Fall 2005
The official publication of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors
Bottles and Extras
This Issue is Jam Packed with Photos from the 2005 National Show in Grand Rapids, Michigan All begins on Page 24
Vol. 16 No. 4
The Best of Michigan Begins on Page 32
Citron Green Drake始s Plantation Bitters brings $10,500 at Auction!!!
Louisville Museum Gets Bonanza in 601 Historical Flask Collection Page 12
Plan now for the
FOHBC 2006 NATIONAL SHOW
AUGUST 18-20, 2006 RENO, NEVADA at John Ascuaga始s Nugget 1100 Nugget Ave. Reno, NV 89432
Eight foot tables are limited Please reserve early!
INFORMATION:
R. Wayne Lowry JarDoctor@aol.com 401 Johnston Ct. 816-318-0161 Raymore, MO 64083
The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors
Bottles and Extras
Vol. 16 No. 4
Fall 2005
No. 164
Table of Contents Recent Finds............................................2
Extras: Teething Sticks for the Baby’s Sore Gums Charles Harris...............................22
The Story of Teena (or Making No Bones About It) Charles David Head..................57
High Calibur Bottle Designed for Atlanta’s Gate City Guard Bill Baab.....................................4
FOHBC National Show - Grand Rapids, Michigan ....................................................24
More Tableware from Fenn Barry L. Bernas.........................59
Here’s the Scoop on New Koca-Nola Charles David Head....................5
Best of Michigan ....................................................32
BOOK REVIEW: A Passion for Antiques Claire Whitcomb.........................7
Western Flasks Ralph Van Brocklin........................36
FOHBC Officer Listing 2004-2006...........8
Louisville Glass Factories of the 19th Century - Part 3 David Whitten................................42
Bottle Buzz................................................2
President’s Message...................................9 Regional News Reports............................10 Louisville Museum Gets Bonanza in 601 Historical Flask Collection Bill Baab...................................12 Debunking the Myth of the Side Seam Thermometer Bill Lockhart.............................14 The Supremes and Whiskey By Mail: Then and Now Jack Sullivan.............................16
The Wistars (Casper, Richard, Dr. Casper, Henry & Issac) Cecil Musney.................................46 Let’s Talk About Ink: Inkwells Ed & Lucy Faulkner.......................52
Do You Know “The Rest of the Story”? Don Fritzschel...........................65 Random Shots: Shooting Shots, Part I Robin Preston...........................69 The Dating Game: Illinois Pacific - A Division of the Illinois Glass Company Bill Lockhart.............................73 Display and Advertising Rates and Membership Information........81 Classified Ads.........................................82 FOHBC Show-Biz Show Calendar Listings............87
Charles Hilton: Milk Bottle Collector Constantly on the Moove Bill Baab........................................54
WHO DO I CONTACT ABOUT THE MAGAZINE? To ADVERTISE, SUBSCRIBE or RENEW a subscription, see PAGE 81 for DETAILS. To SUBMIT A STORY, send a letter to the Editor or have comments and concerns, Contact: Kathy Hopson-Sathe, Bottles and Extras 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 37604. 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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Bottles and Extras
Fall 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
Dr. Munsey, FYI: I have two other versions of “The Smallest Bottle Ever Made...” The first is 1.095” x 0.523, embossed on one side with ILLINOIS GLASS (vertically with fraction markings), the other side FIRST / IN / GLASS, the base with a diamond through an oval. The second is 1.176” x 0.625”, embossed vertically with LYRIC (with fraction markings and a design on the shoulder), the other side with ILLINOIS / GLASS / CO. / ALTON, IL, the base with an I in a diamond / LYRIC. Neither has a label. From John Hinkel shinkel@mail.win.org Dear Mr. Munsey, Just a note to let you know how much I enjoyed your article on Owens in the most recent Bottles and Extras. I am a native of Toledo, Ohio, and my aunt was personal secretary to Edward Drummond Libby. The story you told was familiar lore in the family, one of the most interesting nuances is the faith that Libby had in Owens’ ability to invent a bottle blowing machine when so many others before had failed. And then when he had done that, for Libby to share the profits and even the company name with a relatively unletered Irish workman. As a footnote: I spent a summer in 1953 interning at Owens-Illinois in industrial relations and worked for a time at the Libby glass factory in Toledo. This also gives me an opportunity to let you know that your book on bottle collecting had a lot to do with my extensive writing on whiskey jugs and other bottle-related subjects. You have set a very high standard for quality and longevity. While I may not meet the former, I will continue to work on the latter. All the best - and thanks for your inspiration Jack Sullivan jack.sullivan9@verizon.net
Wondering why your Fall issue is late?
My name is Shaun Ashish Sathe. I suppose I fall under the “Extras” category of this magazine, although I do receive my nourishment from a bottle. You are more familiar with my mom, Kathy Hopson-Sathe. I messed things up royally by making my arrival two weeks earlier than expected and then taking over and not allowing much of anything else to be done except attending to me. Don’t let the above photos fool you, though, my mom had to look through a bunch of them to find one where I wasn’t wailing. I suppose when I am being quiet, taking my photo doesn’t enter my parents
minds - sleep and peace and quiet does. Don’t be too angry with my mom for having to wait longer than usual to read your issue of Bottles and Extras. It took me almost a month to figure out I actually can survive for more than an hour without having a bottle stuffed into my mouth and if there is one drop of wet in my diaper, it doesn’t have to wake me from a deep sleep to alert someone of its dangers. In other words, I let my mom get something else this magazine - done. It just took me a while to figure it out. Thanks for letting me explain. Shaun (born August 23, 2005)
Recent Finds
Okay folks… I certainly do not mind letting you know about the “new finds” which have come my way and I enjoy the research. But, I’m awfully tired of reading my own writing!!! How about some contributions????!
Following my arrival home from the Reno show, I received a telephone call from a collector in Olathe, Colorado, requesting information regarding a number of flasks he had recently acquired. Among these is my “new find”
Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005
for this issue— a previously unreported half-pint coffin flask embossed RADOVICH BROS. / WINES / & / LIQUORS / 29 GEARY ST., S.F. Prior to this flask coming to light, the only other example of a flask related to this one was a half-pint shoofly embossed M. V. RADOVICH / WINES / & / LIQUORS / 29 GEARY ST. S.F. Each is pictured. The Radovichs are an interesting part of the early liquor business in San Francisco. I am a little limited in my ability to research, with directories at home that only go back as far as 1876. I do have copies of the early liquor dealers in San Francisco from years leading up to that, but these tend to be incomplete and useful only if the individual is the primary proprietor in a partnership or the sole owner. These earlier liquor listings note a Radovich first in the business in 1874-5 in a partnership of Lazarus Radovich and Hermann E. Uhrlandt, operating a liquor saloon called The Wine House at 306 Kearny Street. This firm operated a saloon at this location through 1891. Starting in 1877, we note that the firm L.Radovich and Co has formed and this partnership of Lazarus Radovich and Elias Chielovich is operating the Mint Exchange at 877 Market Street, another long-lasting enterprise. As collectors of the early San Francisco fifths will recognize, E. Chielovich is responsible for one of the top 25 Western cylinder whiskeys, a wonderful bottle embossed DURHAM / picture of a bull / WHISKEY / E. CHIELOVICH & CO. His affiliation with the Radovichs extends to one of the principals of this family who is pertinent to the flask I am reporting— Bozo Radovich. That affiliation likely predates the listing I have in my 1876 directory for Bozo Radovich, ‘with E. Chielovich & Co.’ Bozo Radovich is the first proprietor from this family noted at the 29 Geary Street address. In 1877-78 he is no longer noted as being in business with E. Chielovich, having instead the listing ‘importer, wines and liquors, 29 Geary St.’ He remains in business at this address through the 1889 directory, at which time there are no further listings for him in either the residential or liquor sections. I have a vague recollection of a stenciled jug from San Jose bearing this gentleman’s name and, if so, it is possible that he moved south to that city at this point. Starting with the 1890 directory, the listing at 29 Geary Street falls under Radovich Brothers and Co., a firm comprised of Matthew V. Radovich, John L. Radovich and Henry A. Maison. In 1891, the firm lost Maison and was re-named Radovich Brothers. The brothers, John L. and Matthew V., jointly owned this business through the year 1901. In 1902, there is a listing for Radovich Brothers listing only Matthew and in 1903 the listing has changed to Matthew V. Radovich ‘successor to Radovich Bros.’ , wholesale and retail wines and liquors, 29 Geary. In 1905, the address changes to 51 Geary Street, which may only signify a change in address but not location. We can date this most recent flask attributed to this family to the period 1903 and 1904. The Radovich Brothers enjoyed an extended period in the San Francisco liquor community, with endeavors both before and following that reported above. To summarize some of their history:
Matthew V. Radovich: - 1882-89 bartender for L. Radovich & Co - 1890 Radovich Bros & Co - 1891-1901 Radovich Bros (w John L.) - 1902 Radovich Bros (Matthew V, only) - 1903-04 Matthew V. Radovich, 29 Geary - 1905 Matthew V. Radovich, 51 Geary - 1906 no listing - 1907 residence, only - 1908-15 liquors, 1259 Polk - 1917 residence, only - 1918 no listing John L. Radovich: - 1877 barkeeper, J. Cappadacy - 1878-81 currently unresearched - 1882 D. Biagi & Co (Dominico Biagi & John L. Radovich), produce commission - 1883 residence, only - 1884 no listing - 1885-1889 John L. Radovich & Co (John L. Radovich, Martin Denaveaux, Henry A. Maison), wines, liquors & cigars, Frank’s Saloon – 328 Pine - 1890 Radovich Bros & Co - 1891-1901 Radovich Bros - 1890-91 John L. Radovich & Co (with Henry A. Maison), Frank’s Saloon – 328 Pine - 1892-1903 John L. Radovich & Co, Frank’s Saloon – 328 Pine - 1904 liquors, 27 Vallejo - 1905 salesman, Wichman, Lutgen & Co - 1906 no listing - 1907 liquors, 6 Sutter, with Domenic B. Bradovich - 1908-09 liquors, 6 Sutter - 1910 residence, only - 1911-18 liquors, (variably) 245-249 Montgomery
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Bottles and Extras
High caliber bottle designed for Atlantaʼs Gate City Guard by Bill Baab A National Guard unit organized in Georgia four years before the Civil War may be the only one in the nation to boast of its own whiskey bottles. Longtime collector Tom Lines discovered one of two known examples at the 2005 Knoxville show, while the other was collected by veteran collector Ken Nease as part of his quest to build a representative Georgia flask collection. Nease, from Claxton, Ga., obtained his example from a North Carolina collector, and later sold his flask collection to Ralph Van Brocklin, past president of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. The dark amber half-pint flasks are embossed The Cartridge Box / Gate City / Guard / Atlanta, Ga., and originally were capped with a cork and jigger-type, metal screw-on top. Lines’ flask measures 6 3/8 inches tall with the lip, 6 1/4 inches without,
and the lip is ground. The bottom measures 15/16 by 2 11/16 inches and the flask measures 3 inches wide at the shoulder. It was first thought “The Cartridge Box” could have been an Atlanta saloon frequented by members of the 80-man guard, but city directories revealed no such place name. This writer spent an hour or so Aug. 6th in the Atlanta History Center’s library perusing a three-volume set of “Old Guard” history housed in one book. He learned that in the fall of 1880, a great fair was planned for the benefit of the Guard in Atlanta. “The special object (of the fair) being to raise funds for the erection of an armory building in commemoration of the great pacificatory movement that had been inaugurated by the company” during 1879. “The fraternal tour of the Guard through the cities of the North and East had made the company known to the reading public of the United States. The propriety and dignity of their conduct as individuals had won general admiration, and their patriotic object had elicited universal approbation.” The history continued: “One of the most impressive features of the project was the publishing of a paper by the Gate City Guard called ‘The Cartridge Box.’ The title-head (masthead) of the paper was composed of a cut showing a stack of muskets to which was suspended a cartridge box inscribed ‘G.C.G.’ A wreath encircled the box and beneath was the motto of the company, ‘In bello pace que primus.’ The national flag was displayed in the background and two soldiers – one in blue, and the other in gray – were clasping hands over the cartridge box.”
First edition of the newspaper was published May 9, 1880. Editor was Lt. J.H. Lumpkin, later associate justice of the Supreme Court, and Thomas C. Erwin, later cashier of the Third National Bank, served as assistant editor. The embossing on the bottle contains the wreath encircling what may be construed as stacked rifles and script-type letters G C G covering an even vaguer embossing. Lines, who lives in Birmingham, Ala., said the metal top and bottle base are marked C. Newman’s / Patent / Oct. 17, 1876. Also embossed on the bottle base is Baker Bros. & Co., a.k.a. Spring Garden Glass Works in Baltimore, Md., Lines said. Concluded on page 6.
Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005
Hereʼs the Scoop on new Koca Nolas by Charles David Head
Literally hundreds of Yancey’s Bottling Works bottles from Milledgeville, Ga., have been dug over the years, but Steve Jobe of Cordele, Ga., has gone everyone one better. His is embossed YANCEY’S BOTTLING WORKS / Koca Nola (in script) / MILLEDGEVILLE, GA. Apparently Yancey’s received their franchise between 1907-09 and it must not have done well. So far, only that lone example has been found. Since this is a unique bottle, I’d value it in the $125 to $175 range. The Milledgeville bottle’s base is embossed with a small "c" within a diamond, a mark of a glasshouse no one has been able to identify. Thanks goes to Mr. Jobe for sharing the bottle with us. While checking out a forgotten box of bottles he’d had in his possession for a few years, Carl Barnett of Douglas, Ga., found a clear crowntop embossed KOCA NOLA / BOTTLING WORKS / Koca Nola (in script) / GASTONIA, N.C. That surprised him and me, too! The franchise probably was awarded during the company’s heydays of 1907-09. Mr. Barnett is the co-author (with Ken Nease of Claxton, Ga.) of the book, Georgia’s Early Embossed Crown Top Sodas." That’s still available from the authors, 1211 St. Andrews Dr., Douglas, GA 31533 for $43.90, including shipping and handling. Carl also learned of another possible Georgia bottle after reading the Talbot County history book. A story dated Aug. 23, 1906 noted that the Talbotton Bottling Company "was bottling real Coca-Cola after a period of bottling Coca (sic) Nola." Carl thinks the company may have bottled Koca Nola in its Above: Yancey’s Bottling Works, own bottles and used Koca Nola, Milledgeville, Ga. paper labels, although there is a possibility that Left: Crystal Spring Bottling Wks., embossed bottles exist. Koca Nola, Crystal Spring, Miss.
Koca Nola was a hit in the Deep South during the first part of the 20th century and proof of that statement exists in newly discovered bottles of the beverage in Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina. Responses to my appeals for new information in the Summer issue of Bottles & Extras have been gratifying, to say the least. Let’s take a look at the "new" stuff first: John Johnston of Brundidge, Ala., found an advertisement in the March 16, 1909 issue of The Headland (Ala.) Post. The ad reads, "DRINK KOCA NOLA/ DELICIOUS! DOPELESS! Manufactured by the Headland Bottling Works." No embossed examples of Koca Nola from this locale have surfaced yet, but who knows? I’d love to hear from anyone finding an example. Thanks again, Mr. Johnston. Robert Wagner of Jackson, Miss., sent in a photo of a broken example embossed CRYSTAL SPRING BOTTLING WKS. / Koca Nola (in script) / CRYSTAL SPRING, MISS. The correct name of the town is CRYSTAL SPRINGS, according to Mr. Wagner. The company had a franchise to market the soda sometime between 1907 and 1909. Several clear crowntop bottles exist. ROOT, the mark of the Root Glass Co., of Terre Haute, Ind., is embossed on the base. The bottle also is listed in James McClure’s book, "Mississippi’s Antique Bottles and Jugs." Because of its rarity, I would value one at $125 to $175. Thanks so much, Mr. Wagner.
5 He gets my thanks for sharing this information. Now we come to a mystery of sorts. There are several bottles embossed B.I. TAYLOR & CO. / Koca Nola (in script) / BAGLEY, GA., in existence. The problem: Where’s Bagley? It can’t be found on any early maps, or in records at the Atlanta History Center, or in the 1904 Georgia Gazateer which lists dozens of towns not in existence today. Steve Jobe, who discovered the Milledgeville bottle listed above, raised that question. There is a possibility that the bottle should be embossed BAXLEY, the Appling County seat, because the town had a Baxley Bottling Works during the early 1900s. However, a thorough check of the town’s early charters of incorporation and the Microfilm files of The News Banner of Baxley from 1907 to 1909 revealed nothing. No records showing a B.I. Taylor in Baxley were found. Few small-town bottlers incorporated and even fewer advertised, preferring to sell by word of mouth. Readers who might have a clue about this mystery are urged to contact the people listed at the bottom of this story. The good folks at the Pulaski County Historical Society sent me a listing for the Koca Nola Bottling Company of Kentucky from the 1908 Somerset City Directory. The company was listed as being located on Third Street and managed by Sam Denham. None of the society members had seen a Somerset Koca Nola until I sent them photos of my bottle. I thank them for their interest because every little bit helps. My good friend, Harry Evans, of Jasper, Tenn., was scanning the internet the other day and found a Koca Nola advertisement from the 1906 Jacksonville (Fla.) City Directory. It lists the Koca Nola Company as being located on Palm and Forest streets. The ad hyphenates Koca-Nola, the first time I’d seen it spelled like that. Thanks to Mr. Evans for sharing. Ms. Irene Baker of Huntsville, Tenn., sent me two documents of interest. One is a Koca Nola letterhead from the Keen Bottling Company’s branch in South Pittsburg, Tenn., indicating it was up and running in 1906, a year earlier than I’d figured. They marketed Koca Nola until 1909 when they replaced it with Rye-Ola.
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The letter is intriguing as well. Willard Keen is admonishing his brother, A.Y., not to drink too much Koca Nola, "and in fact I do not believe too much of the carbonated beverages is good for you. You will have to be careful about what you eat and drink if you have good health there." I really appreciate Ms. Baker’s contributions. Should any reader have information on Koca Nola franchises not listed, they can write to me at the address listed below, or contact Bill Baab. Even the smallest tidbit of information will be appreciated. Bill also collects Koca Nolas and has been instrumental in helping me research the company history. His expertise is being used to edit my upcoming book, "A Head’s Up on Koca Nola," and all information received with be credited to the appropriate people.
Charles David Head 23549-001 Atlanta FCI 601 McDonough Blvd., S.E. Atlanta, GA 30315
Continued from page 4. According to American Glass by George and Helen McKearin, the Spring Garden Glass Works was established in 1850 and was operating in 1880. After 1855, however, the company failed and the factory was bought by Baker Brothers & Company, owners of the Baltimore Glass Works. The company began making bottles and flasks and, according to the McKearins, was still operating in 1905. Unfortunately, no mention of the flask is in the Gate City Guard history book, but since “The Cartridge Box” was in existence only during 1880, it can be surmised that an unknown number of the flasks were manufactured in time for the celebration. The Gate City Guard was established on January 8, 1857 and named after Atlanta,
Bill Baab 2352 Devere St., Augusta, GA 30904 Ph: (706) 736-8097 E-mail: riverswamper@comcast.net.
then known by the nickname, “The Gate City.” According to the Old Guard history covering 1858-1917 and chronicled by Henry Clay Freeman, the company never exceeded 80 privates “exclusive of commissioned and non-commissioned officers.” Guard uniforms were dark blue with dark epaulettes and trimmings edged in gold. Hats were of the French shako type, black with drooping white plumes. The service uniform was gray. The company was on call from civil authorities at all times, once assisting the Fulton County sheriff in guarding a soonto-be-hanged prisoner whose friends reportedly were going to attempt a rescue. The Guard also patrolled the streets around
a neighborhood where buildings had been set ablaze, according to the history published as a 1964 reprint. Some members of the company fought for the South during the Civil War, others according to their consciences did not. The company reorganized after the war. Other decades of the Old Guard history were written by Cator Woodford (1917-33) and Frank W. Harrison, Frank A. Kopfe and James C. Wise (1933-63). Readers knowing more details about the special flasks are urged to contact this author, who is the Southern Region editor for the federation. His e-mail and street addresses are listed in the regional reports. Thanks to Tom Lines and Ken Nease for contributing to this article.
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BOOK REVIEW by Claire Whitcomb
A PASSION FOR ANTIQUES by
Barbara Ohrbach Publisher: Clarkson Potter (Web) 2005 - $30 If you’ve been bitten by the collecting bug, then you know what a compulsive behavior expert at a Manhattan hospital recently documented: When you narrow in on an object of desire, your heart rate increases, your blood pressure rises and your brain releases feel-good serotonin. And that’s good news for your decorating health, says Barbara Ohrbach, whose latest book is aptly named “A Passion for Antiques.” Decorating with collections, she believes, is a great short cut to charisma. Assemble a shelf full of antique bottles, vintage children’s shoes, gather a mantel’s worth of mercury glass (also known as “Poor man’s silver”) and your rooms will have instant character. The question, of course, is what to collect. Though it’s rare to find anything for a song in these overly educated times, Ohrbach still thinks bargains can be had. Among the up-and-coming areas she cites: china and barware from defunct hotels and cruise liners, antique cameras, early mezzotints, designer costume jewelry and space-exploration artifacts. If a fear of clutter is keeping you away from flea markets and yard sales, Ohrbach sympathizes. “Everyone’s simplifying these days,” she says. “Even I’ve simplified, but I still love lushness.” She recommends keeping clutter at bay by massing collections. Showcase bottles by spanning a window with bottle shelves. Take nine beautiful wallpaper samples, put them in matching frames and group them over a sofa. Or cluster antique alarm clocks on a bedside table. Never mind that vintage purses, Staffordshire gravy strainers or military uniforms weren’t intended to be displayed as art. That’s exactly what makes them appealing as decorative focal points. With tiny objects such as old tobacco tins or beaded Victorian reticules (women’s beaded bags), Ohrbach suggests setting them in trays or in bowls. That way when company comes and you need to make room for drinks, you can whisk them away. “Don’t feel you need to display everything you own all of the time,” she advises. Rotate objects seasonally, just as you would holiday ornaments. “I love the Japanese idea that when a guest comes, the family goes into the Tansu chest and brings out something special to display,” she says. In her own house in Dutches County, New York, Ohrbach manages to keep a large portion of her collections out in the open by layering them expertly. She uses her vintage fabrics as undercloths for the dining table. She tucks old engravings behind architectural ornaments on her shelves.
