & more.......
Norman C. Heckler & Company 79 Bradford Corner Road Woodstock Valley, CT 06282 PH: (860) 974-1634 - Fax: (860) 974-2003 Website: http://www.hecklerauction.com E-mail: Info@hecklerauction.com
84 SEPTEMBER 23-24 JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA The Antique Bottle Collectors of North Florida’s 38th Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 8 AM - 3 PM; Fri. setup, 4PM and early buyers, 6-9 PM, Sat. 7-9 AM) at the Fraternal Order of Police Building, 5530 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, Florida. INFO: WAYNE HARDIN, 3867 Winter Berry Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32210; PH: (904) 781-2620; E-mail: abcnf@juno.com or Website: www.waynesbottles.com/show to print show application and flyer info. SEPTEMBER 23-24 LODI, CALIFORNIA 49er Historical Bottle Association’s Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 8 AM – 2 PM, early admission Fri. 1 PM – 7 PM) at the Lodi Grape Festival Grounds, 413 Lockeford St., Lodi, California. INFO: MIKE MACKILLOP, PH: (916) 580-5764 or MIKE HENNESS, PH: (209) 274-4262. SEPTEMBER 25 LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS Merrimack Valley Antique Bottle Club’s 31st Annual Show & Sale, (Sun. 9 AM - 2 PM, early admission 8 AM) at the Lowell Elks Club hall, 40 Old Ferry Rd. (Rt. 3 exit 32 to Drum Hill Rd. and follow signs), Lowell, Massachusetts. INFO: JOHN GALLO, PH: (978) 256-2738 or GARY KOLTOOKIAN, PH: (978) 256-9561, E-mail: bottlegary@comcast.net. SEPTEMBER 29-OCTOBER 1 MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA The Chesapeake Bay Insulator Club presents the NIA Eastern Region Show & Convention (Fri. 9 AM - 4 PM, Sat. 9 AM - 1 PM; Setup Thurs. 5-8 PM, Fri. 7-9 AM, Sat. 7-9 AM; Banquet Fri. 4 PM) at the Holiday InnMartinsburg, 301 Foxcroft Ave. (I-81, Exit 13), Martinsburg, West Virginia. INFO: JEFF HOLLIS, 56 Corning Way, Martinsburg, W.Va. 25401; PH: (304) 263-6140; E-mail: wvacampfire@cs.com; Website: www.insulators.com/clubs/cbic. OCTOBER 1 - BUFFALO, NEW YORK Greater Buffalo Bottle Collectors Association’s Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 3 PM) at the Hamburg Fairgrounds Expo Hall, Hamburg, New York. INFO: PETER JABLONSKI, PH: (716) 440-7985 or ED POTTER, 82 Gabrielle St., Cheektowaga, NY 14227, PH: (716) 674-8890. OCTOBER 1 - HAMBURG, NEW YORK The Greater Buffalo Bottle Collectors Association’s Antique Bottle Show (Sat. 9 AM - 3 PM, Adm. $2) at the Expo Hall, Hamburg, New York Fairgrounds, Harnburg, New York. INFO: PETER JABLONSKI (Show Chairman), PH: (716) 440-7985 or ED POTTER (Dealer Chairman), 82 Gabrielle St., Cheektowaga, NY 14227, PH: (716) 674-
Summer 2005 8890. OCTOBER 1 - RICHMOND, VIRGINIA The Richmond Area Bottle Collectors 34th Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM - 3 PM; Early buyers, 7:30 AM) at the Showplace Annex, 2003 Mechanicville Trnp., Richmond, Virginia. INFO: ED FAULKNER, PH: (804) 739-2951, E-mail: faulkner@antiquebottles.com or MARVIN CROKER, 4718 Twla Lane, Richmond, VA 23234, PH: (804) 275-1101. OCTOBER 1 ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO Enchantment Insulator Club’s 18th Annual Insulator, Bottle, Barbwire & Collectibles Show & Sale (Sat. 8:30 AM – 4 PM) at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds, Bolack Agriculture building, Albuquerque, New Mexico. INFO: TOM KATONAK, 1024 Camino de Lucia, Corrales, NM 87048, PH: (505) 898-5592, E-mail: tkatonak@comcast.net or MIKE GAY, PH: (505) 899-8755, E-mail: cdn102@comcast.net. OCTOBER 2 AUBURN HILLS, MICHIGAN The Huron Valley Bottle & Insulator Club & Detroit Bottle Club’s 30th Anniversary Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM) at the Holiday Inn Select, 1500 Opdyke Rd. (I-75 Exit 79 to University Dr.), Auburn Hills, Michigan. INFO: MIKE BRUNER, PH: (248) 6231446, E-mail: abbott4girl@sbcglobal.net, or visit the Website: www.insulators.com/clubs/ hvbic for downloadable contract and flyer.