In the bathroom she places folded pieces of antique chintz beneath a stack of towels. In her bedroom, she treats her collection of costume jewelry necklaces and bangles as a design element, setting them out in Irish woven willow baskets on a shelf. As for simplification, Ohrbach pared down her living space in one fell swoop. She eliminated books. “I had books filling shelves, books piled on tables and chairs,” she explains. “I moved them all to a spare room that I lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves.” If you don’t have a spare room, a library can easily be created in a hallway, a stair landing, or a guestroom. When your books are in place, Ohrbach suggests adding a dollop of romance by leaning framed pictures or prints up against the book spines. Rest tiny birds’ nests or shells on the shelf edges. “You want to take the edge of perfection off your assemblages,” she explains. After all, the great joy of living with old things is their imperfection–the chip in the painted finish, the worn patina of wood, the gentle fading of old chintz. Their setting shouldn’t be museum-stuffy, which is why Ohrbach advises thinking beyond white for your walls. A joyful shade of spring green or lemon yellow “can keep things from getting too formal,” she says. “In Ireland and England, countries where sunshine is at a premium, antiques are often displayed in rooms with luscious hues.” Ohrbach is right to title her book “A Passion for Antiques.” Collecting is a heart-racing, blood pressure-elevating passion, or as Sigmund Freud diagnosed his own quest for Greek Roman and Egyptian antiquities, “an addiction, second only to nicotine.”
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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, 1605 Clipper Cove, Painesville, OH 44077; Phone: (440) 358-1223; E-mail: a.demaison@sbcglobal.net 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
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President :
Federation of Historic Bottle Collectors
President’s Message This issue’s Presidents message will be somewhat abbreviated with the time challenges and a fast approaching deadline to go to press. However, I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in helping to make the 2005 National Show the great success that it was. Please be sure to see the pictures, news and notes on both the show and the auction later in this issue. I am especially proud of the local West Michigan Antique Bottle Club, as well as other volunteers from around Michigan, who “gave it their all.” They all worked so very hard to help ensure that the event was a success! The Federation’s Banquet on Friday evening held in the stunningly beautiful and ornate Gerald R. Ford Room at the host Amway Grand Hotel, was perhaps one of the most successful banquets on record with a full one-hundred attendees preregistered; the room filled to capacity, and a spillover crowd of people lining the back of the room. We had a rather unique and exceptionally well received program with Bob Ferraro, Jim Hagenbuch, Norman Heckler, and Dick Watson, serving as our
“Masters” of the evening. They each did a fine job reminiscing about their experiences in the hobby, fielding questions posed by the audience and providing their own unique perspective on the hobby’s past, present, and future. We are very grateful and indebted to each of them for sharing their experiences and expertise with us all. The Seminars on Saturday morning were perhaps some of the best that we have had the pleasure of hosting. There were eight different seminars covering a wide array of topics. The seminar presenters are to be commended for doing a wonderful job and sharing their knowledge and expertise. Displays at the 2005 National were a special treat as well. The show boasted a total of more than thirty different displays encompassing thirty-seven display spaces and totaling the equivalent of almost 300 linear feet of exhibits! I would like to personally thank all the exhibitors who made the significant effort to share a part of their collection and knowledge at the 2005 National Show. Thank you, as I know everyone who attended certainly enjoyed viewing the fabulous array of exhibits. The entire weekend was designed to
John R. Pastor 7288 Thorncrest Dr. SE Ada, MI 49301 (616) 285-7604 jpastor2000@sbcglobal.net
provide folks an opportunity to broaden their knowledge and to enhance their enjoyment of the hobby. I would like to thank all the collectors, dealers and friends who attended the show and who participated in the weekend. Thank you for being a part of the show and for making it a great weekend to remember. One addition aspect of the National Show that I would like to mention was the annual FOHBC Board Meeting. Your board of directors hosted their annual meeting on Friday morning and discussed a number of important issues and recommendations, some of which if adopted, will involve amendments to the current By-Laws. I hope that each of you took the opportunity to vote your opinion on the ballot issues in the most recent FOHBC Newsletter. We are here to serve you, and rest assured that your opinion is valued! We welcome your comments, articles or suggestions. We want to hear from you. Please send us your input and any recommendations that you may have for the Federation and for the promotion of our wonderful hobby.
Just some of what is coming in future issues: Shield F - The Mark of Quality A Tale of Two Machines and a Revolution in Soft Drink Bottling The F H G W Mark The First Simplex Screw Cap (for Fruit Jars) Western Whiskey: Saloons and Retail Merchants About Sanborn Maps Bottling Wisdom: The Motto Jug The Bethesda Spring Water Bottle Story Brewing in Medford, Oregon And more... Donʼt miss any of them !
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Fall 2005 plowed through a privy pit. A crude aqua strap-sided flask, an eightsided umbrella ink with A&F on the base and another eight-sided, oddly-shaped aqua umbrella ink were among his finds. Later, exploring a site where an old hardware store had been torn down, Wiseman found whole fruit jars, including a half-gallon Ball-Ideal / Patd. July 14, 1908, with no date, plus more than a dozen crown top sodas including a Poncele Bottling Works / Des Moines, Iowa / 6-1/2 Flu. Ozs., and a fancy crown top embossed Golden Fate / Des Moines / Bottling Works / Des Moines, Iowa / Cap. 8 Fl Ozs., many Pluto Water / America’s Physic, or a Mr. Pluto (the devil you say!) embossed on the base, and aqua and clear mug-based sodas embossed L. Stolle / Des Moines, Ia. The last had a funny lip embossed PAT and are similar to those sometimes found on the Maish bottles from Des Moines. Other Wiseman finds worth mentioning: a Hutchinson with a damaged lip embossed Spence & Buttler / Des Moines, Iowa; a crown top embossed Des Moines Steam / Bottling Works / Neudereman & Ostholm; a clear oval drug store bottle embossed Schmucker & Loper / Druggists / Des Moines, Iowa, and a clear Hansen’s Drug Store / Des Moines, Iowa. Congratulations to Janie Raper, editor of the Raleigh Bottle Club’s Bottle Talk, for having come in second place in the Federation’s newsletter contest. In her August issue, she devoted some of her nine pages to Adlai “Pem” Woodlief, a longtime club member. The 51-year-old collects 78 rpm records, North Carolina bottles, post cards and other ephemera from the Tar Heel State, and Granville County, N.C., items. He always shares his finds with club members and brings excellent desserts to the club picnic, Christmas and cookout meetings. Among show and tell presentations at the club’s July meeting, Woodlief displayed a Durham, N.C., seltzer, a Durham Nehi and a gum ball jar with embossed lid. New member Steven O’Conner showed an Indian Rock Ginger Ale, a High Point (N.C.) Pepsi, and a lilac-colored Wadesboro bottle. Donnie Medlin showed a rare halfpint Tarboro, N.C. Dispensary and Dean Haley a 95-year-old amber Pepsi from Tarboro. Haley is missing only two bottles to complete his North Carolina amber Pepsi
Southern Regional News
Bill Baab 2352 Devere Street Augusta, GA 30904 (706) 736-8097 riverswamper@comcast.net
Mark (“Digging Iowa”) Wiseman (with Elsie the pup) dominated the August issue of Oklahoma Territory News, edited by the Oklahoma Territory Bottle & Relic Club’s Johnnie Fletcher. Congratulations to Fletcher and Warren Borton for winning the FOHBC’s “Best True Story” contest for Borton’s “Great Anticipation,” a wonderful digging story complemented with great photos published in Fletcher’s newsletter. Meanwhile Wiseman, who is in the construction business, was working on a methane mitigation trench in an old dumping area and found some bottles. Included in his finds was a quart blobtop beer embossed Banner Brewing Co. / Cincinnati, O., and a F.S. Shadle & Co./ Druggist / Knoxville, Iowa. After a rain, he checked the dirt piles and found an unembossed cobalt soda with a graphite pontil, an L.H. Bush / Druggist / Des Moines, and a nice ceramic pipe. He tells of a construction site near the capital in Des Moines that may result in some digging. He found shards for an unknown Des Moines Steam Bottling Works with an “ugly eagle” in the middle of the slug plate. The bottle base is embossed ROOT X, indicating the bottle was made by the Root Glass Co., of Terre Haute, Ind. His regular “Digging Iowa” column featured himself and Tom Southard checking out a Des Moines area that had yielded some nice finds in the past. Tom found a brick-lined pit four feet in diameter and about as many feet deep packed with trash and glass. A crown top beer embossed Standard Brewery / Chicago with an eagle and a pair of quart crown top soda bottles (A.B.C. Bottling Co. / 25 Fluid Oz. / Des Moines, Ia., and A.B.C. Bottling Works / Des Moines, Ia., were among the finds. One was machine-made, the other blown. On a dig by himself, Wiseman found a Warner’s Safe Kidney and Liver Cure and L.H. Bush / Druggist / Des Moines and a Norman Lichty / Des Moines, Ia., another druggist bottle. Later, Wiseman checked out a bulldozed area where the machine had
Bottles and Extras collection. Member Skinny Medlin gve the historical background to the Frank Tea & Spice Co., a Cincinnati firm dating to 1896. This is the company that manufactured Jumbo Peanut Butter. Medlin brought a variety of Frank product jars, including a green elephant jar. He said the company issued six mustard jars, but he had only five. The jars were in the shapes of animals and Medlin had the parrot, dog, cat, monkey and owl jars. He said the monkey jar sold for $175 and if it had the lid, it would sell for $485. Janie downloaded 10 color photos in the newsletter. Roberta Knight featured a history of Dr. Pepper in her July issue of The Bottling Works and issued an appeal to members of the Tennessee Valley Traders & Collectors to provide her with stories for the newsletter. Five visitors came to the July meeting of The State of Franklin (Tenn.) Antique Bottle & Collectibles Association, according to Melissa Milner, editor of the club’s Groundhog Gazette. Chris and Bart Long of Bristol, Va., and Don and Lib Findley of Kingsport, Tenn., joined the club. The latter, who lived in England for four years, brought some black glass bottles they’d found in an old English manor house, sharing their adventures with humorous anecdotes. Melissa featured a story about patent medicines from the online Pilgrim Hall Museum and illustrated it with many trade cards from her collection. The Horse Creek Bottle Club heard Jackie Bartley of Jackson, S.C., president of the Beech Island (S.C.) Historical Society, explain the society’s functions and projects, including archaeological digs, during the July meeting. The society recently received a $200,000 grant with which it will renovate a Beech Island building and turn it into an agricultural museum. Harvey Teal, a Columbia, S.C. historian and club member, revealed that his longawaited book on the South Carolina Dispensary system was to be published in early September. He played host to a book signing at the Kershaw County Fine Arts Center in Camden, S.C., on Sept. 11 at which many examples of rare dispensary bottles and stoneware jugs were on display. This editor, who is club secretary and edits Probe & Plunder newsletter, gave the
Bottles and Extras August program during which he spoke of the joys of collecting antique and contemporary pottery. He brought several
Fall 2005 examples from his own collection, including a unique dragon jug made by master potter Meredith Metz of Aiken, S.C.
The dragon curls around the jug from its base and its head peers into the spout.
sure see inside a person when they are putting that first raw and painful issue to bed. There just isn’t anywhere to hide in times like that. Next it’s over the pass and across the valley to Reno, The Digger’s Dirt, Reno ABC, Helene Walker at the pen. It’s official!!! The 2006 National Federation Show will be held at the Nugget Hotel and Casino, Sparks, Nev., August 17-19. Looks like Sparks has intelligently avoided the hateful Reno temporary business license tax and besides, the hall is a lot more reasonable to secure in Sparks. The convention center in Reno wanted the price of a very decent used car! Sounds like the this year’s annual show went off well. Reno is always a great show. One amusing thing that happened, after several years having inadequate or barely passable air conditioning, it was requested to pay close attention to keeping the sale room comfortable. Well they did, and they didn’t! I heard got so cold on Friday it was approaching a meat locker temp and everybody was starting to freeze!! They got it straightened out though and back on track. Imagine being too cold in Reno’s July!!! The club was able to snag some great raffle bottles for upcoming events. And let me tell you, Reno goes all out if past performance in anything to judge by. How’s about let’s go to LA next, huh? The Whittlemark, LAHBC. There is a great show recap from our travelers Ken ‘n Dar on the Saratoga show. They were lined up about 300 deep chomping the bit to get into this one-day show. When the door finally opened they poured in. Seven good displays greeted our shoppers but first things first, and it was scramble inside the main hall to look for poisons and inks. Two or three collectors were selling their ink collections but it hadn’t brought the prices down much, if any. Not so many poisons available either and nothing to write home about on the price there. But with 130 tables and the displays there were
were still lots of good things to look over. Plus, and the best plus, were the old and new friends greeted to hunker on down and get a good gab bag on with. Nothing like bottle talk with good people! How can you beat that? Heading north to old San Fran, The Corker, Golden Gate HBS. Gary Antone (club pres) says: Well, the annual show has come and gone in the blink of an eye. It sure is a lot like putting on a wedding (every year). All the planning, preparation and scheming and then the day finally comes, and it all flies by so fast you can hardly hold onto your hat! Well said!! There was good club member participation in the show and hearty thanks given. I see Russ Umbraco listed in the roster of volunteers. Really good to hear of it, Russ, welcome back home! I’ve still got that WA Lacey, Crown Distilleries paper label sample. Why don’t you work up something snappy and trade me out of it!! (Scott). Well, friends. My time is gone. I want to finish up, and I know I’m leaving some fine material out. But honestly I still have this mouth misery but much more important, our Kathy is DUE!!! Baby time! Hooray for Kathy! Ketch you all up next time Yours, Scott
Western Regional News
Scott Grandstaff Box 409 Happy Camp, CA 96039 (530) 493-2032 scottg@snowcrest.net
Howdy, region. Hope you had a great summer. We had some brutal hot times here. It went so far past 100 we didn’t even bother to check anymore. You didn’t need to. We’re goin’ in. The Stumptown Report. Oregon BCA Vacation time in Oregon. Pres Mark Junker, along with Pat Darneille and Scott Slowter, were off vacationing together. A bottle digging and bottle show antique mall and perusing holiday in the eastern states. Headed out to sack the joint wholesale! Hope you had good luck, fellas. Not only that. But a report of the same activity comes in from Jeff Hooper who traveled over 6,000 miles with David Bethman. All the way to Pa. and back with lots of stops along the way. The duo managed to dig a cubic yard of bottles, including some serious keepers, over several states, and timed it all to hit some bottle and antique shows, too, ransacking roadside business establishments as they went. What a way to vacation, guys!!! Mixing up our itinerary this time we’re headed to the Sequoia AB&CC, The Bottloligist. I see Louise Rider brought in a copy of The Federation Journal, #1 Volume 1, 1973 for share ‘n tell. Man, I’m jealous. That’s one I don’t think I have. Did I ever mention I have a small collection going of first edition bottle publications? It started sometime after we got the first edition of B&E printed and remembering the gigantic excitement and trauma that goes along with that (so much I really can’t tell it all), I couldn’t help but be interested in everyone else’s births. So I quietly started to round them up whenever I could. First Western Collector, first OBX, first Gazette and Bottle News and on and on like that. You
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Fall 2005
Bottles and Extras
Louisville Museum Gets Bonanza in 601 Historical Flask Collection By Bill Baab LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An outstanding collection of 601 American historical flasks is now the property of Louisville’s Speed Art Museum, thanks to the generosity of longtime collector Robinson S. Brown Jr. The collection was accumulated over a 50-year period by Mr. Brown, retired chief executive officer for the Brown-Forman Company, a Louisville-based beverage firm. He is a descendant of company founder George Garvin Brown. The flasks were produced by American glass factories between 1815 and the 1890s and originally held whiskey. Some of the flasks were produced at either the Louisville or Kentucky glass works. Grouped into 15 categories, the collection includes historical (presidents, railroads), decorative (scrolls, sunbursts), organizations (Masons) and locales (Pike’s Peak, Baltimore Monument). “Mr. Brown’s goal was to try to collect an example of every flask listed in the book, American Glass by George and Helen McKearin,” said Julie Thies, manager of collections information. “We were pretty shocked when we saw (the extent of) it.” Mr. Brown has been an avid collector for more than a half-century. In addition to the flasks, he is interested in paintings, early cut glass and coins.
He got his start in flask collecting quite by accident, he said. “In 1948, I was living in New Jersey and drove into Vermont where I found an antique shop in a barn,” he explained during a telephone interview last spring. “There were 100 historical flasks for sale at $5 apiece and I bought a few. Looking back, I should have bought all of them. Then I started picking them up here and there.” He continues to collect, but hasn’t found any more $5 flasks. “The most I ever paid for one was $20,000, but most of them cost about $200,” he said. The exceptional flask is an aqua pint embossed with an early steamboat with paddlewheel, waves at the bottom, and the words, THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. Its reverse shows a sheaf of rye and the words, USE ME BUT DO NOT ABUSE ME. Mr. Brown, now 88, found others in auctions conducted by Jim Hagenbuch (Glass Works) and Norm
Heckler. “Norm came to my house and it took four days for him to appraise the collection. My children weren’t interested in having them, so I decided to donate them to the Speed Art Museum.” “His initial collecting habits were with bottles,” said Heckler, from Woodstock Valley, Conn., himself a collector for 46 years, and wellknown throughout the bottle collecting world. “He has a few bitters and a few sodas. “He bought what appealed to him, whether it was color or shape. Given his background in whiskey, I would have thought that he’d collect those bottles, but he didn’t. When he started collecting historical flasks (which contained whiskey), he looked for color and different lip finishes. There are few duplicates in his collection.” Mr. Brown listed examples made by the Louisville Glass Works and Kentucky Glass Works as among
Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005
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his personal favorites since he resides a short distance from Louisville. Examples, according to a list of the collection kindly sent to the writer by the museum, include aqua and amber 2-quarts-plus flasks with an American eagle on the obverse and FARLEY & TAYLOR RICHMOND KY., on the reverse; three vertically ribbed flasks (halfpint, pint and quart) with an American eagle and LOUISVILLE KY. GLASS WORKS on the obverse and vertical ribs on the reverse; several scroll flasks embossed LOUISVILLE KY GLASSWORKS, and four examples (aqua quart, light blue pint, aqua pint and aqua half-pint) of the LOUISVILLE KY GLASS WORKS on the obverse and a plain reverse. Mr. Brown’s interests extends to coins, tokens and cut glass from the Brilliant Period. “I once had the finest collection of large U.S. cents, but sold them at auction,” he said. “I collected Condor tokens from the United Kingdom dating to 1787 and 1790-97. There was a shortage of small change back then and the British mint OK’d the use of the tokens for coinage for awhile. Once the mint started coining small change pieces like the ha’penny, the tokens became illegal. “I have 5,000 different of the 6,000 pieces known to exist,” he said. “The Robinson S. Brown collection of historical flasks provides a fascinating visual record of American popular culture and decorated motifs as applied to glass,” said Scott Erbes, curator of decorative arts at the Speed. “Mr. Brown is a great connoisseur and his collection is outstanding in its depth and in the quality of examples he sought and acquired.” Founded in 1927, the Speed Art Museum has more than 13,000 pieces spanning 6,000 years in its collection, ranging from Egyptian art to contemporary art. Included are collections of 17th century Dutch and Flemish paintings, 18th century French art, Renaissance and Baroque tapestries and African and Native American works. The museum is located at 2035 South Third Street and features a hands-on art learning center for families, a café and gift shop. More information is available by calling (502) 634-2700. Check out the museum’s web site at: www.speedmuseum.org. Photos: Above, right: Masonic Symbols / American Eagle, about 1817-1820 Keene Glass Works, Keene, New Hampshire. McKearin/Wilson GIV-1. Previous page, above: McKearin/Wilson GVIII-1. Previous page, below, from left to right: McKearin/Wilson GIX-45, GVI-5 and GIII-4, all from the Robinson S. Bown, Jr. Collection of Historical Flasks, Speed Art Museum. Courtesy of photographer Kenneth Hayden, Speed Art Museum.
Above: Mr. Robinson S. Brown, Jr. taking a look at one of his flasks. Left: Peter Morrin (left), director of the Speed Art Museum and Norman Heckler (center), appraiser of collector Mr. Robinson S. Brown, Jr.’s flasks take a momet to pose.
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Fall 2005
Debunking the Myth of the Side Seam Thermometer by Bill Lockhart, Bill Lindsey. David Whitten and Carol Serr © Bill Lockhart 2005
One of the longest running myths in the world of bottle dating is that the side mold seam can be read like a thermometer to determine the age of a bottle. The concept is that the higher the side mold seam on the bottle the later it was made – at least in the era from the mid-19th century until the first few decades of the 20th century. This dating tool was apparently devised by Grace Kendrick in her 1963 book The Antique Bottle Collector. This book was a pioneering effort and was reprinted many times into the 1970s. It is probably the most common and widely quoted bottle book ever written – by collectors and archaeologists alike. Kendrick’s exploratory efforts were well done – for the time period. She was at the forefront of bottle researchers. However, we have learned a few things in the past 22 years. The concept of the side-seam thermometer was articulated by Kendrick in her chapter entitled “The Applied Lip” that contains a chart, “Age Gauge: Mold Seams of Bottles” (Kendrick1963:46). Kendrick explains in the text: “It is true that the mold seams can be used like a thermometer to determine the approximate age of a bottle. The closer to the top of the bottle the seams extend, the more recent was the production of the bottle” (1936:4547). The chart accompanying this statement notes that bottles made before 1860 have a side mold seam ending on the shoulder or low on the neck; between 1860 and 1880, the seam ends just below the finish; between 1880 and 1900, the seam ends within the finish just below the top lip surface; and those made after 1900 have mold seams ending right at the top surface of the finish, i.e., lip (Kendrick 1963). Although there are examples of bottles having mold seams that fit these date ranges properly, the issue of dating bottles is vastly more complex than the simple reading of side mold seams. If it were that simple, much of the succeeding literature and research would have been unnecessary. For example, the process that produces a tooled
finish frequently erases any trace of the side mold seam an inch or more below the base of the finish; whereas, the typical applied finish has the seam ending higher – right at the base of the finish. Often the issue is the skill of the individual craftsman. A highly-skilled bottle maker obliterated less of the mold seam than one who was more sloppy in his work. In addition, there are three other points pertinent to side seam height. First, on many 19th century bottles, the side seams are a different height on each side. According to the thermometer, the bottle halves would have been made during different years. Again, this is a result of the individual skill of the craftsman. Second, all glass techniques changed over a period of time. Not all mold makers produced molds with higher seams during the same period. Even if the chart were a good indicator, it would have to have a period of overlap for each line height during which the industry standards changed. Finally, most bottles made by hand throughout the mouth-blown bottle era (antiquity through the first quarter of the 20th century) received varying amounts of re-firing of the upper neck and/or finish. This reheating often erased traces of the side mold seams – further confounding the “thermometer” dating guide throughout the entire mouth-blown bottle era. The final sequence in the chart, the side seam extending to the top of the finish after 1900 is extremely faulty. Many figured flasks (like scroll flasks) were simply cracked off from the blowpipe at the point where the top of the mold ended, with no re-firing of the lip. This leaves a relatively sharp, round lip surface to the bottle but also often results in a bottle where the side mold seams ends right at the top edge of the lip (but of course, does not go over the top of the finish like a machine-made bottle). Although these flasks date to the “before 1860” period, the “thermometer” would date them into the 20th century! In 1881, Phillip Arbogast invented a semi-automatic bottle machine, a device
Bottles and Extras that reversed the process of bottle making by creating the “finish” first (Meigh 1960:3). Forming the finish first created side seams that extended to the top of the bottle. These early machines only worked on wide-mouth bottles and jars, but the technique was improved to make smallmouth bottles by late 1887 (Meigh 1972:28). Even when Michael J. Owens invented the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine in 1903, that did not mean that all or even most bottles began to have the seams extend to the top of the finish during that period. Many bottles continued to be mouth blown, meaning that the finish was created last, and side seams terminated below the finish, until the mid-1920s (see Miller & Sullivan for a good discussion about the transition period). The seam that extends into the finish, a process Kendrick dated 1880-1900, is somewhat unusual and is found in relatively few bottles. Lindsey (2005) describes this as an “improved tooled” finish that is most commonly (but not exclusively) seen on bottles produced towards the end of the mouth-blown bottle era, i.e., 1890s to 1910s. While this can be dated reasonably well to that time period, it was clearly not a defining technique for that or any other period of time. It is unfortunate that this fiction keeps popping up in the literature of bottle dating and identification ranging from Sellari’s books (Sellari and Sellari 1970:5 and others) published shortly after Kendricks book to as recent as Fike (1998:4) and Heetderks (2002:15). It is also frequently noted by sellers on eBay® when describing their offerings. The most recent repetition (with the 1880-1890 form slightly altered from the original Kendrick chart) was published in the Summer 2005 issue of Bottles and Extras (Munsey 2005:31). The rest of Munsey’s article, by the way, is excellent. There is, of course, some truth in the thermometer concept. Over time, two improvements in bottle manufacture continued to advance. First, molds actually did improve, gradually creeping up the side seams ever higher. While this idea, the basis of the side-seam thermometer concept, is correct, it is not clearly articulated enough in the actual practice of 19th century bottle makers to be a usable, dating concept, especially not with clearcut starting and stopping dates. Second, finishing techniques improved. As both tools and the techniques of the bottle
Bottles and Extras makers became more refined, less of the bottle necks were affected by the finishing process. Once again, however, this was highly dependent on individual gaffers (glass blowers) and the tools provided by specific factories. It was not clear cut, and there are literally dozens of examples in the collection of only one member of this research group that refute the side-seam thermometer fiction. Between the four of us, we could probably provide literally hundreds of examples that are exceptions to the “thermometer” dating guide. Examples of these are a bottle from M. H. Webb, Druggist, of El Paso, Texas. Webb was only at the address on the bottle (220 San Antonio St.) from 1900 to 1903. According to the thermometer, this bottle should have a side seam that extends to the top of the finish. In reality [Figures 1 - 2], the side seam terminates less than halfway up the neck. If the thermometer were to be believed, this bottle would date 1860-1880, at least 20 years too early. A bottle from the Rio Grande Pharmacy [Figures 3 - 4], one of El Paso’s oldest drug stores, is embossed with the signature of Stafford Campbell, Ph.G., Prop. Campbell was first listed as the proprietor in the El Paso city directories in 1896, and he took on a partner in 1901. Thus, the bottle was made during the 1896-1901 period and should have a side seam extending to the top of the finish (according to the thermometer). The actual side seam terminates slightly above the shoulder. According to the thermometer, that would date the bottle before 1860. A third example comes from the Economical Drug Co., open in El Paso from 1915 to 1930 [Figures 5 - 6]. The style of this bottle, with graduations in ounces on the left and cubic centimeters on the right, was first offered in the 1902 Whitall Tatum catalog and was used until at least the 1930s. The seam on this bottle extends to the bottom of the finish on one side and less than halfway up on the other – clearly not to the top of the finish. These examples, alone, clearly refute the accuracy of the side-seam thermometer concept. Two final examples are found on soft drink bottles from the Magnolia Coca-Cola Bottling Co., El Paso. The company was founded in late 1907 or early 1908 and obtained the Coca-Cola franchise in 1911 (Lockhart 2001:83-98). Magnolia’s second bottle style [Figures 7 - 8] was used from about 1909 to 1911. On all examples of the bottle, the side seams extend more than
Fall 2005
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Figure 1: M. H. Webb Drug Store Bottle (1900-1903)
Figure 2: Side Seam – Webb Bottle
Figure 3: Rio Grande Pharmacy Bottle (1896-1901)
Figure 5: Economical Drug Co. Bottle (1915-1930) Figure 4: Side Seam – Rio Grande Pharmacy Bottle
Figure 6: Side Seam – Economical Drug Co. Bottle
halfway up the neck but end well below the finish – a format that fits the 1860-1880 Figure 8: Side Seam identification on the Magnolia Bottling Co. Bottle “thermometer” – at least 29 years off. A straight-sided stop repeating this outdated Coke bottle [Figures 9 - 10] has dating technique. Kendrick’s a side seam that extends into ideas were well thought out – for the finish, an idea that the 1960s. However, on Kendrick’s original researchers of the 21st century Figure 7: Magnolia thermometer would have dated need to update our body of Bottling Co. Bottle the bottle between 1880 and dating tools to reflect more (1909-1911) 1890. Because Magnolia did recent discoveries. For more not acquire the Coke franchise until 1911, discussion on this aspect of bottle dating this date range, too, is incorrect by at least and identification, see Bill Lindsey’s 21 years. The evidence speaks for itself. “Bottle Body Characteristics & Mold Seams We hope this helps clarify bottle dating and Bottle Bases” webpages. a bit and will help persuade more people to Continued on Page 41.
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Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005
The Supremes and Whiskey By Mail: Then and Now Special to Bottles and Extras by Jack Sullivan
No law has stood the test of time like the Webb-Kenyon Act, passed by Congress in 1913 to prevent alcoholic products from being sent by mail into states that had enacted “dry” laws. It stood unchallenged until May 2005 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down statutes enacted by Michigan and New York to prevent mail or online out-of-state wine sales to their residents, laws largely based on WebbKenyon. In their recent decision, the majority of justices cited a 1917 case called Clark Distilling Co. vs. Western Maryland R.R. This is the story of that Cumberland, Maryland operation and Ohio and North Carolina whiskey merchants who also relied on mail order sales - and what WebbKenyon did to all of them. Impact of the National Pike When James Clark opened the distillery in Cumberland in 1883, he knew that the National Pike and railroads that traversed his town would take his whiskey to the Western reaches of the United States. He could not have known that they also would take him to the U.S. Supreme Court and into American legal history. The National Pike, sometimes called the National Road, was of historical importance. Early Americans, including Washington and Jefferson, had seen the economic impact of connecting the Potomac and Ohio River water routes by a road through the Cumberland Gap in the Allegenies. Urged on by Henry Clay, the U.S. Congress in 1803 approved the first Federal highway to connect the town of Cumberland on the Potomac with Wheeling, West Virginia, on the Ohio. Work began in 1811. Snaking its way across the mountains, the road was the best that had ever been in North America. The right-of-way was 66 feet wide and the roadway was 20 feet. [Figure 1] The surface was covered with 18 inches of crushed stone, engineered to drain water from the surface. The road took seven years to reach Wheeling. Subsequently, it was pushed eastward from Cumberland to Baltimore and westward by 1841 to
Vandalia, Illinois, where it stopped - 800 miles long. The National Pike made possible a thriving commerce both east and west of the mountains. The toll rates shown here in an old postcard [Figure 2] clearly favored commercial wagons over personal transport. A passenger buggy with four wheels and two horses cost 12-cents. A cart or wagon was charged by the breadth of its wheels. The biggest wheels - over eight inches - went free, thus encouraging trade along the route. Although the coming of the railroads eventually brought a decline in the need for the National Pike, for decades the road engendered a lively atmosphere along its route, including in Cumberland. According to one witness, “never had there been such landlords, such taverns, such dinners, such whiskey, such bustle or such endless cavalcades of coaches and wagons...” Supplying those travelers with whiskey spawned a distilling industry in the town. An immigrant named James Clark was among the principal beneficiaries.
Figure 2: Postcard of an early schedule of tolls from the National Pike.
The Story of James Clark Clark was born in 1846, reputedly aboard a ship en route to America from Ireland. When he arrived in Cumberland is unclear. However, we know he early showed a strong business acumen and probably was engaged for a number or years in whiskey sales and
distribution as the James Clark Company. In 1879 he was joined in the firm by his half-brother, John Keating, some 17 years his junior. Four years later, James Clark bought a distillery that had been erected in 1836 by partners Clabaugh and James. That business had failed and the plant
Figure 1: A postcard view of the National Pike west of Cumberland in the early 1900s.
Bottles and Extras subsequently had been turned into a chemical factory. Clark restored the facility as a distillery, and in 1895 reorganized the business, changing its name to the James Clark Distilling Company. John Keating became its vice-president and treasurer. A line drawing of the distillery [Figure 3] shows it as an impressively large installation. The drawing also emphasized the ready availability of the plant to both overland and rail transport. The picture was part of an advertisement that the company ran in the April 1909 issue of the North American Wine and Spirits Journal. Braddock Rye The ad also trumpeted Braddock Maryland Rye as “American’s Finest Whiskey.” Clark had registered this brand name with the U.S. Government at least three times - in 1886, 1905 and 1916. Braddock Maryland Rye sold in three formats, four-year-old, four quarts for $4.50; eight-year-old, four quarts for $5.50; and “black label” $1.50 per quart. Clark also sold Braddock Old Export Whiskey, Braddock Barley Malt and Braddock “Blend of Whiskeys.” Clark often called his facility, Braddock Distillery, and the plant prominently displayed that name. There were distinct ironies in Clark’s choice of that name. General Braddock was the ill-fated British general who marched out of Alexandria, Virginia 250 years ago to confront the French and Indians in the Ohio Valley [Figure 4]. His garrisons, said contemporaries, were for women and liquor.
Figure 4: General Braddock, courtesy of the Andrew Carnegie Library.
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Figure 3: A 1909 Clark “institutional” ad. Braddock camped for a time in Cumberland, then known as Fort Cumberland, before marching out to be killed on the battlefield in Pennsylvania. Shown here in an early 1900s magazine ad are the Braddock whiskey labels and bottles [Figure 5]. James Clark also featured other brands, including Old National Pike Maryland Rye, Old Cumberland XXXX and Queen City Club. Cumberland called itself the “Queen City,” as did a number of American towns. From the number of Clark Distilling bottles and jugs that have been dug and otherwise found, the firm did a strong business in the Shenandoah Valley and the Washington, D.C. area. Shown here [Figure 6] is a 9 and 1/2 inches high clear BIMAL bottle with a torn label that held Clark’s Monongahela Whiskey. It was distributed by one D. P. McCarthy, Manager, whose address was Pennsylvania Av. and 611 B. Street N.W. in Washington. The bottle is marked “JTF, Wash. D.C.”
Figure 6: Monongahela Whiskey from a D.C. distributor (Photo by author).
Figure 5: Mail order ad by Clark Distilling.
18 Mail Order Whiskey As town after town, state after state in America voted to go “Dry,” thirsty Wets in those areas had to obtain their supplies by ordering through the postal service. By the early 1900s, James Clark had developed a thriving mail order business for his whiskey, making use of the good transport by railroad, road and water out of Cumberland. His ads emphasized distance sales, urging customers to cut out pictures of the items they wanted and send them in with their money [as seen in Figure 5]. The 1903 U.S. Internal Revenue of distillery warehouses records considerable activity at the James Clark Distillery, including withdraw of whiskey for export. Clark’s mail order business took an initial hit in 1913 when Congress, under pressure from “Dry” interests, passed the Webb-Kenyon Act over the veto of President Taft. The law prohibited the interstate transport - by mail or other means - of “any spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented or any other intoxicating liquor of any kind” into a state where laws forbid the sales of such products. Initially, the law was unenforced and the mail order sale of liquor continued relatively unabated. As a result, the state of West Virginia, which had enacted a statewide prohibition law, took the step of enjoining the Western Maryland Railroad and the American Express Company from carrying alcoholic products into their state. To the U.S. Supreme Court James Clark, whose business now was in serious jeopardy, fought back. Questioning both the constitutionality of the Webb-Kenyon Act and its application to West Virginia, he filed suit against the two
Figure 7: Chief Justice Edward D. White.
Fall 2005 carriers and the state government. The case was argued before a U.S. District Court judge in 1915 how ruled in favor of Clark. The victory was short lived, however, as the U.S. District Court of Appeals quickly overturned the lower court and then in 1916 explicitly upheld West Virginia. Undeterred, Clark took his case all the way to the United States Supreme Court. On January 8, 1917, by a vote of seven to two, the Supreme Court ruled against Clark and upheld the constitutionality of the Webb-Kenyon Act. The majority opinion was written by Supreme Court Chief Justice Edward Douglass White [Figure 7]. Ironically, he had been appointed by President Taft, who opposed Webb-Kenyon. Chief Justice White handed down an opinion that established that in specific instances, Congress may abridge the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Thereupon the Supreme Court decision in James Clark Distilling Co. vs. Western Maryland Railroad Corporation, etc., became part of legal history. It impacted on all mail order whiskey houses, including two of the most prominent, both located hundreds of miles from Cumberland, Maryland - one in Ohio, the other in North Carolina. Hayner Distilling Company Lewis Hayner was early on the distilling scene, founding the distillery that bore his name in 1866. Born in Warren County, Ohio in 1821, he worked at the whiskey trade virtually all his life. He founded Hayner Distilling in Troy in 1866 in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War [Figure 8]. Lewis Hayner was successful
Bottles and Extras in creating a regional trader, but after his death in 1892, the operation went national under the guidance of Lewis’ nephews, William Hayner and C.C. Hayner and William’s brother-in-law, Walter S. Kidder. William Hayner became company president and had been in the whiskey trade since the 1880s down in Waco, Texas. He also had a reputation as an astute businessman who knew spirits merchandising. It is Walter Kidder, however, who is credited with the advertising flair that marked the Hayner presence on the national distilling scene. He devised the strategy of going directly to customers for sales. Thirsty customers in dry communities were a ready-made market for selling whiskey through the mails. The example of a Hayner ads shown here are just one of many that ran in important national magazines [Figure 9]. Some emphasized that the whiskey would come suitable disguised from the neighbors in “plain brown wrapper.” The postman, probably alerted by the gurgles, must have had some notion of the bottles he was delivering. In those days, incidently, mail carriers were accustomed to daily loads of up to 70 pounds [Figure 10]. Another reason for Hayner’s success may have been its emphasis on the purity of its product against the rotgut that often was being foisted on customer’s by local saloons. Those establishments were notorious for doctoring whiskey with a pharmacy of chemicals that all too often could be dangerous to the health of drinkers. Price too may have played a part. Hayner emphasized “cutting out the middle man” in his ads. Four quarts of Hayner’s Seven Year Rye could be had for $3.20 total.
Figure 8: A line drawing of Hayner’s Troy, Ohio distillery, circa. 1900.
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Postpaid. Sometime in the early 1900s, to facilitate the transport of its products, the firm moved its main office and shipping depot to Dayton, Ohio about 30 miles down the road from Troy. Dayton was an excellent location for a national mail order trade because its location put it within 800 miles of the bulk of the U.S. population. From there, the firm could ship quickly to most locations east of the Mississippi and via railroad to California. By 1904, Hayner had additional offices and shipping depots in Jacksonville, Florida and New Orleans. Its ads boasted capitalization at $5,000,000, a hefty sum for those days, and a factory covering three city blocks, consumption of 2,000 bushels of grain per day, and three million gallons of whiskey in its warehouses. Mail order was very, very good to Hayner Distilling.
Figure 11: A line of Hayner jugs.
Figure 9: A Hayner whiskey ad.
Figure 10: A whiskeytoting postman of the early 1900s.
The Casper Company Meanwhile, down in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a man named John L. Casper was working hard to catch up with the Hayners. A pitchman, not a distiller, Casper conceived of the idea of buying whiskey from distilleries in North Carolina’s Yadkin and Davis Counties, bottling it under his own brand names and mailing it via mail order direct to consumers. By his own account, he started small with limited mailing lists in the 1880s, gradually expanding until 1900 when he sought capital from friends and incorporated as The Casper Company. Soon he owned a warehouse as long as a city block in downtown Winston-Salem, which he declared to be: “The largest building in the United States devoted exclusively to the mail order whiskey business.” [Figure 12] Like Hayner, John Casper advertised his product widely and emphasized mail order sales [Figure 13]. He stressed its “purity” in a typical ad from 1903, the dapper, amount-saving whiskey
Figure 12: Casper and his warehouse, as shown in an ad.
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merchant claimed: “All the North Carolina whiskey we sell is good - there’s no bad. People here wouldn’t adulterate it if they knew how - they are too honest! Most whiskey sellers are noted for mixing, blending and watering. We sell more genuine whiskey and less water than any known competitor.” While both Casper and Hayner sold most of their product in glass and some in ceramic, Casper appears to have been more adventurous in his selection of containers. His highly decorative paper-labeled cobalt bottles are decades ahead of their time in advertising sophistication. His stoneware jugs came in a number of sizes and shapes [Figures 14 and 15]. Some featured a bail handle. He also liked to give minis at Christmas. Prohibition Strikes South But if John Casper had a desire to surpass the Hayner Distillery and other rivals in the mail order liquor business, he was doomed to disappointment by those honest North Carolinians he boasted about. It turned out that many home folk were anti-drink. Little by little laws were put on the books that drove John Casper out of North Carolina and ultimately out of business. The process began in 1901 when the State Legislature decreed that distilleries could operate only in incorporated towns and ended in 1906 when the
Figure 14: A Casper whiskey jug. state went completely “dry.” Casper then folded up lock, stock and whiskey barrel in WinstonSalem and moved his operation to Roanoke, where he operated for several years. Then he moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where in 1911, he was listed as the vice-president of the Atlantic Coast Distilling Company, which boasted annual business of “over onehalf million dollars.” According to a Winston-Salem newspaper account, Casper eventually moved his business west, to Kansas City, Missouri, and then to Ft. Smith, Arkansas. While Hayner Distilling apparently had fewer problems with creeping Prohibition in Ohio, time was running out on its operation as well. The Supreme Court decision in the Clark Distilling case had a decisive impact. In a short time, the mail order whiskey business - and Hayner - were in serious financial trouble. The coming of National Prohibition six years later finished the job.
Figure 13: A Casper whiskey ad.
The End of the Story Judge White, an obese man, dropped dead in office in 1921 at the age of 76 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. He was preceded in death by the James Clark Distilling Co., which closed its doors in 1920 with the onset of National Prohibition - never to open them again. The Irish distiller’s legacy, however, may still be seen in downtown Cumberland. The Clark-Keating Building, which once held his retail liquor store, remains at 55 Baltimore Street [Figure 16]. Constructed in 1899, it currently is on the town’s historic walking tour. The 1920 Hayner shutdown was a blow to Troy, Ohio, but the town survived. In 1914, Mary Jane Colman Hayner, widow of William, had built a mansion in Troy, filling it with objects collected during her international travels. Open to the public, it helps keep alive the memory of the nation’s largest ever whiskey mail order house. By contrast, the legacy of John Casper seems to have been lost in time. A Winston-Salem newspaper article of the 1930s
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reports only that Casper died in Mexico. By contrast, the much-maligned WebbKenyon Act for years continued on as the unimpeded law of the land. It was reenacted by Congress in 1935 as part of postProhibition “tidying up” with exactly the same language that had been passed in 1913. As a result, mail order liquor never truly has revived. The May 2005 Supreme Court decision, however, may change all that. Stay tuned.
Figure 15: Another Casper whiskey jug.
A pint bottle of Clark’s Old Mountain brand rye whiskey with a label showing a rustic distillery. Photo courtesy of Jim Bready.
The information for this article, some of which previously has appeared in the Potomac Pontil, came from a wide range of sources. Material on Clark Distilling largely Figure 16: The Clarkwas gleaned from the Internet. Jim Bready, Keathing Building, the recognized guru on Maryland distillers, 55 Baltimore Street. also provided information. The Clark, Hayner and Casper ads shown here are from Robert Snyder’s “Whiskey Papers.” Donald Denzin of Plano, Texas, in his excellent book, Antique Eastern Whiskey Bottles, provides a great deal of good research on both Hayner and Casper. Corky Shore of Lewisville, North Carolina, who may know more about the subject than anyone else, has been very helpful through the years in sending me materials on the Casper company.
A labeled Braddock Rye quart bottle. Photo courtesy of Jim Bready.