Bottles and Extras Road (I-84 east from Hartford to Exit 73), Woodstock Valley, Connecticut. Throughout the day - shop antiques in the Civil War era barn, sample several New England traditions and refreshments including Woodstock Orchard’s fresh apple cider, Liz’s famous New England Corn Chowder & more. Contact: Norman C. Heckler & Co., 79 Bradford Corner Rd., Woodstock Valley, CT 06282; PH: (860) 974-1634; Fax: (860) 974-2003; Website: http://www.hecklerauction.com, E-mail: Info@hecklerauction.com. OCTOBER 9 KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE The Yankee Bottle Club’s 38th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 2:30 PM, early buyers 8 AM) at the Keene High School, Arch Street, Keene, New Hampshire. INFO: CREIGHTON G. HALL, 382 Court St., Keene NH 03431; PH: (603) 352-2959. OCTOBER 14-15 SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA The Santa Rosa Bottle Club Bottle Show (Fri. 12 - 7 PM; Sat. 9 AM - 3 PM) at the Finley Hall Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, California. INFO: BEV SIRI, PH: (707) 5426438. OCTOBER 16 - SCRIBA, NEW YORK Empire State Bottle Collectors Club 7th Fall Show and Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM) at the Scriba Fire Hall, Scriba, New York. INFO: BARRY HAYNES, 5721 Scenic Ave., P.O. Box 900, Mexico, NY 13114, PH: (315) 9633749 and co-chair, JOHN GOLLEY, E-mail: ByGolley@msn.com.
OCTOBER 2 - DRYDEN, NEW YORK Finger Lakes Bottle Collectors Association’s 36th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission 8 AM) at the Dryden Fire Hall-Neptune Hose Co., Rt. 13, Dryden, New York. INFO: GEORGE BLAASCH, 78 Main St., Van Etten, NY 14889, PH: (607) 5896436, E-mail: Gblaasch@aol.com. OCTOBER 7- 8 - PHOENIX, ARIZONA Phoenix Antiques, Bottles, & Collectibles Club’s Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 4 PM, early admission Fri. 3 PM – 8 PM) at the North Phoenix Baptist Church, 5757 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, Arizona. INFO: RICK or KAREN HOPWOOD, PH: (480) 9699423, E-mail: rkrshop@cox.net, Website: http://www.phoenixantiquesclub.org/. OCTOBER 8 WOODSTOCK VALLEY, CONN. Heckler’s 7th Annual Columbus Day Event (Sat. 9 AM - 11 AM Auction Preview; 9 AM 2 PM Old-Fashioned Tailgate Party, Antique Bottle & Glass Swap at the Heckler Hayfield - free setup; , 9 AM - 12 NOON Preview of upcoming absentee auction in late Fall; 11 AM Live “Country Barn” Auction) at Norman C. Heckler and Company, 79 Bradford Corner
To get your show listed in the publication as well as on the website, send at least four months in advance - or as soon as you know the date so it can appear as soon as possible to: Show Biz / Ron Rasnake 6301 Lilyan Parkway, Fort Pierce, FL 34951 E-mail: RonOldGins@bellsouth.net or Webmaster/Editor - Kathy Hopson-Sathe 414 Molly Springs Rd., Hot Springs, AR 71913 E-mail: kathy@thesodafizz.com (423) 737-6710
The Show Calendar is always up-to-date on the website: http://www.fohbc.com/ FOHBC_ShowCalendar.html
The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is proud to present a Live, Unreserved Public Auction of fine Early Bottles, Flasks, Jars and Stoneware to be held in conjunction with the 2005 National Show Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Grand Rapids, Michigan Saturday, August 13, 2005
FULL-COLOR CATALOGS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN LATE JULY FOR $12.00 POSTAGE PAID * Absentee bids will be accepted for this sale through Wednesday, August 10, 2005 To order catalogs, place bids or for more information, please contact: John R. Pastor, President â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors 7288 Thorncrest Dr. SE, Ada, MI 49301 (616) 285-7604 - jpastor2000@sbcglobal.net
Hutchinson Bottle Directory Page 25
Page 34
History of Koca-Nola Page 11 www.FOHBC.com
Uncovering “Secrets” Page 46
FOHBC c/o Ralph Van Brocklin 1021 W. Oakland Avenue, Suite #109 Johnson City, TN 37604
Bottles andExtras
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PERIIODICALS
POSTAGE PAID Johnson City, TN 37601
Summer 2005
The official publication of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors
Bottles and Extras Vol. 16 No. 3
Page 32
Louisville Glass Factories Part 2 Page 70
Look what始s in store for the National Bottle Auction in Grand Rapids, August 13, 2005 !
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