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Extras Teething Sticks for the Babyʼs Sore Gums Charlie Harris Ooltewah, TN 37363
As we all know, with any hobby there are numerous go-withs that are also highly collectible. In our hobby of baby bottle collecting there are baby rattles, baby feeding cups and dishes, infant or invalid feeders, photos, magazine advertisements, and baby teethers. It seems like this list can go on and on. I am going to try and enlighten “y’all” on a special class of teethers. As we all know, when a baby is teething he/she is going to chew on anything that they can get their little hands on. This is where so many baby swallowing accidents originate from, whether it is a loose coin found on the floor or just some little object picked up off of the coffee table in the middle of the living room. Teething is a universal and painful problem that is common to all peoples and animals that have teeth in their mouths. Come to think of it, I think that this is why God gave us a set of “Wisdom Teeth,” so that we could well be reminded of our early years as a child when we were cutting our own teeth. Isn’t God an ingenious being? We give our pet dogs a leather chew-bone, which they decimate in a matter of hours, if not minutes. Later on we give them bone scraps from the dinner table. Well, we as humans supposedly are somewhat more sanitary with our children than we are with our pets. But let’s go back a little ways in time to our very distant ancestors. In fact, let’s go all the way back to the cave men. They had the same
Figure 1
problem with their offspring’s teeth as we do today. I don’t know for sure, but I would assume that they either gave their teething children sticks, stones or pieces of bone to chew on as teethers if they hadn’t already picked up such things off the floor of the cave. As time and skills progressed amongst the cave peoples we can safely assume that the parents began to fashion these items into recognizable and useful objects that they were familiar with. This is the same way that sticks and rocks eventually became the beautiful arrows and spears that are so highly revered by collectors today. As time still progressed the Europeans and Asians began to be artistic in their carving of bone, horn and ivory. Many beautifully preserved pieces of this type of art and sculpture have come out of these areas, some dating back to the period of Christ, the Greeks and the Romans. Eventually the American artisans began to create their works of art in bone and ivory. The enclosed photos are some of these American, British and French made teethers of bone and ivory. They were obtained as sets, one set per photo. As I have found out by observations and by talking to collectors at both baby bottle and Civil War shows, it seems that these teethers come from two major sources. The first of these sources is that they were made by French or British prisoners of war while sitting in the enemy’s jails, just looking for
something to do with all that spare time on their hands. Many of these sets of bone and ivory teethers do come from France and England. The second source is very similar to the first in that the American and British sailors also had a lot of spare time on their hands while at sea for months at a time. It is believed that many of these sets of teethers were fashioned by them while thinking about their wives and small children at home. This also holds water in that this is also the major source of carved and scrimshawed walrus tusks and whale’s teeth. I believe Figure 1 to be the oldest of the series as the items are simpler in design and are more generic in form — just simple bone sticks with designs carved into their edges or surfaces. The most creative of this set is the fish teether. Figure 2 contains all items that would be found in a carpenter’s chest. They were either made for a boy child, or, in my opinion, made by a carpenter for his child, whatever its sex. You know us men; we don’t know much about those feminine things that the girl children would play with. Figure 3 contains items very similar to those in the previous photo, except that there is an attempt to include more household items such as a fork (4 o’clock), table knife (3 o’clock) and shaving razor (2 o’clock) in the set of teethers. Figure 4 is actually a dated set of teethers. Tied to the set by the string is an 1886 British silver 3 Farthing coin in near mint condition, most likely the year of the infant’s birth. The bone teethers are very generic in design, but wonderfully aged and beautiful patina. Figure 5 is a set of bone items to be avoided by the collector of teethers since
Figure 2
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Figure 4
Figure 3 they are not such. The set of three fish are actually some form of a game counter, similar to poker chips, Note that they do not have holes in them so that they could be tied onto a string or ribbon as one would do with a teether or modern pacifier. This does not prevent swallowing, but it does help in the recovery if it is accidentally swallowed, kind of like a circus sword swallower does in his act. The teethers of times gone by should be revered and sought after as a very valid part of one’s collection, just as any other gowiths would be. As with anything else, please be careful of modern reproductions. For one, they don’t have that aged patina of the older bone and ivory items.
Figure 5
Figure 4 Close-up
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FOHBC National Show by Ralph Van Brocklin
Auction Green….. Green……. Green!!! A green Drake’s Plantation bitters, a green embossed irregular hexagonal poison and a green Benecia Steam Soda Works Hutchinson soda… Add to that a nice blend of flasks, other bitters, medicines, sodas, stoneware and mineral waters and you have the recipe for a great Saturday evening at…. the FOHBC live auction! Held Saturday evening, August 13, 2005, in a wonderfully ornate ballroom at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this live auction represented a continuation of a Federation tradition. In an era where very few live auctions with quality glass are held, the Federation is pleased to have the opportunity to make a yearly auction of this nature available to attendees of the National Shows and EXPOs. Norman Heckler, Sr., again graciously agreed to handle the auctioneering for the Federation, and he hammered down 78 catalogued lots and 9 uncatalogued offerings to a crowd estimated at 150-200 and a handful of absentee bidders. As has been the case since the Federation began handling the auction after the 2000 EXPO, John Pastor first procured and then beautifully photographed the offerings for a full color catalogue. (This catalogue is available to anyone interested at $5.00, postage paid. A post-auction price list is included. *) Among the highlights of the sale were: Lot 6: A lovely medium-olive with yellow tones half gallon jar MASON’S / PATENT / NOV 30th / 1858, $725.00 Lot 26: 6-1/4" bright green and pristine irregular hexagonal poison embossed DYKEMA’S, $2050.00 Lot 37: Aqua, open-pontiled Southern medicine with full label and embossed CLEMEN’S INDIAN TONIC / (motif of standing Indian with headdress) / GEO. W. HOUSE, $625.00 Lot 47: A crude and scarce golden amber West Virginia semi-cabin bitters OLD
HOME / BITTERS – LAUGHLIN / SMITH & CO. – WHEELING, W.VA., $2100.00 Lot 65: Michigan collectors were offered a very rare medium teal-colored mineral water IRON MAGNETIC MINERAL / SPRINGS / FRUITPORT MIC, one of three known in this coloration, $2300.00 Lot 69: Golden yellow and filled with tiny seed bubbles, a pint WASHINGTON – TAYLOR (G1-52), 1100.00
Seminars The FOHBC 2005 National Show featured an excellent series of seminars covering a broad spectrum of topics. With eight different speakers presenting in a three hour period, overlap was necessary and the only gripe I heard was that it was not possible to hear all of them! Excellent presentations were the rule and the enthusiasm each of the presenters lent their topic made the morning truly memorable. The schedule of seminars, presenters, topic and a brief synopsis follow:
Lot 73: Yellow, blending to yellowapricot DRAKE’S PLANTATION BITTERS, $1100.00 The true head-turner of the auction was lot 74, a DRAKE’S PLANTATION BITTERS in bright medium citron green clear enough to read through! Found in an abandoned home in Portland, Michigan, we were privileged to be able to offer this Michigan find and pleased to place it in a home where it will be greatly appreciated— the home of successful bidder Ferd Meyer! Hammer price — $10,500.00!!! Plans are in the works for a live auction at the National Show in Reno, Nevada, in August of 2006. We are seeking consignments in all categories, but really want to encourage those of you with good quality Western glass, stoneware or advertising to make those items available to some mighty ardent bidders! Contact John Pastor for details. Special thanks are due those who assisted John Pastor with the auction, including Liz Maxbauer, Sue Louis, Dann Louis and Jodi Hall. Without their assistance, chaos would reign! * Contact: Ralph Van Brocklin 1021 W. Oakland Avenue, Suite #109 Johnson City, TN 37604 E-mail: thegenuine@comcast.net John Pastor 6288 Thorncrest Dr., S.E. Ada, MI 49301 E-mail: jpastor2000@sbcglobal.net
9:00 10:00 “A Perspective on Fruit Jar Closures” Doug Leybourne Well-known in fruit jar collecting, and to bottle collectors as well, Doug has been publishing the Red Book of Fruit Jars since 1993. Accompanied by Jim DeGrado, who gave a brief discussion of fruit jar rubbers, Doug provided a history of most of the fruit jar closures from the time of the wax and cork tie cloth closure (a pontiled olivecolored French jar was presented), through the pontiled wax-sealers and then into the specialized and patented closures. He advised that many are so rare that even the reproductions have assumed a premium value to collectors. Jars and closures were available for reference during and following the seminar and these were later assembled into a display in the show facility. A great introduction to the subject for those who
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< Lot 65: $2300.00 < Benicia Steam Soda Works, Gustav Gnauck from Benicia, California $300.00
Lot 74: $10,500.00 >
Lot 47: $2100.00
Lot 26: $2050.00
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Compliments of Stratton, Seay & Stratton, Nashville, Tenn. Lot 45 - $225.00
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Fall 2005
Michigan ACL Milks - Steve DeBoode
Grand Rapids, Michigan Bottles - West Michigan ABC
Bottles and Extras
The “Art” of Privy Digging Scott Hendrichson
Glasshouse Whimseys - Lori Knickerbocker & Whimsey Club
DISPLAYS
Fruit Jar Colors and Closures - Doug Lebourne
Mountain Dew - Joseph Scharnowski
Demijohns - David Hooper
Bottles and Extras collect in other areas and a nice summary for those who collect jars and closures.
“Black Glass – Identification and Dating” Carl Sturm An avid collector of cures and half-pint flasks, Carl has also collected black glass for many years. In an area where few Americans have significant knowledge, Carl is the exception. For those interested, this seminar provided a nice summary of what is available to the collector, as well as the references available to those who might wish to begin a study of and collection in this category.
10:00 – 10:45 “Hysterical over Historicals” Mark Vuono One of the undisputed authorities in American Historical Flasks, his passion for this area of collecting was apparent to all who attended his seminar. Punctuated by slides of some absolutely beautiful specimens, this seminar was one we hope can be repeated over-and-over in the years to come. A great introduction to this area of collecting and a seminar lauded by neophyte and advanced collector, alike.
“Collecting the Cures” Dann Louis Dann is one of the truly ardent collectors of the cures and his seminar detailed what he considers to be the major categories of
Fall 2005 collecting, including pontiled and colored pontiled examples, of which he indicated there were only about 25 total known with all but ten of them virtually impossible to obtain. He detailed that picture cures and cures in unusual shapes, such as the Davis’ Indian Cure, always kindle great interest, and his slides certainly demonstrated why. Other categories covered, with slides to illustrate, included cobalts, greens, milk glass, squares , Kilmer’s, Warner’s and Warner’s “Wan-A-Be’s.” Dann further schooled us in the world of rare cures with a display of most of the known 24 Michigan-embossed bottles. 11:00 – 12:00 (The time period known as... ‘ there’s no way that I can give you a significant synopsis on all of these!!!’) “Michigan Bottles – A Presentation and Open Discussion” Dan Simons How I hated to miss this one… Scheduled as an open forum on all categories of bottles from the host state, Don acted as moderator. Digging in Michigan, specific bottles from Michigan and a consideration of what the top bottles from the state are were topics of discussion. “Infant Feeders Through The Years — 4000 Years of Infant Feeders” Dr. Darroll Erickson The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors has been fortunate to have a nice relationship with this specialty group of collectors over the years. In the past, they have jointly held their yearly meeting at the time of our National Shows and we are pleased to have the opportunity to interact closely with them. We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to have had Dr. Erickson present a nice seminar detailing the history of the infant feeders — an educational seminar that presented all collectors with the possibilities of collecting in that area, as well as the factors that drove changes in the style of infant feeders. “Connecticut Glass” Rick Ciralli Rick is an independent scholar, collector and dealer of early Connecticut glass. President of the Pitkin Glass Works, Inc,, he is actively involved in the excavations and cataloguing of finds at the old glassworks. In May, 2002, he announced the initiation of a book project on Connecticut glass of various forms from the
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Connecticut glasshouses of Pitkin, Coventry, Willington, Westford and New London. Rick’s seminar detailed finds at these sites and provided insight into how certain bottles are now able to be more certainly attributed to specific glasshouses. He presented a great slide show and a wonderful detailing of the history behind the glass.
“How To Clean Bottles” Wayne Lowry Affectionately known as ‘The Jar Doctor,” Wayne has been cleaning bottles since 1988 and building cleaning systems since 1992. His seminar was a comprehensive presentation that included the components of a cleaning system (cleaning machine, motor package, cleaning canisters, tumbling copper and polishing/cutting oxides), advice on loading the canisters, time involved and the “most common ‘rookie’ mistakes.”
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MORE DISPLAYS
Michigan Mineral Water Bottles - Dan Simons & Gordy Hubernet
Fire Grenades - Jim & Jodi Hall
Michigan Bitters - Jeff Scharnowski
Pattern Molded - John R. Pastor
Scroll Flasks - David Beadle
Michigan Cures - Dann Louis
Black Glass Whiskey Bottles - Carl Sturm
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THE 2005 FOHBC NATIONAL SHOW AUGUST 13-14, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN by Steve Ketcham
It is 7:45 A. M. and we are sitting on the sunny, wind-swept deck of the car ferry Badger, waiting to sail from Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. We are returning from a two-week journey which included many a stop to shop northern Michigan’s antiques shops and culminate in Grand Rapids with the FOHBC National Show. It’s been a great trip. During the first leg of our trip, Chris and I enjoyed the beauties of Michigan’s “West Coast,” including its miles of sandy beaches and magnificent dunes. We visited quaint towns like Manistee, Ludington, Leland and Charlevoix. We stayed at inns like Falling Waters in Leland. Here one can step to the balcony and drop a line into the Carp River, sit and gaze at the vast beauty of Lake Michigan, or look over the shanties of Fish Town, remnants of Leland’s past, now converted into trendy shops. We were pleased with the quality of the goods in nearly all of the many shops and malls we shopped during our two-week trip. Bargain-priced finds included a yellowamber, six-log Drake’s Plantation Bitters; an enameled, amethyst barber bottle; and a pre-Prohibition Conrad Pfieffer, Detroit, beer mug. In one small town shop, the woman minding the store asked us what we collected. “Bottles, advertising, and stoneware,” was the reply. She then invited us to her home, and we were able to purchase three advertising trays and two salt-glaze, cobalt-decorated crocks. Our most unusual find was uncovered in a shop in Frankfort. Sitting by the door were two wooden crates, each filled with a gross of clear, unembossed, six ounce shoo fly flasks. It is amazing to see the manner in which the circa 1890 flasks were packed for shipping. The wooden crate is skeletal in construction, with large gaps in the sides where the thin, early cardboard padding can be seen. The end of one crate is stamped, “J. Morris, Packer. One Gross 6 Ounce Shoo Fly Tall.” The bottles themselves are in two layers of 72, one stacked atop the other, with little padding between. Each layer consists of six rows of flasks, shoulder-to-shoulder. Each row is 12 deep
and the flasks stand face-to-face with no padding between them. Somehow the flasks survived this treatment for over 100 years with only minimal damage. They were found in an old barn, and at least four cases were sold to dealers in the area. We brought one case home with us. Though such bottles have little monetary value, their historical value merits respect. After nine days of hunting and buying, we headed south to Grand Rapids and the big show. Over 200 eight-foot tables were sold for this event, and there were three dozen very fine displays. Along one wall, show participants were treated to exhibits of glass whimsies, scroll flasks, black glass, inks, target balls, perfumes, demijohns, and so much more. Along the opposite wall, with large banks of windows providing a natural-light background, the collectors of Michigan assembled a stunning array of displays featuring their state’s bottled past. From sodas to stoneware, milks to medicines, and bitters to beers, the Michigan collectors put together displays of which they could be very proud. I especially enjoyed the great cobalt sodas, the vast assortment of bitters, and the amazing collection of Michigan cures assembled by Dann Louis. The sales tables were brimming with great quality advertising, stoneware, and bottles. More importantly, as we shopped we were able to catch up with old friends from around the country, many of whom have attended the Minnesota show: Bill and Kathy Mitchell, Mike and Alice Seeliger, Dick and Dar Boosted, Jim and Jodi Hall, Bob and Barbara Harms, John and Claudia Panek, Keith Leeders, Carl and Mary Ann Malik, John Pastor and Liz Maxbauer, Norm Heckler, Paul Welko, Jeff Burkhart and Jeanine Kral, George and Ruth Hansen, Wayne and June Lowry, Mike Burgraff, Jim Mitchell, Norm and Junne Barnett, Dave Beadle, Dean Rein, Mark Nelson, and many more. Chris and I weren’t the only Minnesotans to appear in Grand Rapids; Steve and Phyllis Showers were in attendance, and Bill Heminger, too. Prior to the show we enjoyed a Friday night awards banquet at the host facility, the opulent Amway Grand Hotel. Chris and I had the pleasure of dining with Jeff
Burkhart and Jeanine Kral, Jim and Janice Hagenbuch, Bob Ferraro, and Owen Neils. Following dinner a variety of FOHBC awards were presented, and the after-dinner program was a real treat. We had the opportunity to ask questions of a panel consisting of Dick Watson, Norm Heckler, Bob Ferraro, and Jim Hagenbuch. They told stories and shared insights for two hours, and the crowd still wanted more. We heard tales of wonderful finds, anecdotes about legendary collectors, and opinions on topics ranging from e-bay to bottle values. The audience was spellbound. Show chairman John Pastor had arranged an impressive selection of speakers who offered a nice variety of morning seminars prior to the Saturday afternoon set up. Wayne Lowry, the Jar Doctor, spoke on bottle cleaning. Red Book author Doug Leybourne covered fruit jar closures. Carl Sturm discussed dating black glass. Dann Louis shared information on collecting cures. Dan Simons led a discussion of Michigan bottles, and Dr. Darell Erickson addressed infant feeders. I took in Rick Ciralli’s very informative session on Connecticut glass, and I also attended Mark Vuono’s excellent Historical Flask presentation. The DeVos Place facility was ideal for this show. The loading dock was large, allowing roughly a dozen dealers to pull up and comfortably unload at one time. Friendly volunteers were available to help in any way possible, and before we knew it our goods were all tucked under the table, awaiting the afternoon set up. When set up finally arrived, the air was fully charged with that special excitement only a bottle show can generate, and sales were strong. A lot of money and a lot of glass changed hands across the 200-plus sales tables during the Saturday set up and the Sunday show, and a good deal more was spent at the Saturday evening auction. After enjoying a complimentary spread of tasty hors d’ oeuvres and a cash bar, an eager crowd of collectors and the just plain curious filled the room to partake of a fun and interesting auction of over 80 quality lots. Norm Heckler served as auctioneer for the event and kept the crowd on its toes with his witty style. Even Chris was in
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attendance. When a nice amber Chestnut Grove Whiskey caught her eye, and she observed that it might look good in the living room, I knew what I had to do. The piece came home with us. Highlights of the auction included a green Dykma poison (a Grand Rapids bottle) which brought over $2000; a rare, ice-blue Saratoga-type
mineral water from tiny Fruitport, Michigan, which also commanded over $2000; and a green Drakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Plantation Bitters which saw heated bidding up to $10,500. Following the auction we had a chance to enjoy drinks and catch up with Norm and Junne Barnett, Adam and Phyllis Koch, and Dick Watson.
Bottles and Extras Before we could blink it was Sunday afternoon and hurried farewells were heard above the rustle of wrapping and packing. Kudos to John Pastor and his volunteers for staging a national show which set the bar high and exceeded it. I wish everyone could have been there.
AND MORE DISPLAYS Large Examples of Rare Poisons - Jim Adams & Jerry Jones Victorian Illumination Lamps - Rick Baldwin, Mary Ballentine, Margie & John Bartley
Target Balls & Wild West Display - Ralph Finch
Prohibition Beers - Chas Ford
Chicago Sodas Before 1880 Jim & Jodi Hall
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< Kerr History - Doug Lebourne & Jim DeGrado
Chicago, Illinois Beers - Tom Buettner
Torquay
Above and left: Dr. Sparks Bottles & Go-Withs Dewey Heetderks
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Best of Michigan
The Best of Michigan display, coordinated by John Pastor and Jeff Scharnowski, spanned many tables and offered for the viewer a wide assortment of Michigan glass from the collections of: Tim Buda, Jim Hall, Ted Kinney, Steve Marlin, John Pastor, Jeff Scharnowski, bob Davidson, Gordy Hubenet, Doug Lebourne, Jr., Elmer Ogg, Bob Roon, Don Simons, Steve DeBoode, Bruce Heckman, Dann Louis, Tony Panepucci, Bruce Schad and Mike VanDevusse.
^ Beers and tobacco jars. < Panel of colored sodas.
Dr. Cronk始s, Inks and other items. >
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< Crock and minijugs
Mineral Waters
Stoneware and minijugs
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Bitters and pharmacy bottles, including a very rare Jerome始s bitters.
The Best of Michigan - Jars.
Stoneware beers and sodas.
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Overall view of the Best of Michigan display.
^ Dr. Cronk始s and an early ale bottle.
< Michigan Flasks
Colored and Picture Sodas
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Figure 3
Figure 6
Figure 4
Figure 9 Figure 7 < Figure 10
Grouping of Texas flasks. >
Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005
Western Flasks by Ralph Van Brocklin
For some time I have considered joining my friends who were kind and responded to my appeals for articles and/or columns for Bottles and Extras. Looking back through a packet of photographs from the Auburn, California, show last year I found the motivation to pen at least an inaugural attempt at a column on Western flasks. Whether it will be a quarterly effort or only a sporadic addition to these pages remains to be seen. But, look for a format that blends some information on recent finds, productive digs, eBay offerings and show reports. Found in the gold country of California, and presented for my camera by Charlie Holt, was a Wormser Brothers flask from San Francisco. A common flask with the vertical embossing WORMSER BROS. / SAN FRANCISCO, when found it was securely wrapped in a leather carrying pouch [Figure 1]. Slicing open the pouch to remove the bottle [Figure 2], a wonderfully bright and significant label was found [Figure 3]. Appropriately named EUREKA WHISKEY for an early California slogan (“I Have Found It” — I wish that I had found it!) the label indicates that it was “PUT UP BY WORMSER BROS., S.F.” and it sports the seal of California. Absolutely a fantastic label and probably the most significant new Western flask find since the mystery of what the pinged out embossing on the amber
shoofly J.H. CUTTER / OLD BOURBON / A.P. HOTALING & CO / OOOOOOO represented was solved. Speculation as to what this represented was answered when a pair of Washington State diggers turned up one where SOLE AGENTS was embossed where the typical slugged out area is. (Richard Siri suggests that the wording “Sole Agents” was removed following the 1894 purchase of the rights to the Cutter brand in the State of Oregon to the Rothchild Brothers.) The time frame for the labeled Wormser flask is described by John Thomas in Whiskey Bottles of the Old West as 18671872. He elaborates that a previous labeled example was found which advertises “Golden Sheaf Whiskey” and indicates that it “portrayed a woman standing in a wheat field holding a sheaf of wheat. Underneath this picture was written “Wormser Bros. Cor. Front & California Sts, S.F.” Quite amazing how occasionally one of these labels will survive the years. The one I have pictured for you… bright as the day it was applied to the bottle! The Reno show did not result in any items quite as remarkable, but there were a smattering of good flasks on sales tables— some for sale and some to entice. Among the items noted were a couple of Phoenix Bourbon (no, not the Hollister variants!) pints in the $400-500 range and two or three of the vertical Wormser Bros. flasks Figure 1
37 (sans labels). Several varieties of flasks from Lilienthal and Company were to be found, including a couple of tool top Lilienthal Distillers strap-sided half pints (at $250-500) and a sharply embossed High SF union oval. The Lilienthals on my table (a “cognac”-style and a couple of “teardrops”) went home with me, but a AAA Old Valley [Figure 4], JF Cutter Star & Shield and large and small circle Millers found their way from my collection into the Frank Ritz collection. Probably the nicest amber flasks in the show were at Richard Siri’s table. Included in his offerings were a mint Jesse Moore flask at $9500.00 (ex- Elvin Loader and Van Brocklin collections) and a nice yellowamber knife-edge Fleckenstein and Mayer from Portland. The flask which teased all of us who covet the Western flasks was a golden-amber with a hint of olive OLD BOURBON / CASTLE / WHISKEY / F. CHEVALIER & CO / SOLE AGENTS. This flask is another of the early and appealingly rare San Francisco bottles, reported by John Thomas to be from the 1875-80 time period. This particular example was one of which I was previously unaware, and I am unable to provide any details regarding whether it was recently dug or out of someone’s collection. Overall,
Figure 2
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I know very little about it beyond that it was a superior example of the bottle and… at the time of the close of the show a deal was still in the works for it. Clear pumpkinseeds and coffins/ shooflies were in short supply at this show. Happily, a couple of the more prolific of the Western diggers had been having some luck in the past few months and offered a few items up! On the table of Lane Puckett (now of Virginia City—previously Grass Valley) was a WW WARD / GROTTO / MARYSVILLE pumpkinseed and a pint and half-pint MOUNTAIN BROOK / WHISKEY / JOHN L. STEWARD / MARYSVILLE / CAL. coffin [Figure 5], indicating that he is still finding some productive holes in Marysville. He advised that he had recently come up with another Clinch Bros Grass Valley coffin flask, as well. John Shuler made the show for me by giving me the opportunity to buy a pint and half-pint example of a clear coffin flask embossed: CASEY & CRONAN / 50 K ST / SACRAMENTO. I had previously only seen this flask in the half-pint size, the lone example being in the possession of Peck Markota. As excited as I was to obtain these two bottles, I really felt for one of my friends from Sacramento, George Wagoner. I know that he was sick watching me buy these two bottles right in front of
him. One of the few things I don’t like about collecting… Keep your chin up, George— John tells me there is yet digging to be done on this site. Maybe he and David will surprise you with a phone call one of these days! A bottle that would probably hold little appeal to anyone but me was a label-only pint pumpkinseed that I purchased from Angelo Torre. Containing J. H. Cutter whiskey, the merchant offering it was A. Wideman from Gonzales, California [Figure 6]. As a Salinas, California, native I am thrilled to have added a flask from a tiny town about eight miles from where my parents live and 15 miles from where I grew up. It represents only the second bottle I have seen from the town, the other an embossed druggist bottle embossed L. T. HERNDON / PHARMACIST / GONZALES, CAL. Other flasks available through the show included offerings from Bruce Silva (primarily Berges and Garrissere bottles from Salinas City — now, where did an Oregon dealer get those? Come on Bruce, that’s my backyard!) and Jim Dennis, both Western whiskey bottle and shotglass dealers. Jim’s offerings included a number of clear Oregon flasks, including a pair of nice clean F. Zimmerman pumpkinseeds from Portland. Two of the Sacramento pumpkinseeds put out by J.H. Powers and a cracked F.W. Koch, Denver, half-pint
Figure 5
Bottles and Extras fancy-based shoofly were also available. The treat of the show was the opportunity to see a San Francisco flask I had only previously heard about but never had the opportunity to hold and peruse. Clear in coloration and pontiled (unique in the Western flask collecting), the bottle is embossed Wm T COLEMAN / (star) / SAN FRANCISCO. Bill Ham, in his update of John Thomas’ book, notes that William Tell Coleman was born in Kentucky in 1824, coming to California in 1849. He is noted as a merchant in 1850 and in subsequent directories encompassing 1854 and 1856, but is no longer found in the listings for 1859. Involved in Vigilance Committees in California, he was apparently quite a colorful fellow. Ham attributes this flask to the 1850-56 period and indicates that there are only three known examples. Shown, too, were two labeled flasks from Nevada procured by Bob Ferraro on his way up to the show. The first, an amber flat flask, has a blue background on a label which reads “Cunningham Whisky / Choice Old Kentucky Handmade / Whisky / Bottled Expressly for “The Stone House” / B. Sciuchetti / Battle Mountain, /Nev. Bob has promised me some additional information on the Stone House, which apparently stood a lonely vigil in the desert these many years until recently razed by the mining company which owns the land. The second (which really got me going) was a half-pint pumpkinseed flask labeled From / The Peerless / Saloon / Austin, Nevada / Jack Dunstan / Prop. [Figure 7] New finds and, for the Nevada collector, fantastic additions!!! No Reno show is complete without a trip to Fred Kille’s to enjoy the food and spirits at his yearly open house and to oogle all of the bottles. For the collector of Western fifths, flasks and bitters, this is a treat not to be missed. New additions to Fred’s shelves included a Dr. Henley’s Wild Grape Root IXL Bitters square with nice color and whittle (okay, so it’s not a flask!) and for the gun lovers reading this, an early Colt pistol. I always like to visit all of the nice flasks on his shelves that I once owned! And, I often wonder what possessed me to sell them to him! He still gloats about acquiring my applied top California Street Livingston and pint Kane, O’Leary and Co union ovals from me. Fred’s wife, Dee, put on a great meal for all of us, and a really pleasant visit and evening of talking bottles and digging was enjoyed by about 20 guests. The eBay offerings over the past few
Bottles and Extras months have been quite interesting. In February I came home to a listing of Texas flasks that made my jaw drop. Many have speculated that these flasks were at least a portion of the Bryant collection, but the seller, Ken Cromer, declined to comment. Included in that listing were: - Red Light Saloon, Brownsville fancybased shoofly - Cattle Exchange Saloon, Nacona strap-side - The Snake, Thurber strap-side - Ruby Café, Houston strap-side - Senate Saloon, Wichita Falls strapside - Crown bar, Fort Worth strap-side - Silver Eagle Saloon, Terrell strap-side And the bottle that corralled my attention, a half-pint pumpkinseed embossed “A. SHOLZ’S / PALM GARDEN / SALOON / SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS [Figure 8]. I spent the evening manipulating my finances and my bills to figure a way to chase all of them only to check after work the next day and find that all auctions had been closed early. Bummer! If nothing else, it would have been very interesting to see what they all closed at. I was fortunate to be able to purchase half a dozen of his other “Saloon”embossed straps and was really looking forward to placing a flask I had only heard rumored to exist on my shelf, the Neff and Duff Iron Front coffin with embossed longhorns head. Alas, it too eluded me when it was a casualty to the cleaning process. A sick seller and an equally sick buyer who was so looking forward to placing this flask next to my Iron Front pumpkinseed. Other flasks offered by this gentleman [Figure 9] were quart strapsides as follows: - Aqua W.D. Ingram Corsicana, Texas ($337.00) - Amber Jacobs & Co Henderson, Texas ($560.00) - Amber I. Jacobs Tyler, Texas ($510.00) I will try to add a few more photographs of Texas flasks in my next column, as most of these are bottles one never gets to see. My thanks to Ken for making these photographs available! In the coastal amber flask area, there were some good offerings, including a mint Old Bourbon Castle Whiskey (no bid at
Fall 2005 $8500.00) and a highly whittled variegated amber AAA Old Valley Whiskey that reached $1300.00, but failed to meet the sellers reserve. The fact that neither of these sold was a bit of a surprise to me, as both are bottles I had previously owned and both were choice bottles. I will be happy to forward the name of any interested reader to the respective owners, should you have interest. Other early amber flasks sold included two vertical Wormser Bros, an amber example selling for $350.00 while the lighter example on realized $229.00. A stained amber flask embossed C P MOORMAN / ONLY / MANUF’R OF / J H CUTTER / OLD BOURBON / A.P. HOTALING & CO / SOLE AGENTS / S.F. [Figure 10] garnered a bid of $408.00 and a large circle Millers Extra in amber made it to $878.00. A diminutive bottle that is in the “cognac”-style and base-embossed E.M. & Co (E. Martin & Co) sold for $27.00 in April. The clear, amber and aqua flat and miscellaneous-style flasks have been well represented on eBay in the last few months, with offerings of some nice Washington and Montana flasks by David Bethman and Marc Lutsko through their online auctions under “thebottlevault.” Included in their auctions have been a clear half-pint tooled top THE PLACER HOTEL / HELENA, MONT. which reached a bid of $41.00, despite a flash and some rare Washington flasks that included - ½-pint clear tooled top THE HOFFMAN / HOFFMAN / AND / CARTER / SOUTH
Figure 8
39 BEND, WASH. ($79.00) - ½ pint clear tooled top THE / ALBERTA CAFÉ / SPENCE THOMSON / PROP / 922 1st AVENUE / SEATTLE, WASH (Washington-style) ($129.00) - ½ pint clear tooled top THE BROOK / MONSANTO, WASH. ($38.00) - ½ pint clear tooled top THE FASHION / MAYBERRY BROS / ABERDEEN, WASH ($113.00) - pint clear tooled top THE FASHION / MAYBERRY BROS / ABERDEEN, WASH ($66.00) - ½ pint clear ring top NEUBERT & COOPER / OLYMPIC CLUB / SOUTH BEND, WASH. (Olympia-style) (58.00 with hairline fracture) - ½ pint clear ring top JOHN KREMER / WALLA WALLA / WASH. (Olympiastyle) ($68.00 with 2" crack in base) Further Washington offerings included a leather-covered flask from the Schlitz Bar in Hoquiam that ended at $139.00 and a ½ pint threaded flask embossed HOTEL DONNELLY / TACOMA which closed at $27.00. Interestingly, the Hotel Donnelly produced one of the few sample whiskey flasks from the West. The number of Washington state flasks offered is unusual and, more frequently, the flat flasks that show up on eBay come from California. Several different ones from California were offered, including a pair of rare amber half pint threaded flasks from Willits. Embossed BARNEY SCHOW / WHOLESALE / & / RETAIL / WINES & LIQUORS / WILLITS, CAL., the initial offering reached $128.00 while failing to meet reserve and the second sold at $99.99. An equally rare amber half pint tooled top flask embossed P.H. LOINAZ / BARREL HOUSE / FRESNO, CAL. was a steal at the opening bid of $49.99. Others in this style included: Los Angeles - pint aqua threaded KIEFER & CO / LOS ANGELES, CAL. ($15.00) - ½ pint amber tooled top JOS MELCZER & CO / WHOLESALE / WINE & LIQUOR / MERCHANTS / LOS ANGELES, CAL. ($20.50) San Francisco - ½ pint clear threaded BALKE BROS / THE EDDY / EDDY & FILMORE ($27.00)
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Fall 2005 - ½ pint clear threaded FLEMER & GRAUFFEL / 1599 / HAIGHT ST / S.F. COR CLAYTON ($131.50) - ½ pint amber threaded THE JUSTIN LIQUOR CO / 2786 MISSION ST / S.F. CAL. ($52.00)
Rounding out the flat flasks was a “saloon” embossed half pint from Needles, California. A number of these were dug along with flasks from Murphy-Briggs Co, Needles, in the early to mid-1990s. Selling at that time for around $65.00, these flasks have apparently come into their own, largely on the basis of containing the word “saloon”. They are embossed: NEEDLES SALOON / M. B. & CO. / NEEDLES, CAL. In my opinion, collecting the flat and miscellaneous style flasks represents one of the real bargain areas of collecting left in the West. There are several hundred possible flasks to acquire, ranging from easily available to extremely rare, and they remain affordable. Although there are a considerably smaller overall number of the coffin and shoofly style of flasks, they represent a similar bargain in collecting, at least for the Coastal states. A few have broken out and begun to command much better, including some from smaller
communities and the handful that have pictures on them. Examples offered recently which have done well include:
Bottles and Extras Figure 12
- ½ pint clear coffin R.R. O’BRIEN / THE MODEL / 543 4th ST / SANTA ROSA, CAL. ($280.00) [Figure 11] - ½ pint clear coffin H. J. WOOLACOTT / FINE / LIQUORS / LOS ANGELES, CAL. ($300.00, private sale) [Figure 11] - pint clear coffin THE SENATE / HENDRIX & SHARKEY / WINES & LIQUORS / OROVILLE, CAL. ($362.00) - ½ pint aqua shoofly LIBERTY BELL / (bell) / WHISKEY / M. NEWMAN & CO / S.F., CAL. ($310.00) Among the more common flasks, the prices remain appealing for the collector on a limited budget. A basket-based, threaded half-pint shoofly from my hometown, BERGES & GARRISSERE / WHOLESALE / WINE & LIQUOR / MERCHANTS / SALINAS CITY [Figure 12] realized $61.00, while one of the several variants of pint shooflies associated with the Goldberg, Bowen and Lebenbaum firms embossed GOLDBERG, BOWEN / & CO / SAN FRANCISCO / OAKLAND / WINE
Figure 11
MERCHANTS topped out at $45.00. Interestingly, not all of this firms flasks are common, a topic I hope to cover in a future column. The pumpkinseed flasks have always been the darlings of those who collect Western clear flasks. For style and variety I certainly love them and several of my collecting buddies will echo that same verse. Among the pumpkinseed flasks offered was a choice Washington, pint embossed THE TACOMA / FRITZ REBOTSKI / PROP. / HOQUIAM, WASH. [Figure 13]. This bottle closed out at about the level I have usually seen these available at - $305.00. Additional pumpkinseeds offered included three examples from San Francisco: Pint HILBERT BROS / WHOLESALE LIQUOR DEALERS / SAN FRANCISCO, CAL (one at $142.00 and another with a slight lip bruise at $200.00) - Pint CALEY & ROEDER / DEL MONTE / No. 1 GRANT AVE / SAN FRANCISCO (a rare bottle that commanded $305.00 despite a lip bruise) - ½ pint THE HOFFMAN / LUNCH / AND / WINE ROOMS / S.W. COR MARKET & SECONDS STS / W. J. SULLIVAN / PROP. / S.F. [Figure 13] (This flask realized only $160, partly due to some damage and probably also
Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005 Figure 13
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Continued from Page 15. References: Fike, Richard E. 1998 “A Guide to Identification and Dating of Historic Glass Bottles.” Unpublished manuscript. Bureau of Land Management., Colorado. Used in the CDF Archaeological Training Program Reference Manual. Kendrick, Grace 1963 The Antique Bottle Collector. Old Time Bottle Publishing Co., Salem, Oregon.
due to two or three examples of this flask being made available in the past year. The one to look for is the variant with Sam T. Bernard as proprietor – you’d certainly see me chasing it a lot higher than this!) Please view my “Recent Find” at the beginning of the magazine. Although promised for this column, I do not want my readers to accuse me of verbosity (nor brevity, it appears!), so I will break off at this point. I am especially interested in hearing from all of you about what you want to see covered in this column and what you have been finding, digging or might be interested in contributing. Until the next issue………. Ralph (For the reader who wants to learn about collecting Western flasks I recommend the following texts by John L. Thomas: Coffins, Picnics, Shooflies Whiskey Bottles of the Old West Whiskey Bottles and Liquor Containers From the State of Oregon Whiskey Bottles and Liquor Containers From the State of Washington The latter two texts both contain a very nice depiction of the various styles of “flat” and “miscellaneous” style flasks.)
Lindsey, Bill 2005 “Bottle Body Characteristics & Mold Seams and Bottle Bases.” http:// www.blm.gov/historic_bottles/ body.htm and http:// www.blm.gov/historic_bottles/ bases.htm Lockhart, Bill 2001 “Magnolia Coca-Cola Bottling Company.” Password 46(2):83-98. Meigh, Edward 1960 The Development of the Automatic Glass Bottle Machine. Glass Manufacturers’ Federation, London.
Figure 9: El Paso – StraightSided Coke Bottle (19111918)
1972 The Story of the Glass Bottle. C. E. Ramsden & Co., Stoke-on-Trent, England. Miller, George L. and Catherine Sullivan 1984 “Machine-made Glass Containers and the End of Production for Mouth-Blown Bottles.” Historical Archaeology 18(2):83-96.
Figure 10: Side Seam – Straight-Sided Coke Bottle
Munsey, Cecil 2005 “‘The Smallest Bottle Ever Made on an Owens Automatic Glassblowing Machine.’” Bottles and Extras 16(3):28-31. Sellari, Carlo and Dot Sellari 1970 “Eastern Bottles Price Guide.” Vol. 2. Area Printing Co., Dunedin, Florida. [The thermometer was repeated in Volumes 3 and 4, 1971 and 1972.]
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Bottles and Extras
Louisville Glass Factories of the 19th Century - Part 3 by David Whitten
This article concludes a look at early Louisville glass factories. Part one appeared in the Spring 2005 issue, pages 45-49 and part two continued in the Summer 2005 issue on pages 70 to 72. SITE No. 5: SW Corner of 4th Street and "C" (now Avery) Streets KENTUCKY GLASS WORKS COMPANY (KENTUCKY GLASSWORKS COMPANY) (1879-1889) On July 23, 1879, this company was incorporated with Edward Bull as President, William Cromey as secretary and John Stanger Sr. as plant manager ("superintendent"). Stanger, who had been intermittently involved in the original Kentucky Glass Works and its successor Louisville Glass Works from its inception in 1850 until about 1870 or 1871, as previously noted, subsequently held positions at the Star Glass Works in New Albany as well as the Southern Glass Works in Louisville before going on to the Kentucky Glass Works Company. The notice of incorporation first appeared in the July 27, 1879 issue of the LOUISVILLE COMMERCIAL. This factory was located on the southwest corner of 4th and “C” Streets, which, at the time, was considered to be the “southern outskirts” of the city of Louisville, just south of the area which is now termed “Old Louisville.” C Street was later re-named Avery Street, situated in the University of Louisville campus area. This factory was sometimes casually referred to as simply the “Kentucky Glass Works,” although this company dates nearly 30 years after the founding of the original factory of that
Closeup of maker’s mark on the base of a Kentucky Glass Works Company “coffin” flask, circa 1880s.
name. It is uncertain just when the first glass was actually blown here, but it's possible that production didn’t start until around the beginning of September, as July and August were traditionally the two months of the year during which most glass factories of that era shut down for a well-deserved rest period and for making needed repairs. In the LOUISVILLE COMMERCIAL issue of January 4, 1880 an announcement appeared advising that John Stanger, Sr. had retired after only a few months and was no longer involved in the factory's operation and that Henry C. Lentz, of St. Louis (proclaimed to be well acquainted with the field of glass manufacturing in that city) had replaced him as superintendent effective December 9, 1879. John Stanger, Sr. didn't exactly retire - at that time, anyway - he merely crossed the Ohio River to work (again) at W.C.DePauw's glass factory in New Albany. Edward Bull continued as president, remaining in that position until the company closed in about 1889. I have not yet found an exact ending date, but no employees were listed in Caron's 1890 Louisville City Directory.
Yellow olive green quart wax sealer fruit jar, marked "KY.G.W.CO." Photo courtesy of Greg Spurgeon.
Thomas Hanlon; packers James P. Dillon, Charles Iredale and Benjamin Pence; bookkeepers William T. Barbour and Leslie W. Noel; night watchman John Waldron; mixer John Gartley; fireman Peter Arndt; and yardman Elijah Ford. The company did not always enjoy smooth sailing, as occasional fires and labor strikes sometimes occurred, which seem to have been rather common in the glass factories of that The Kentucky Glass Works era. Company plant was in operation for On January 26, 1881, at about 5:00 about ten years, producing a wide in the morning, a fire swept through variety of bottles and jars. At part of the KYGW factory least 200 men and boys were property, and several employed at this plant at one outbuildings were destroyed time or another, although including the blacksmith the number at any one time shop, pot-house and several was probably closer to 75. A wood frame sheds. The fire few of the employees over was believed to have started the years included between the sand-drying and glassblowers Martin Burke mixing rooms, with a total (later to become a manager loss estimated at $10,000, of the King City Glass which was reported to be fully Works in Fairmount, Ind.), covered by insurance. All of Philip Berger, Charles the clay pots were ruined and Cannon, Martin Evans, a quantity of beer bottles were Joseph Flynn, George destroyed as well. However, Connelly, William Hays, management assured reporters Leonard Mertz, August that the ruined buildings Squat ale bottle Smeltz, George Ruhl, John would be quickly rebuilt and in amber, blob lip. Vogt and George Morrison; there would be virtually no Marked “KY.G.W.Co.” blacksmiths David Wing and interruption in the filling of
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beer bottles of the 1880s (such as Louis Weber; Ludwig & Waldmann; Gross & Ostertag; Drexler, Immohr & Co, etc), square cathedral pickle bottles, a scarce example of which is pictured in Betty Zumwalt’s “Ketchup, Pickles, Sauces” (1980:261), generic Worcestershire sauce bottles, and others. The marking “KY.G.Co.” appears on two sizes of light green-aqua coffin flasks. “KY.G.W.” mark on the base of a “KY.G.W.Co.” is marked on an amber wax sealer fruit jar. 9" cream ale-type bottle, wax sealer fruit orders. jars (found in shades of amber, olive green In another incident, on March 29, 1883 & aqua glass), “JOHN J. SMITH / a brief notice appeared in the Courier- LOUISVILLE, KY” tonic syrup bottles Journal that twenty employees had walked (probably the most commonly seen bottle off the job, apparently to protest the firing made by this company), amber export-shape of two workers the previous day. KYGW beer bottles, an aquamarine Newport, Ky. president Edward Bull flatly declared he “torpedo” soda bottle embossed in a slug would not hire them back, and would plate “SILVA & CO.,” as well as various proceed quickly with hiring replacements other utility bottles and jars. for the strikers. Presumably the strike ended Some of the more “important” bottles on a relatively amicable note, as I could not known with the "KY.G.W.CO" marking find anything more in later newspapers. would include “SCHROEDER'S Workers’ salaries of that time are of BITTERS”; “STANDARD VINEGAR interest, and according to statistics from the WORKS”; “SAINT JACOB'S BITTERS”; 1880 U.S. Census pertaining to glass “GEO. W. MENZ / LOUISVILLE, KY”; manufacturing, a chart listing the average “CONRAD STORZ / JEFFERSONVILLE, daily pay rate for workers at an unidentified IN”; “H. F. KRIEGER / BOTTLER / Kentucky glass factory (no doubt referring LOUISVILLE,KY” and others. to either this company or Southern) include The rare "pig bottles" embossed these figures: “DUFFY’S CRESCENT SALOON / 214 Manager, $4.16 per day; Boss JEFFERSON STREET / LOUISVILLE, Blowers, $4.00; Bottle Blowers, KY” that have been found in amber, $3.50; Vial Blowers, $3.00; clear, aqua and cobalt blue glass are Gatherers, $1.00; Laying-up Boys, most likely products of either this $1.00; Mixers, $1.33; Potmakers, company OR the Southern Glass $2.00; Blacksmiths, $1.50. Works. They do not carry a Marks that were used by glasshouse marking to show this company include where they were produced, KY.G.W., KY.G.W.Co., but the approximate years K.Y.G.Co., and they could have been made K.G.W.Co. points to one of these two Whim of the moldfactories. Only one maker, and the type and example of the cobalt pig size of bottle involved has so far been found and seems to account for this showed up recently at considerable variation in an auction in Indiana. the exact mark used, An extremely scarce although there is a slight glass target ball in possibility (certainly aquamarine (it is believed much less likely) that the that only two examples are marks were each used for known) used for trapspecific periods of time. shooting, carries the The most common mark embossed name of a is “KY.G.W.” which appears hunting or sporting goods on wax sealer fruit jars, supply store (Joseph medicine and bluing flasks, A coffin flask from Kentucky Griffith & Sons), with the Glass Works Company. This coffin flasks, various wording “Kentucky variant is marked “KY.G.Co.” Glassworks Company” Louisville-area blob-top
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Two Louisville medicine bottles, likely products of a Louisville glasshouse. The J.T. Crecelius & Co. bottle dates from c.1885, and was probably made by KYGWCO; the Seaton bottle dates from sometime between 1865 and 1885, exact glasshouse source is uncertain. Both are private mold bottles, and do not carry a glasshouse mark.
embossed around it. This ball probably dates between 1879 and 1884. Ralph Finch, a target ball collector/historian, and author of an upcoming book on the history and collecting of glass target balls, values it as one of the scarcest, most sought-after target balls known. Use of glass target balls for trap-shooting was a relatively short-lived affair and primarily lasted from about 1877 to 1885 as the popularity of the clay pigeon (patented in 1880) steadily increased and the glass target balls gradually fell out of favor. However, they were continued to be made in small quantities until about 1920 or so. Most bottles made by the Kentucky Glass Works Co. are found in various shades of aqua, as well as shades of amber including a very rich dark reddish amber, and occasionally in various greens including light green, olive green, grass green and a beautiful “citron” yellow-green. It is assumed that a good percentage of production was not marked (examples that come to mind would include the turn-mold wine and beer bottles made by most glass factories of the era, and private-mold bottles including hutchinson sodas, whiskey and medicine bottles made for local companies). It is likely that some of the “generic” 1880s
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era bottles that do not carry a glassmaker's mark, are made of common aqua glass, have crudely applied lips, and are found in the immediate vicinity of Louisville were made here or at one of the other Louisville factories. Sanborn fire insurance maps of 1905 indicate this factory had already disappeared by that year, the land having been previously acquired for use by the expanding Chess & Wymond barrel-making factory. The former site of the Kentucky Glass Works Company is currently an asphalt parking lot used by the University of Louisville. SITE No. 6: Lytle Street between 26th and 27th Falls City Glass Company (1884-1892)
1892 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map showing the Falls City Glass Company factory site. This was located in the Portland neighborhood of west Louisville.
boys, often orphans as young as 10 to 15 This glass factory seems to have started years of age, was common practice in most up around the time that the Southern Glass American factories during this period, and Works shut down operation. I haven't yet on May 14, 1887, a strike occurred among found the exact beginning date for the Falls the boys employed at the factory, with 15 City Glass factory, although a business gatherers and “laying-up boys” walking off listing first appears in the 1884 Louisville the job. They demanded an increase of $1.00 city directory. Many of the same workmen per week, which would raise their salaries who were involved with the Southern Glass from $5.00 to $6.00 per week. The factory manager was up in arms Works migrated to this because the smooth operation factory, which was situated in of the plant depended quite the Portland area of west heavily on this source of Louisville (a short distance cheap labor. After several from the location of the days of negotiation, a notice Louisville Plate Glass appeared on May 18th that the Company). Principals dispute had been settled and involved include Joseph the boys would be returning Husak, president; Conrad to work that same day. This Opperman, secretary (who notice was supplied to the was awarded a patent for a newspaper: “The strike at the wire clamp jar closure device Falls City Glass works will connected with the “My come to an abrupt end today, Choice” embossed fruit jar as the boys who struck last which was made here); Jacob Friday are going to work Scheurer, sales agent; Anton again. There are concessions J. Graefenhan, bookkeeper, on the part of both, but the and Henry Geisel, foreman. affair is claimed by the A sampling of the many parties interested to be a others involved at the plant matter of business, and no would include glassblowers statement is made public.” Nicholas Klein, Edward Falls City seems to have Koegler, Lee McCoy, John P. made glassware that has been Doyle, Jacob Ambrosius, found in a wider variety of Charles Vogel, Martin Evans shades of color when and John Vogt; mixers Frank compared to the production Baeurle and Louis Ferry; of the other factories in blacksmith John Farrell; and Louisville during that time packers Patrick Mahaney, Orange-Amber 'Brown, period. Glass production Andrew Moack and John Thompson & Company' lady’s leg whiskey, circa (most notably the wax sealer Pfarr, Jr. 1885, marked “F.C.G.CO” fruit jars) is known in several Employment of young
Bottles and Extras shades of green, amber, near yellow, citron, cornflower, sky and cobalt blues, as well as the typical shades of aqua. The cobalt wax sealer jar is probably the most well-known and highly sought-after of any of the items known to have been made by Falls City. It is likely that the cobalt medicine bottles embossed “R.A. Robinson & Co.- Druggists - Louisville” were also made by this company, and possibly the wax sealer jars were made from the same cobalt glass batches used for those bottles. Probably at least eight or ten different molds were used for making the FCGCO wax sealers, and they are relatively common in aqua, appearing for sale quite frequently on eBay. Marks found on the bases of bottles include “F.C.G.C.” and “F.C.G.Co.,” although the second mark is much more frequently encountered. “F.C.G.C.” appears on the base of a square “shoe dressing” bottle (identical in shape and size to the common Frank Miller’s Crown Dressing bottle), which is embossed “JOSEPH GOLDBACH / PORPOISE OIL DRESSING / LOUISVILLE, KY” along with a crudely drawn representation of a porpoise. An interesting characteristic of this bottle is that all of the ‘S’s in the embossed lettering are backwards because of a moldmaker's engraving error. These bottles are known in aqua and, rarely, light green glass. Another scarce bottle with the F.C.G.C. marking is embossed “GOCOH'S MEXICAN QUICK RELEIF” (note mispelling of “relief”), found in dark amber. This is a rectangular medicine rather similar in appearance to the typical Buckingham Whisker Dye bottle. At least two hutch soda bottles are reported with F.C.G.CO marking on the base, including one embossed “HENRY HASENJAEGER / CAIRO, ILL.” and another one marked “H. BREIHAN, CAIRO, ILL.” Both of these hutches were reported to me by collector/digger Dave Beeler. Several “quart” (26 oz.) blob-top beer bottles are embossed “Pat/F.C.G.Co. / 85” on the base, apparently in reference to the 1885 patent for the Baltimore Loop closure patented by William Painter. Nadorff & Bro; Schaefer-Meyer; H. F. Krieger; Fred J. Drexler; and A.& D. Schmitt were Louisville bottlers or brewers who had bottles supplied to them by Falls City. I have personally seen pickle bottles, hock wines, olive oils, coffin flasks,
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Orange amber Normandy Herb & Root Stomach Bitters bottle, marked "F.C.G.CO.",circa 1890.
There are probably many other types of bottles which carry this marking that exist and may eventually be discovered during privy digs, especially within Louisville and in the surrounding area. The site where this A group of three Falls City bottles: Coffin whiskey flask, factory once stood is now a Gothic Cathedral Peppersauce (6-sided), and typical olive oil parking lot in a somewhat bottle of the 1880s period. All are marked "F.C.G.CO." run-down Louisville chemical bottles, mini whiskey samplers, neighborhood. It is likely that few, if any, Worcestershire sauce bottles and other kinds of the nearby residents know that a glass of generic utility bottles with the F.C.G.Co. factory once operated in the vicinity. mark on the bottom. A yellow-amber bottle marked “Normandy Herb & Root Stomach SITE No. 7: West Side of 37th Street, S. of Bitters” carries this glassmark. These bottles Bank Street are known in two sizes, and come in both marked and unmarked versions. Kentucky Co-operative Glass Company/ Louisville Glass Company/Louisville Bottle Manufacturing Company (1897-1901)* On November 22, 1897 the first glass was blown at the newly-formed Kentucky Co-operative Glass Company, located on 37th Street, on the west side of Louisville. The company was composed of a group of glassblowers who had returned to Louisville after having held positions for several years in Fairmount, Muncie, and Marion glass plants in Indiana. All, or nearly all, had previously worked in Louisville at either the Southern Glass Works and/or the Falls City Glass Company.
Yellow Olive Quart wax sealer marked "F.C.G.CO." Photo courtesy of Greg Spurgeon.
Shoe dressing bottle embossed "Joseph.Goldbach./Porpoise Oil Dressing/ Louisville, KY. Marked "F.C.G.C."
The president (who was a glassblower) was listed as J.E. Fagan, and secretary was Armin Stein. Eighteen workers were employed at the start, including experienced glassblowers John Doyle, John Vogel, Barney Burns, Andy Allrich, George Connelly, John Vogt, Conrad Opperman, Joseph Husak, W.O.Hays and several others. Stein seems to have known nothing about the glassmaking trade, and he was blamed for having made poor management decisions, such as selling glass at higher than cost, which helped lead to the downfall of the firm. It went into receivership effective March 1, 1898 and the fires were extinguished on May 14, 1898 after less than six months of bottle production. After a period of general uncertainty concerning the fate of the factory, the plant was sold at a sheriff’'s sale on July 11, 1898 to businessman (and apparently one of the creditors) Joseph O’Donnell for the sum of $1,300. In October of that year a new company was formed and was incorporated as “Louisville Glass Company,” with $15,000 capital. This firm evidently lasted only about a year and a half, as the next piece of Continued on Page 51.
Closeup of the F.C.G.CO. mark on an olive green Falls City wax sealer.
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The Wistars (Casper, Richard, Dr. Casper, Henry & Issac) Copyright © 2005 Cecil Munsey with editorial and research assistance from Frank Sternad
Brass Buttons Wistarburg Glasshouse Scientific Discovery Wistarʼs Balsam of Wild Cherry Wistarʼs Cough Lozenges Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology
PROLOGUE TO THIS ARTICLE This article is the first comprehensive research-based work on the First Family of American Glass–The Wistars. It covers three hundred years of glass-related history in America. It begins, after a brief history of glass, with the 1739 building of the first successful glass factory in America—Wistarburg in South Jersey. It deals with a famous Civil War era proprietary medicine. And provides a short history of the first nation’s first independent medical research facility that was started in the 1890s and is still in existence today. A Brief History of Glass Man-made glass, in the form of beads, was first created in Egypt 2,500 years before Christ. The next most important step in glass production was the introduction of the blowpipe in the Near East approximately 50 years before Christ. In view of the fact that the area was under the control of the Romans, that and other glass produced in Europe was called “Roman Glass.” Roman glass was quite advanced. But, when the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed, the production of glass was limited to the remaining Eastern Half of the Roman Empire (which eventually became Byzantium) and later to production in the Arab states. It was not until the Renaissance that Western Europe again started to produce glass of fine quality, in Venice Italy. The fact that Venice was closely linked by trade with Byzantium and with the Arab states undoubtedly played an important role in this development. In 1291 the production of glass in Venice was moved to the island of Morano to prevent the spread of fires and protect the secrets of glass making, and where it has basically remained to this day. A very clear form of glass called Cristallo was developed in Venice and delivered by sea to Northern Europe where it was in great demand. When Columbus arrived in America, he had with him glass beads to trade with the “Indians.” They were made in the city of Venice!
Eventually the secrets of glass making were stolen from Venice and the production of glass spread to northern Europe and England. The first industry transplanted to America by Europeans was glass making— by the Spanish in 1535 in Mexico. Later, the English started glass production in their first settlement in America, at Jamestown in 1608. The effort failed, then was reattempted in 1621, but again failed even though six Italian glass blowers were “imported” to handle the work. The American settlers did not give up easily and attempts at glass making were again made in Boston, New Amsterdam and Philadelphia—but all failed within relatively short periods. Caspar Wistar (1696-1752) The Wistar name was one of great influence and importance in Philadelphia during the 19 th and 20th centuries. The progenitor of the American Wistars was Caspar who came to the United States from his homeland near Wald-Hilspach, Baden, Germany in 1717 at age 21, and established in New Jersey what is believed to be the first successful glass factory in the colonies. Like his father, Caspar always wrote his name “Wüster,” but at the time of his naturalization in the British colony (1739?) it was recorded “Wistar.” Caspar’s younger brother John (1708-1789?) arrived in Philadelphia ten years later in 1727, settled in the Germantown district, and was
Figure 1: Caspar Wistar registered with yet another variant of the surname, “Wister.” To this day there exists two spellings of the family name. Caspar Wistar emigrated with almost no money. But within three years he was buying, dividing, and selling real estate to other German newcomers. Soon after, he invested in an iron furnace, followed by a forge, in Berks County, and later established a lucrative brass button manufactory in Philadelphia. His buttons, in his son’s words, “…were noted for their strength, and warranted for 7 years.” In 1726 he married a wealthy Quaker, Catherine Jansen, having already been admitted to the Society of Friends for that purpose. Wistar thus entered into the Philadelphia Establishment, and became one of the city’s leading merchants, with a house and general store on Market Street near the homes of Mayor Charles Willing and Benjamin Franklin. At the time of his death, from the disease dropsy in 1752, Caspar Wistar [Figure 1] was one of the wealthiest men in the province. In 1738-39, Wistar launched his bold entrepreneurial venture in glass making
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Figure 2: Bottle embossed “C. Willing.”
Figure 4: Bottle embossed “WM. SAVORY 1752.”
Figure 5: Bottle embossed “RW.”
near Alloways Creek in the wilds of Salem County, New Jersey (near present day Alloway). The site contained excellent sand, clay for crucibles, abundant wood for fuel and potash, and access to the Delaware River and Philadelphia by water. Wistar contracted with four skilled Belgian glassmakers. He agreed to pay their passage, furnish food and servants for them in America, and to grant them one-third of the profits from the glassworks. The master craftsmen agreed to oversee the construction of a glassworks built at Wistar’s expense, operate the factory, and teach Caspar Wistar and his son Richard
(and “no one else”) the mystery and art of producing glass. The works were generally referred to as the Wistar Glass Works, but were known internally by its proprietors as the United Glass Company. The Wistar Glass Works became the first successful glass producing plant not only in the colonies, but in all of America. The factory also made scientific glass, supplying Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) with the glass apparatus used in his experiments on electricity. Bottles and window glass were the chief products of “Wistarburg,” as the glasshouse and its surrounding community were called. Historians claim that bottles formed the major thrust of the Wistars’ output. They estimate, based on the glasshouse ledger figures for the period from October 1748 to May 1749, approximately 17,000 bottles were made during those seven months. Despite those numbers, only three authenticated bottles from the Wistarburg factory are known to have survived. The oldest of the authenticated bottles made at Wistarburg Glass Works is a black glass seal bottle embossed, “C. Willing” [Figure 2]. Charles Willing (1710-1754, Figure 3) was born in England and trained in the mercantile business, coming to Philadelphia in 1728 to take charge of a firm established by his family. He carried on a large foreign trade and was very active in city affairs. Elected to the Common
Council in 1743, he was commissioned as one of the justices of the City Court, and in 1748 was elected Mayor of Philadelphia. A decade later, in 1754, he was again elected mayor. The “C. Willing” seal bottle was blown for him during his time as mayor. Wistarburg and subsequent glassworks in New Jersey became known collectively as the glass factories of “South Jersey.” They were vividly described in a poetic essay by Carl Sandburg in his first published volume: “Down in Southern New Jersey, they make glass. By day and by night, the fires burn on and bid the sand let in the light. The factories by night would have delighted Whistler, who loved gloom and mist and wild shadows. Great rafts of wood and big brick hulks, dotted with a myriad of light, glowing and twinkling every shade of red. Big, black flames shooting out smoke and sparks; bottles, bottles, bottles, of every tint and hue, from a brilliant crimson to the dull green that marks the death of sand and the birth of glass.” —In Reckless Ecstasy (1904)
Figure 3: Charles Willing (1710-1754)
Richard Wistar (1727-1781) Caspar Wistar died in 1752, and his son, Richard Wistar, took over the business. He continued to operate the glass works for 29 years until his death in 1781 when the
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property passed to his son, John Wistar (1759-1815) who conducted it for a short time before its abandonment. It was during Richard’s tenure as the owner of Wistarburg, that another of the authenticated Wistarburg seal bottles was made [Figure 4]. WM. SAVORY 1752 reads the glass seal on this wine or spirits bottle, handed down in the family of the famous Philadelphia cabinet-maker who died in 1787. The bottle is a dark olive green, bubbled, with a sheared lip and a collared neck. Richard Wistar made another of the three remaining authenticated bottles from Wistarburg. This bottle was made for his personal use. The seal on the bottle featured an embossed “RW” (presumably standing for “Richard Wistar”) and was made of green glass [Figure 5]. In 1769 Richard Wistar inserted an advertisement in the New York Journal or General Advertiser for August 17 that provides a good picture of the kinds of glass being produced at Wistarburg at that time: “Made at the Subscriber’s Glassworks and now on Hand to be sold at His House in Market Street, opposite the Meal Market, either wholesale or retail, between three and four hundred boxes of Window Glass, consisting of the common sizes, 10x12, 9x11, 8x10, 7x9, 6x8, etc. Lamps Glass or any uncommon Sizes under 16x18 are cut upon short notice. Where also may be had, most sorts of Bottles, Gallon, Half Gallon, Quart, full measure Half Gallon Case Bottles, Snuff and Mustard, Receivers and Retorts of various sizes, also electrifying Globes and Tubes, etc.”
Figure 6: Dr. Caspar Wistar, M.D.
Beside John, Richard Wistar had five other sons. Richard Jr. (1756-1821) built a large four-storied building in Philadelphia in 1790 to conduct an extensive retail and wholesale iron and hardware business. With the profits of this undertaking he invested largely in lands and houses in the vicinity of Philadelphia that later became exceedingly valuable. During the Revolutionary War he had advocated the defense of his property by arms, resulting in his being disowned by the Society of Friends that his grandfather had adopted in 1726. He was an inspector of prisons, and one of the early friends and supporters of the Philadelphia Library Company and the Pennsylvania Hospital. Caspar Wistar, M.D. (1761-1818) The second Caspar Wistar [Figure 6] was a brother of Richard Wistar, Jr. (see above). He was a prominent American physician and man of learning, born in Philadelphia, and named for his grandfather who founded the Wistarburg glass factory. Born a Quaker, Wistar was said to have been inspired to become a physician by the suffering he witnessed in the aftermath of the Battle of Germantown in 1777. He earned his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh [Scotland] in 1786, returned to Philadelphia, and succeeded Dr. Benjamin Rush in 1789 as professor of chemistry at the medical school of the College of Philadelphia (later the University of Pennsylvania). He held the position of professor of anatomy and midwifery there from 1792 to 1810. Dr. Caspar Wistar also served as a staff physician at area hospitals including Pennsylvania Hospital, the country’s oldest, and became chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1808. He wrote the first American textbook on anatomy, A System of Anatomy (two volumes, 1811, 1814). He had many progressive ideas and was an early advocate of vaccinations against disease. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 he nearly lost his life after being stricken by the disease while caring tirelessly for others. Differences of opinion regarding treatment of the fever caused a breech in his friendship with the famous Dr. Rush. Dr. Wistar’s reputation drew medical students to Philadelphia from around the world. He was, however, widely respected not only for his expertise in medicine, but
Bottles and Extras also for his breadth of knowledge in the humanities and the general sciences. His chief scientific interests outside of medicine were paleontology and botany. He was also particularly known for his hospitality, and his home was the weekly meeting place of students and scientists. These so-called “Wistar parties” were so popular that they continued to be given even after his death. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1787 and served as its president from 1815 until his death in 1818. He was also elected a Fellow of the College of Physicians in 1788. The plant genus Wisteria, described by botanist Thomas Nutall, was named in his honor. Dr. Caspar Wistar was married twice, first in 1788 to Isabella Marshal, who died childless two years later. In 1798 he married Elizabeth Mifflin, with whom he had three children: Dr. Richard Mifflin Wistar, Dr. Mifflin Wistar, and Elizabeth Wistar. Henry Wistar It is believed that Henry Wistar was a descendant of John Wister (brother of the first Caspar Wistar) who settled at Germantown in 1727. A Pennsylvania will indicates Henry Wistar leased property in the Moyamensing district of Philadelphia during the early 1800s. By 1840 he was acknowledged the originator of a “patent medicine” that would command sales for more than a century—Dr. Wistar’s Balsam of Wild Cherry. Wistar promoted his consumption cure with the tag line, “The true Riches of Life is Health.” In 1841 the nostrum was advertised by Lewis Williams & Co. of Philadelphia, apparently the new proprietor of Wistar’s recipe; but by May 1844 Williams had transferred sole right to manufacture and sell the medicine in various regions, including eastern Pennsylvania, to Isaac Butts of New York who had been a distributor of the Balsam for the past year. Butts ordered 8-sided, green glass bottles blown with the product name embossed vertically over three of the eight sides [Figure 7]. On the sixth side the letters “I.B.” were added, undoubtedly representing the initials of the proprietor. Less than a year later, in March 1845, Butts conveyed rights to Seth W. Fowle of Boston, including the bottle molds, printing plates, pamphlets, and other equipment. A companion product was Wistar’s Cough Lozenges, added in 1855. In addition to the containers embossed “I.B.”, other surviving bottles, possessing
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of Wistar’s Balsam were produced, yielding an average annual retail sale of $78,000— more than a goodly sum in those days. Included on the bottle wrapper was this presumptuous rhythmic verse: “In Rome thus spoke the Pope: I’m glad to meet you, I assure you, sir You are quite well, I hope? No? Then I know just what will cure you, sir. What, ho! Request our court apothecary To bring some WISTAR’S BALSAM OF WILD CHERRY.”
Figure 7: Dr. Wistar’s Balsam of Wild Cherry. applied lips along with blowpipe or iron pontil scars, are embossed with agency names such as “Sanford & Park/ Cincinnati.O.”, “John D. Park/Cincinnati”, and “W.M.S.”. The latter set of initials are those of W.M. Spear, a Philadelphia opportunist who landed in court in 1847 when Fowle requested an injunction to halt the production and sale of Spear’s blatant imitation of Dr. Wistar’s Balsam. Undoubtedly, the big seller for Seth W. Fowle & Son was “Dr. Wistar’s Balsam of Wild Cherry for the cure of Consumption and all Lung Diseases.” From the fact that the U.S. medicine tax stamp pasted on the containers had a face value of four cents, it can be determined that this proprietary retailed at $1 a bottle. Also, government records of the private die revenue stamps sold to the proprietor during the years 18691883 indicate that over one million bottles
Isaac Jones Wistar (1827-1905) The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, the nation’s first independent medical research facility, was founded in 1892 by General Isaac Jones Wistar [Figure 8]. General Wistar provided funds for a new building and a trust fund to guarantee perpetual care for the existing Wistar Museum at the University of Pennsylvania. The Museum originally consisted of the accumulation of anatomical preparations used by the famous Dr. Caspar Wistar (1761-1818, see above) throughout his active career, and was renamed the Wistar Institute upon incorporation in April 1892. Its benefactor, General Isaac Wistar, was Dr. Caspar Wistar’s great nephew. In his role as teacher, Dr. Caspar Wistar developed a number of unique teaching aids, some of which were life-sized anatomical models made of dried and waxinjected human limbs and organs. Others were fashioned of wood, carved by America’s first native-born professional sculptor, William Rush. Today, The Wistar Institute owns the only extant examples of Rush’s anatomical models. Two years before his death, Dr. Wistar appointed a young physician, Dr. William Edmonds Horner as caretaker of these valuable models. Horner later enlarged the collection and opened the first anatomical museum in the United States, the Wistar and Horner Museum. After Wistar’s death William Horner, who later served as dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, maintained and expanded the collection of anatomical specimens, further expanded under the curation of Dr. Joseph Leidy who acquired animal specimens as well as fossil and anthropological samples. By the late 1880s the collection had grown so large and overly handled that it was beginning to show signs of wear and neglect, a situation compounded by a fire in Logan Hall at the University of
Figure 8: Issac Jones Wistar Pennsylvania where the museum was housed. University Provost William Pepper began a fund-raising campaign to provide for rehousing and refurbishing the collections to assure their continued availability for study and the teaching of medicine. It was at this point that Isaac Jones Wistar stepped into the picture. A prominent Philadelphia lawyer and retired Civil War Brigadier General, Wistar made an initial gift to Provost Pepper’s campaign to save the museum. But General Wistar then offered a more far-reaching proposal. Determined to create a lasting gift for the serious study of biological research as well as to preserve his great uncle’s teaching collection, he funded an endowment and research building for The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. The University of Pennsylvania transferred the museum collections to the Institute by Deed of Gift in 1892. Shortly after the turn of the 20th century, The Wistar Institute began to fulfill Isaac Wistar’s dream of a center for “new and original research” in the biological and medical sciences. The Wistar Institute today has nearly 400 staff members, including about 130 doctoral-level scientists who occupy more than 50 laboratories. Working in the Institute’s original 1894 building and its more recent extensions, Wistar scientists carry out multidisciplinary investigations of all types of cancer and viral, autoimmune, and degenerative diseases. AUTHOR’S NOTE: In 2003 a wonderful, best selling, book
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was published—A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (see bibliography). Indulging my interest in many things, including paleontology, I selected Bryson’s award winning book as one to read as a distraction from my almost constant research and writing about bottles. I had only read a hundred pages of the over 500-page work when up popped the name “Caspar Wistar.” From my forty-five years of studying bottles and their history, my memory reminded me that a Caspar Wistar was America’s first successful glassmaker. Could it be that the Wistar featured in the Bryson book was the same person? I quickly found out that there were numerous notable Wistars in American history of the 1600s through 1900s: I discovered that the first Caspar and his son Richard were involved in early American glass history, and that perhaps the most famous was Caspar Wistar, M.D. (1761-1818), the well known physician and teacher. Then there was Dr. Henry Wistar who invented and promoted Dr. Wistar’s Balsam of Wild Cherry. And also Isaac Jones Wistar who founded and funded the world famous Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology in Philadelphia. Bill Bryson not only tries to find out what we know, but also to find out how we know it. To that end, the author apprenticed himself to a host of the world’s most profound scientific minds, living and dead, and that elite group included Dr. Caspar Wistar. According to Bryson: “In 1787, someone in New Jersey – exactly who now seems to be forgotten – found an enormous thighbone sticking out of a stream back at a place called Woodbury Creek [Figure 9]. The bone clearly didn’t belong to any species of creature still alive, certainly not in New Jersey. From what little is known now, it is thought to have belonged to a “hadrosaur,” a large duck-billed dinosaur. At the time, dinosaurs were unknown.
Figure 9
The bone was sent to Dr. Caspar Wistar, the nation’s leading anatomist, who described it at a meeting of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia that autumn. Unfortunately, Wistar failed completely to recognize the bone’s significance and merely made a few cautious and uninspired remarks to the effect that it was indeed a whopper. He thus missed that chance, half a century ahead of anyone else, to be the discoverer of dinosaurs. Indeed, the bone excited so little interest that it was put in a storeroom and eventually disappeared altogether. So the first dinosaur bone ever found was also the first to be lost.” As most of us know, President Thomas Jefferson thought there might be scientific and political value in sending a party to explore the interior of America beyond the Mississippi. Hoping the intrepid adventurers would find herds of healthy mastodons and other outsized creatures grazing on the bounteous plains, Jefferson’s personal secretary and trusted friend Meriwether Lewis was chosen co-leader and chief naturalist, along with George Rogers Clark, for the expedition. And the person selected to advise Meriwether Lewis on what to look out for with regard to animals living and deceased was none other than Dr. Caspar Wistar. By the early years of the nineteenth century, fossils had taken on a certain inescapable importance, which makes Wistar’s failure to see the significance of his dinosaur bone all the more unfortunate. At the time, several other opportunities arose for Americans to claim the discovery of dinosaurs but all were wasted. In 1806 the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through the Hell Creek formation in Montana, an area where fossil hunters would later literally trip over dinosaur bones, and even examine what was clearly a dinosaur bone embedded in rock, but failed to make anything of it. Other bones and fossilized footprints were found in the Connecticut River Valley of New England after a farm boy named Plinus Moody spied ancient tracks on a rock ledge in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Some of these at least survive and are in the collection of the Peabody Museum at Yale. Found in 1818 (the year of Dr. Caspar Wistar’s death), they were the first dinosaur bones to be examined and saved, but unfortunately they weren’t recognized for what they were
until 1855, decades after a first opportunity to appreciate the age of dinosaurs. References: Books: Blasi, Betty. A BIT ABOUT BALSAMS. Louisville, Ky., 1974. Bryson, Bill. A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING (pp. 79, 82-83, 94, 355). New York: Broadway Books, 2003. Davids, Richard Wistar. THE WISTAR FAMILY: a genealogy of the descendants of Caspar Wistar, emigrant in 1717. Philadelphia, 1896. [microfiche, available from www.ajmorris.com]. Holcombe, Henry W. PATENT MEDICINE TAX STAMPS. Lawrence, MA: Quarterman Publications, 1979. Hunter, Frederick William. STIEGEL GLASS. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1950. Innes, Lowell. PITTSBURGH GLASS 1797-1891, A HISTORY AND GUIDE FOR COLLECTORS (xv, xvii). Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976. McKearin, George S. & Helen. AMERICAN GLASS (Pp. 36-37, 67, 78-79, 427, 584). New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1941. Moore, N. Hudson. OLD GLASS, EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN (Pp. 212220), New York: Tudor Publishing Co., 1935. Munsey, Cecil. The Illustrated Guide to COLLECTING BOTTLES (Pp. 22-25). New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1970. Nielsen, R. Frederick. GREAT AMERICAN PONTILED MEDICINES. Medford, N.J., 1978. Northend, Mary Harrod. AMERICAN GLASS (Pp. 23-31). New York: Tudor Publishing Co., 1926 by Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc. Pepper, Adeline. THE GLASS GAFFERS OF NEW JERSEY (Pp. 19-29). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1971. Phillips, C. J. GLASS; THE MIRACLE MAKER (Pp. 16-17). New York & Chicago: Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1941. Rogers, Frances & Beard, Alice. 5000 YEARS OF GLASS (Pp. 52-58). Philadelphia & New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1937. Van Rensselaer, Stephen. EARLY AMERICAN BOTTLES AND FLASKS. Peterborough, N.H., 1926. Wilson, Kenneth M. NEW ENGLAND GLASS & GLASSMAKING (Pp. 38-49).
Bottles and Extras New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1972. Wistar, Isaac Jones. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ISAAC JONES WISTAR 1827-1905 HALF A CENTURY IN WAR AND PEACE. New York: Harper, 1937. Periodicals; McKearin, George S. “Wistarburg and South Jersey Glass.” Antiques, Vol. X, Issue 4, pp. 274-280, October 1926. Sicard, Hortense Fea. “Sidelights on the Wistars and Their Glass-House.” Antiques, Vol. X, Issue 4, pp. 281-282, October 1926. Internet: htpp://www.ajmorris.com – The Wistar Family, a Genealogy of the Descendants of Caspar Wistar, Emigrant in 1‘717 by Richard Wistaar Davids. 59 pages plus 3pag supplement, originally published in 1896 at Philadelphia
Cecil Munsey 13541 Willow Run Road Poway, CA 92064-1733 (858) 487-7036 cecilmunsey@cox.net
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Continued from Page 45. information available shows that the firm was incorporated (again!) as the Louisville Bottle Manufacturing Company in March of 1900. The last listing for the LBMCo appears in the 1901 Louisville city directory. The factory is not listed in the 1902 directory. I have very little information on the specific products made at this plant, but likely the typical containers of the period were being produced. One article from early in 1898 states “oils, panels, packers, and snuffs” and other “various wares” were then being made. A bottle almost certainly made by this firm (a Hutchinson-style blob-top soda, embossed “American A duo of Falls City bottles: Amber whiskey flask and small Bottling Works, Louisville whiskey sampler in aqua. Both are marked "F.C.G.CO." KY”) is embossed on the heel with “K G CO.” It is made of clear glass and dates from the late 1890s, which would fall in the correct period of time during which the Kentucky Cooperative Glass Company operated. Therefore I would attribute the “K.G.CO.” mark to this particular factory. The site where this factory once stood is now buried somewhere in the vicinity of the I-264 / I-64 expressway interchange and is completely inaccessible. *I want to thank Hemingray Glass Co. researcher/historian Bob Stahr for generously sharing articles he found in early Mark on the base of Falls City issues of the glass trade periodicals amber whiskey flask (shown in photo above). “Commoner & Glassworker,” “National Glass Budget” and “China, Glass & Lamps.” His assistance is very kindly A History of the Brewing Industry in appreciated. Louisville, Kentucky, New Albany and I want to also thank Greg Spurgeon for Jeffersonville, Indiana” by Peter R. Guetig giving me permission to use some of the and Conrad D.Selle (1995). Some fruit jar photos that were posted on his information has been gleaned from various website. issues of Louisville newspapers, as well as Other references I found to be useful that Caron's Louisville City Directories, U.S. are not already mentioned within the text Census data and other sources. would include “Indiana Glass Factory Notes” by Dick Roller (1992); “The Glass This article concludes the series. David Industry of New Albany” by Gerald O. Whitten may be contacted by E-mail: Haffner (1983); and “Louisville Breweries: drw90459@iglou.com.
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Let’s Talk About Ink with Ed & Lucy Faulkner Inwells As long as mankind has been writing, there has been a need for an ink container of some sort. Books could be written (and have been) on all the different kinds of inkwells through the years. A lot of bottle collectors have no interest in inkwells, but from a historical standpoint, a few can add interest to the bottle collection. The first inkstand patented in this country was in 1811, by A. H. Quincy, of Boston, Massachusetts. (This patent is unavailable.) From about 1840 through the beginning of the 20th century, hundreds of inkwells, inkstands, and ink bottles were patented. Many, earlier and later, exist that were
Figure 1
not patented. Inkwells were made in sandstone, ceramic, marble, glass, all types of metals, wood, paper mache, and combinations of these. They varied from simple ceramic to gold, silver, and art glass by Tiffany and Loetz. For the man, there were even inkwells made from the hooves of deer and others like a deer head with the antlers for pen rests. With literacy increasing in the masses of the population, decorative inkstands were a popular item to have sitting out in the home. As travel increased, there was a need for “traveling inkwells”. These were usually a bottle enclosed in a wooden, metal, or paper mache container of some sort. There were also traveling writing “desks” containing an inkwell and sander as well as room for paper and pens. Many companies used inkwells as advertising giveaways in the late 19th to the early 20th century. The twentieth century saw the decline of inkwells. Most people were now using fountain pens and just filled the pen directly from the bottle and inkwells for dipping pens were no longer needed. By the 1930s, inkwells were beginning to be a thing of the past. A few pen and ink companies made pen-inkwell combinations for the desk, but
Bottles and Extras for the most part, inkwells were no longer used except by the U.S. post office. And even they gave up dip pens in 1957. Figure 1 is a traveling inkwell, circa 1775-1825. A similar one is pictured in the COLLECTORS ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Neuman and Kravic, as well as in Covill’s. It has a small pontiled glass bottle and on either side, a place for two quills. I have seen a number of these and the cases had different decorations. The second one pictured [Figure 2] is by the S. Silliman Company of Chester, Connecticut and was listed on an 1850s price sheet by them. These were popular during the Civil War and were carried by soldiers. Some, as the one pictured, have carvings on the lid, presumably done by the owner. Metal inkwells with a quill holder, similar to Figure 3, are shown in paintings dating to the early 17th century. This quill holder type was popular for at least 200 years. I believe the one pictured dates to the early 1800s. It is not pewter, but some other type of base metal. The inkstands we commonly call “snail” inks were used from the 1870s until after the turn of the century. The first patent dates we could find were 1879 and 1880. This
Figure 2
Figure 3
Bottles and Extras type was still being used in 1902 as seen in the Sears catalog ad, however, it may have been falling out of favor by then as Sears had reduced the price from one dollar to thirty-five cents. [Figures 4 - 5] Colored glass inkwells [Figure 6] date from mid-1800s to 1920s, according to some sources. The last 30 years of the 19th century was a time of popularity for this type inkwell. Colored glass could be easily made and at a low enough cost that most could afford a dainty glass inkwell. The vaseline inkwell pictured is one such example. (The early 1800-1840 Pitkin and geometric inks
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are not included here - that is a completely different category.) There are hundreds of advertising inkwells known, as most businesses had them as promotional items or for office use. The one pictured here [Figures 7a and 7b] came from a jewelry shop in Richmond, Va., that was in operation beginning about 1880. It is glazed ceramic and has Omega Watches and the face of a pocket watch on it. Dealers probably received these to give to customers. Figure 8 is a letterhead from the Emry Davis Company, which was a large inkwell manufacturer. The letterhead states they
sold these inkstands to insurance companies, railroads, U.S. Steel and others. The ink they made was advertised as being in use by the government for its most permanent records. While this article will probably not convince anyone to go out and buy inkwells, we hope it will show how important they were in the lives of our ancestors. Probably every home had one of some type. The market had to be there for sales, as there were so many patents for inkwells, and so many different styles made for every taste of both men and women.
Figure 4
Figure 6
Figure 5
Figure 7a
Figure 7b
Figure 8
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Charles Hilton: Milk Bottle Collector Constantly on the Moove By Bill Baab GRANITEVILLE, S.C. — Simply collecting milk bottles wasn’t enough for Charles Hilton, whose ever-growing collection includes everything milk-related except a cow. He knows better than to get into that phase of the hobby. “When I was a teenager, I worked on a dairy farm and milking cows is just too much like work,” the Graniteville man said, chuckling at his memories. One day in 1976, Hilton walked along the railroad tracks between the Aiken County communities of Graniteville and Vaucluse and spied a milk bottle on the right-of-way. He picked it up, discovered it was from the locally known Coble Dairy and decided then and there to start a collection. He visited Jim Brewer (now deceased) at the latter’s Tin Palace Antiques shop in nearby North Augusta, S.C., and just happened to remark that he wanted to start a milk bottle collection. Brewer told him he needed to get in touch with this writer, who was planning to dispose of his milk bottle collection, and had mentioned it to his friend, the dealer. He paid $40 for that collection, which was taking up too much space on a limited number of shelves in the writer’s growing collection of Augusta, Georgia bottles. The writer’s milk bottle collection included at least one World War II patriotic (Keep ‘em Flying) from Augusta Dairies, many other local dairies such as Georgia-Carolina, Sancken’s, Walton’s (dating to the 1890s) and a few baby tops acquired in trades. (The writer jokingly offered Hilton $40 for the collection during this interview, but was turned down. Boo-hoo! But he refused to part with a 19-teens-era change tray from Georgia-Carolina Dairies which Hilton still covets.) It wasn’t too long before Hilton had discovered that collecting every milk bottle in existence would be an impossibility, “so I decided to key on milks in the AikenAugusta area.” He became a member of the 1960s-70sera Milkbottles Only Organization (MOO) founded by Fred Rawlinson of Newport News, Va., later corresponding with John Tutton, an authority on milks and author of several books on the subject. “I sent John
some photos from my collection which he used in one of his books,” Hilton said. An article written in 1984 by Frank Elske in The Milk Route newsletter changed Hilton’s collecting life forever. “Frank noted there was a 1956 DIVCO milk truck rotting away at a North Carolina dairy that somebody needed to go get and restore. DIVCO stands for Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company. It took me six months to make
Bottles and Extras up my mind, but I went up to the Pine StatesSealtest Dairy, which had been using the truck for parts, and bought it for $100. “In 1991, a DIVCO Club was formed and I began to find much-needed parts for the truck, whose brakes were hand-operated. It’s the kind of truck milkmen had to stand up in to drive as they made home deliveries. But I still needed a transmission shifter assembly, without which the truck couldn’t be operated. “In 2000, I attended a joint meeting of The Milk Route–DIVCO Club–Cream Separator Club in Hershey, Pa., and met George Parmalee from Connecticut who was
Charles Hilton inside cab of 1956 DIVCO milk truck during restoration.
Hilton inside fully restored and operational DIVCO truck.
Bottles and Extras in the process of restoring a DIVCO Model 11. I learned he had a wrecked truck with a shifter he didn’t need. It was real job to take it out, but I bought it from George, paying between $100 and $125. I bought other parts from George, who is one of the nicest guys out there. He owns a grand champion show milk truck. “Later, I bought an original Continental 4162 stamped DIVCO head for $75 from an old parts warehouse in Springfield, Ohio, which had bought all the parts from DIVCO
Fall 2005 when the company went out of business. It took me awhile to find that warehouse.” So now Hilton is the proud owner of an operational DIVCO milk truck whose sides are emblazoned with his personal Windmill Farms logo. He drove it to the Aiken County Fair where it was exhibited in the fall of 2004. He didn’t stop with that restoration. No indeed! “I’ve also restored a 1907 milk wagon built by James J. Casey of Holyoak, Mass. I
Hilton checks out what’s left of a 1907 milk wagon he found in Watson, Conn.
Here’s the fully restored wagon years later. All it needs is a horse and he said he’s working on that.
55 found it in Walcott, Conn. The wagon was used to haul 10-gallon cans from which milk was dipped for home delivery. The wheels are brand new and were built by an Amish man in Holmes, Ohio. The original ‘no oil’ bearings were pieces of leather soaked in grease, but it now has been equipped with better bearings.” The wagon has rein holes in the front top of its cab, but drivers must have learned they had better control over the horse with the reins lower down. Worn spots beneath the windows in the front of the cab indicate that’s where the reins had been placed. “It took my father-in-law, Bobby Proctor, who redid the woodwork, and I a year to restore that wagon. Now I’m looking for a horse.” The wagon also bears the Windmill Farms logo. Those two vehicles join other milkrelated collectibles such as milking machines (“maybe close to 30”), cream separators, cap picks, caps, dairy souvenir advertising mirrors, calendars, clocks, rare signs, a milk bottle cap maker (the only one known to be in private hands, he said, it came from Canada) and a hand-operated filling and capping machine. His latest restoration efforts are confined to other machines likely to be found on a dairy farm — tractors. “Parts are hard to find and it takes time and money. My friend, David Turner, is an outstanding mechanic and has been a great help to me on rebuilding and restoring my tractors.” Hilton owns two 1953 Super A Farmalls, a 1948 Farmall Cub, a 1939 10-horsepower John Deere “L,” a 1960 Ford Workmaster 541, a 1960 Oliver Super 440 (of which 750 were manufactured), a 1953 Minneapolis Moline BG (1,200 made), a 1943 John Deere “L,” a 1941 John Deere “LA,” a 1948 Allis-Chalmers “G,” and a 1956 Canadianmade Blackhawk Little Chief. “There were only 25 Cockshutt Little Chiefs made and we know where there are 11 others,” said Hilton, who pointed out the difference between his tractors and others. “All of mine are offset; that is, the seats sit off to the right behind the motors so that the farmers could better see the effects of their plowing.” In real life, Hilton is general manager of the Breezy Hill Water and Sewer District, which is a member of the National Rural Water Association (NRWA)representing 25,000 utilities. He is a past president of the state association and is one of nine people on the NRWA’s executive board. He is a consultant on a 16-member special
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board which works with the Department of Homeland Security to formulate plans to protect the nation’s water supplies. He is supported in his life and hobbies by wife Bobbie and daughter Rachel. Photos by Bill Baab.
Here’s just a portion of Hilton’s milk bottle collection.
The collector checks out his hand-operated milk bottle filling and capping machine.
Above, right: Here are a couple of scarce advertising signs in Hilton’s collection. Below, right: Super collector Charles Hilton of Graniteville, S.C., is reflected in this rare mirror advertising Sancken’s Ice Cream from a 1940s-50s Augusta, Ga., dairy. Left: This DeLaval Milker sign is a rarity, according to the collector.
Hilton with his “toothache” bottle, so-called because of neck’s bulge, which held the cream in the days before homogenization.
Hilton proudly poses in the driver’s seat of his restored 1960 Ford Workmaster tractor.
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The Story of Teena (or Making No Bones About It) by Charles David Head Copyright © 2005
I must admit that I was quite surprised, but not skeptical, when I opened up my weekly hometown newspaper and saw the following headline: “Little Girl Spotted Again in Churchyard.” The story said that for several weeks in succession, a little girl had been spotted playing in the Methodist churchyard in the Battlecreek Community of Marion County, Tennessee. This in itself was not unusual, as kids often play in yards of local churches near their homes. However, this Methodist church was way out in the country at least a half-mile from the nearest house. The little girl, according to those who saw her, was about eight or nine years old and dressed in Victorian era clothing and wore bright yellow ribbons in her two long braids of auburn hair. As I read further, I could not help but smile. On the first two occasions when the little girl as spotted by local passers-by, upon being approached the child would quit playing or picking flowers near the church steps and run off into the woods. After a very diligent and thorough search by several hundred volunteers, the police and rescue squad, no trace of the child was ever found. When the incident occurred a second time and the little girl wasn’t found, the locals came to the conclusion that she was a ghost, perhaps that of a child trampled to death by horses at a Sunday service 100
years ago. Yet the child was never seen while services were taking place every Sunday. I leaned back in my chair and placed the paper on the small table I kept on the front porch for such a purpose. What a story! While there was some truth to it, I knew why the little girl was being seen in the churchyard. I even knew her name – Christina Lee Furgurson – but I just call her Teena. Now, let me tell you her story: Since the 1970s, I had noticed the roof of an old two-story house in the fall of the year as I drove up and down the old Battlecreek Road. Every time I saw it, I’d just imagine the loads of old bottles that must be laying around an old place like that. I always promised myself that one day I would take time to go over there and look over the old home place. Finally, on a cool autumn day in October of 2000, I loaded up Cousin Billy and headed out to check out the old house. Built shortly after the Civil War by Thomas P. Furgurson, the two-story house was a huge and solid structure set at the foot of the Cumberland Plateau. According to local folklore, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee had once visited the Furgursons there in 1869. However, local historian Robert Hookey discounted that as an old wives’ tale. There was only one place for me to park the truck and that was at the Methodist church located a half-mile or so from the
house. Numerous outbuildings on the property helped steer our way to the house. Having waited 25 years to look over the place, I started my search inside, access made easy because the doors were wide open and most of the window panes were cracked or broken out. I found very little inside, except a 1920s era cloth bag marked “The Dixie Portland Cement Company Richard City, Tennessee” inside a Civil War-era writing desk, which was in deplorable condition. With Cousin Billy’s help, the attic as searched, but only some common food jars and peanut butter tins were found. I did find a bundle of old letters tied up with twine behind a beam in the attic’s loft. My next search was in the crawl space so, with Cousin Billy close by to help if I found any treasures, I began my search. Success at last! Some very nice 1870s-80s medicine bottles were my reward, many with contents intact. One was a paper-labeled Cherry Cordial from Chattanooga, a large city some 25 miles from the old house. Time flies when you’re having fun so it was nearly dusk when Cousin Billy and I headed back to my truck, vowing to come again real soon. During the next few days, I cleaned up the old bottles and tins and scanned the bundle of letters I’d found. Most were love
58 letters and quite interesting, to say the least, with discussions of the ice cream socials and other events attended by the star-struck lovers. They were Thomas P. Furgurson’s eldest son, John, and a young lady named Sarah from across the valley. Some of the correspondence included very nice letterheads from the coal company where John had worked during the late fall and winter months when the farm lay idle. There also were a couple of letters dated 1910 from the local Methodist minister to John, apparently after he and Sarah had wed and she had borne him a couple of children. The letters were interesting and intriguing, but not as much as the old medicine bottles we had found, so I stored them inside a dresser drawer and forgot about them. Two weeks later, Cousin Billy and I found time to return to the old Furgurson place, spending the day searching the outbuildings for bottles and relics. We found a few pieces of old dishes and milk glass vases inside an old barn, as well as some one-gallon oil cans from the late 1930s, early 1940s, in near mint condition. I was almost certain that the family used a part of their huge farm to dump their household garbage, but Cousin Billy and I never even found a hint of where it might have been. Darkness was fast approaching and, thinking that we may never be able to return again, I suggested that we make one more sweep of the place. Cousin Billy chose the outside and I the inside. I made my way to the attic and probed the gathering gloom with my Q-beam flashlight. Nothing, not even a stray zinc lid from an old Mason jar, had been overlooked. However, as I left, I inadvertently shined my light into the space between the walls. Lo and behold, bottles — lots of bottles –appeared in its rays. To reach those treasures, however, would mean dismantling parts of the wall, and tools that I wouldn’t normally carry on bottle-hunting trips would be needed. Like crowbars and pry bars. Cousin Billy wanted to come back the next day, but it was two and a half months before we were able to return. I was hoping no one else had found my treasure trove. Because we figured to be there all day, I had my "bestest friend" Janet drive us out to the Methodist church and leave us since I didn’t want to leave my truck parked in such an out of the way place for a long period of time. Carrying an assortment of pry bars, our lunch, water jugs and lights,
Fall 2005 we made our way to the house. On the lower floor, I pried off the eight-inch baseboard for several feet in the area I thought the bottles were resting inside the wall. I reached inside and up the wall and my hand encountered more than 100 years of accumulated trash, some put there by rats and mice and the rest by humans. I tugged on a piece of cloth and trash rained down, including bottles that hadn’t seen the light of day for many decades. Wow! I’d hit the Mother Lode! Much to my delight, most of the bottles were embossed and others carried paper labels from early druggists in my hometown of South Pittsburg, Tennessee. There were bottles from the Sartain Drug Company / Jno. J. Ingle & Company, and even a labeled medicine bottle from Doc Astrap, the first black doctor in South Pittsburg. After retrieving all the bottles from that portion of the wall, Cousin Billy and I
Bottles and Extras decided to remove baseboards from the rest of the house, just in case there were other bottles I hadn’t been able to spot from the attic. We worked several hours, but never found another bottle. We also gained access to a good-sized closet next to one of the house’s three huge chimneys, enabling me to shine my flashlight into the dead space behind the chimney. Nothing was there. I got onto my hands and knees and began reaching my hand into the far crevices, finding five inches of dust, but no bottles, until I got close to the base of the chimney. I felt what seemed like a coconut, but when I pulled it into the light of the room, I was stunned by what I saw — a human skull! I couldn’t believe it and handed it to Cousin Billy for confirmation. I found a few more human bones. Having found numerous Indian bones during my searches of plowed fields and Continued on Page 62.
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More Tableware from Fenn by Barry L. Bernas
Introduction In the Summer 2004 edition of Bottles and Extras, I introduced a group of water bottles made to the March 30th 1897 patent granted to William B. Fenn.1 In the article that follows, I want to continue with the same theme and show more of Mr. Fenn’s attractive tableware pieces.
Royal sample seen in Figures 1 and 2. The counterpart outer motifs had the Imperial, Colonial and Optic One designs on them. Only the Royal, Imperial and Optic One styles to the bottom section came in the four sizes depicted in Figure 2. The Colonial version was different. It had simply two capacities of either eight or six ounces. The decanter was advertised for a Decanter little over one year. I’ve located what I Figure 1 is a picture of a decanter. believe to be the initial promotion by the Right off, you will notice the lip Perfection Manufacturing Company of region is much different than the Washington, Pennsylvania. It appeared same area on a water bottle. Instead in the October 23 rd, 1902 edition of of a flared outward design, this Crockery and Glass Journal. T h i s example carries a flat lip segment. piece of separating ware was also shown Also, this piece took a stopper as a in the first Perfection Glass Company top section closure whereas the ad in the August 20th, 1903 version carafe had none. of Crockery and Glass Journal On the decanter in and in the firm’s product Figure 1, the outer neck has catalog - The Evolution of a notch and band motif. Table Glass. With this The stopper is facetted with marketing lineage, it appears a rounded apex. 2 A Royal the decanter series was pattern is embossed around manufactured and sold from at the bottom half of the vessel. Its least October 1902 up to December Figure 1 capacity is three pints. On the 1903 at a minimum.6 underside, the base shows a daisy with twenty-four petals.3 The screw band on this Creamer specimen is the tin version. Another piece of William B. Fenn’s I’ve found that the necks of the decanters unique tableware is pictured in Figure 3. I have inspected had either no markings This specimen is a creamer. It came as part anywhere on them or one of the below kinds of a set, consisting of three other items.7 of embossing. On the curved outer surface The creamer was produced only in the of the vertical protrusion below the bead, Colonial pattern. This regal motif was the phrase - PLACE THE RUBBER HERE molded onto both the top and bottom halves - has been noted. Similarly, the bottom edge of the container. There is no embossing could have one of the trailing phrases anywhere on this piece of glass. Topped by inscribed on it: 1) PATD MARCH 30-97; an elegant cover, most likely made of nickel 2) PATD MARCH 30-97 OTHERS plated zinc, it has a matching screw band PENDING or 3) PERFECTION composed of the same metal. The BOTTLE CO WILKES BARRE PA handled bottom section holds eight PAT MARCH 30 97. ounces of liquid. Figure 2 is a picture of the four individual sizes known for a decanter in the Royal pattern. You will note they Figure 2 are proportional in stopper size/shape, 4 top section length , screw ring diameter5 and bottom contour. Moving from left to right, the base capacities are three, two, one and one-half pint. The bottom of the decanter in this line was manufactured with other patterns besides the
Figure 3
Figure 4 Figure 4 shows the outline of its base and the pattern on it. The first advertisement I could find for this item appeared in the June 11th, 1903 version of Crockery and Glass Journal. It continued to be advertised in consecutive issues of the same periodical through August 13th, 1903. The sponsor of this promotion was the Perfection Manufacturing Company of Washington, Pennsylvania. I believe this firm was a jobber for glass articles made by the Sterling Glass Company of the same location. Both organizations (Sterling and Perfection Manufacturing) would be absorbed into the Perfection Glass Company when it was chartered as a Commonwealth corporation on July 9th, 1903.8 Crockery and Glass Journal continued to carry a depiction of Figure 3 in Perfection Glass Company ads beginning with their
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August 20th edition. The last offering for this item was in the November 1903 magazines - Ladies’ Home Journal and The Munsey. Both pronouncements also came from Perfection Glass.9 With these advertisements as a guide, the creamer wasn’t manufactured for a very long period. Perhaps this example was turned out for about a five month segment of time in 1903. However, promotions can also be deceiving, especially when all of them may not have been located. Whether the revamped Perfection Glass organization continued its production of this item after December 1903 isn’t known. I’ve located no sales promotions that indicate the creamer was being produced thereafter. However, there were reports of replacement pieces and “separating” ware being made well into 1905. 10 So the longevity for this article could have stretched into that year. Regardless of the production cycle, this piece is quite scarce. I’ve seen three in ten years of searching. Syrups The third piece of William B. Fenn ware to show is a syrup jug. In addition, it doubled as a condensed milk dispenser. This separating tableware item came in two styles. The first resembled the creamer profile. It is depicted in Figure 5. The other kind can be seen in Figure 7.
From the information I’ve been able to uncover, the Fig. 6 syrup container in Figure 5 was made only in the Colonial motif. As with its mate, it enjoyed the same advertising provenance as the creamer in Figure 3. But there was an exception to this quick comparison. Unlike its companion, the piece in Figure 5 also came in a smaller, six ounce size in addition to the eight ounce version pictured. Nothing whatsoever was embossed along the curved area below the ledge on either example of syrup jug I own. But on the bottom edge, each one had the inscription - PATD MARCH 30 97 OTHERS PENDING - on it. The Colonial patterned syrup/condensed milk jug is also a scare item to locate in either capacity. Over the same ten year cycle of time, I’ve come across a solitary example of a six and eight ounce container. The probable short period of production along with the accumulated time interval between then and now have increased the likelihood that few of these items have survived for collectors to appreciate.
Figure 7
Figure 5
contents. This style of syrup or condensed milk container came with the Royal, Imperial and Optic One patterns on the bottom’s outer surface. The capacity of the base cavity also had two sizes. These had volumes of eight ounces, as shown in Figure 7, and one pint. With one exception, markings on the two locations of the top section were the same as listed for the Figure 5 sample. The odd variety had - PATD MARCH 30-91 embossed on its bottom edge.11 Advertising for the jug in Figure 7 ranged further back in time than its counterpart in Figure 5. The initial promotion I came across for it was in the October 23rd, 1902 edition of Crockery and Glass Journal. Henceforth, it appeared on and off in Perfection Manufacturing product announcements throughout early 1903. This item continued to be carried in initial Perfection Glass ads starting in August 1903.12 Of course, it was in the Perfection catalog - The Evolution of Table Glass - which was distributed later in 1903. A popular item, the style of container in Figure 7 may have been continued in production by Perfection Glass hands past 1903. Butter Dish The next table piece I want to show was also made to William B. Fenn’s 1897 concept. Called a chilling butter dish in The Evolution of Table Glass, this decorative article came in four pieces. Dissembled in Figure 8, the reassembled example follows as Figure 9.13
^ Figure 8 Figure 9 >
The feature which distinguished a creamer from a syrup/condensed milk jug was the pour spout. In Figure 3, this feature was molded onto the outer top section. For either example in Figure 5 or 7, the same spout is under the cap. Figure 6 shows this aspect quite nicely.
The vessel in Figure 7 has the Royal design on its base and a panel motif around the top section. As opposed to the ornate metal closure seen on the Colonial dispenser in Figure 5, this cover was simpler in appearance and utilitarian in function. Made of tin, it served the purpose of keeping unwanted guests out of the jug’s
Bottles and Extras The unassembled version in Figure 8 has a screw ring and circular plate together on the left. In actuality, they are separate articles. In the center is the bottom cavity of the butter dish. On the right is its top. The item in Figure 9 came solely in the Colonial design. To give you some idea of the butter dish’s size, it is 5 ¾ inches in height and 6 ¾ inches across the horizontal ledge below the screw band. It is a heavy piece of glass. The assembled example weighs three pounds and three ounces. The first mention of a chilling butter dish I could uncover appeared in a Perfection Manufacturing Company promotion. It was in the June 4th, 1903 edition of Crockery and Glass Journal. Starting with the June 11th issue of the same publication, this article was shown in an advertisement from Perfection Manufacturing for the next ten weeks. Thereafter, Perfection Glass Company ads in the same journal and other national magazines either displayed or mentioned the chilling butter dish through November 1903.14 With the above heritage as a basis for a conclusion, this item was made and marketed for a short period of time. I’ve seen only three examples. Scalloped Flanged Tumbler Figure 10 depicts an Imperial design on a tumbler with scalloped flanges sticking outward on the inside of the container just below the lip. This glass was promoted as the hotel model or style 52. If you can believe the write-ups in the trade weeklies about this novel piece of glassware, this article was the rage in early 1903. The first indication of this type of
Figure 10
Fall 2005 tumbler was an ad in the January 8th, 1903 issue of Crockery and Glass Journal. From this point through November of the same year, it and other examples in different patterns and styles were actively promoted.15 Recap According to comments in trade journals and the 1903 Perfection product guide, workers at the Sterling and Perfection Glass Companies manufactured seventy-six different kinds of tableware. Most of these were of the separating kind but there were other pressed pieces that didn’t come apart. In my 2004 article about William B. Fenn’s water bottle, Royal, Imperial, Colonial and Optic One/Two patterns were identified for the outer surface on the base of these carafes. By accounting for the capacity varieties for the bottom sections, a total of seven different kinds of water bottles were discussed. For this companion piece, fourteen decanters, a single creamer, two Colonial and six Royal, Imperial or Optic One jugs, a chilling butter dish and one tumbler were presented. Of the seventy-six possible candidates, thirty-two examples have been discussed. If you would like further information about the aforementioned articles or have new details to share about this line of glassware, I’d enjoy hearing from you. Barry Endnotes 1 The William B. Fenn Patented Water Bottle, Made For Perfection, Barry L. Bernas, Bottles and Extras, Summer 2004, pgs. 17-19. 2 The other style of stopper would be facetted with a pointed top. 3 The William B. Fenn Patented Water Bottle, Made For Perfection, Barry L. Bernas, Bottles and Extras, Summer 2004, pg. 18. The left-hand example in Figure 10 from the above reference is a daisy design. 4 The outer surface of the top section on each decanter in Figure 2 has the panel style. I’m not sure whether a Colonial patterned top section also exists. 5 Both nickel plated zinc and tin bands are shown in Figure 2. 6 Crockery and Glass Journal, October 23, 1902, pg. 16; Ibid, October 30, 1902, pg. 18; Ibid, November 6, 1902, pg. 16; Ibid, November 13, 1902, pg. 16; Ibid, November 20, 1902, pg. 12; Ibid, August 20, 1903,
61 pg. 40; Ibid, August 27, 1903, pg. 40 and the Perfection Glass Company’s product catalog, The Evolution of Table Glass, published circa August to October 1903. There is a possibility the decanter line of ware could have been made earlier than October 1902. I have one example of a top section with the embossing PERFECTION BOTTLE CO WILKES BARRE PA PAT MARCH 30 97. This wording would indicate this item may have been made prior to September 1902 before the Perfection Bottle Company became the Perfection Manufacturing Company. 7 The creamer was one part of a four-piece table set. The other members were a chilling butter dish (discussed later in this article), a spoon holder and a covered sugar. 8 Washington County Corporation Book, Volume 2, pgs. 289-291. 9 Crockery and Glass Journal, June 11, 1903; Ibid, June 18, 1903; Ibid June 25, 1903; Ibid, July 2, 1903; Ibid, July 9, 1903; Ibid, July 16, 1903; Ibid July 23, 1903; Ibid, July 30, 1903; Ibid, August 6, 1903; Ibid, August 13, 1903; Ibid, August 20, 1903; Ibid, August 27, 1903; Perfection, Another Glasshouse in a Glass Town, Barry L. Bernas, Bottles and Extras, Spring 2005, pgs 56-57; Perfection Glass Company, One of Many Glass Houses in Washington, Pennsylvania, Barry L. Bernas, 239 Ridge Avenue, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 2005, pgs. 8-9; Two Corners in Time, Barry L. Bernas, Bottles and Extras, Winter 2005, pg. 8; Ladies’ Home Journal, November 1903; The Munsey, November 1903 and Washington County Corporation Book, Volume 2, pgs. 289-291. 10 Crockery and Glass Journal, August 11, 1904, pg. 28; Ibid, April 13, 1905, pg. 25 and Commoner and Glassworker, August 13, 1904, pg. 1. Between August 1904 and April 1905, I don’t believe any tableware items were produced at Perfection’s alternate facility, the Republic Glass Manufacturing Company in Moosic, Penn sylvania. This site was used to manufacture selected Perfection Glass articles while the firm’s main factory in Washington, Pennsylvania was undergoing an upgrade. 11 The 91 was an obvious pattern maker’s error. Instead of that figure, the number 97 should have appeared. Of note, I’ve found similar errors with the first numeral of 97 as well. The digits 8, 9 and 0 have all been seen. 12 Crockery and Glass Journal, October 23, 1902 through November 20, 1902; November 27, 1902, pg. 3; Ibid, December
62 4, 1902; Ibid, December 11, 1902; Ibid, December 18, 1902; Ibid, January 1, 1903, pg. 8; Ibid, January 8, 1903, pg. 16; Ibid, January 15, 1903, pg. 18; Ibid, January 22, 1903, pg. 36; Ibid, April 2, 1903, pg. 11; Ibid, May 28, 1903, pg. 29; Ibid, June 4, 1903, pg. 29; Ibid, June 11, 1903 through August 13, 1903; Ibid, August 20, 1903, pg. 40; Ibid, August 27, 1903; Ibid, September 3, 1903, pg. 40; Ibid, September 10, 1903, pg. 40; Saturday Evening Post, August 15 1903; Ibid, August 29, 1903; Ibid, September 19, 1903; McClure’s Magazine, September 1903; The Munsey, October 1903 and Ibid, November 1903. 13 Figure 8 was extracted from the sellers’ ad on the electronic marketplace eBay when I was bidding on the item. 14 Crockery and Glass Journal, June 4, 1903, pg. 29; Ibid, June 11, 1903 through August 13, 1903; Ibid, August 20, 1903, pg. 40; Ibid, August 27, 1903, pg. 40; Ibid, September 3, 1903, pg. 40; Ibid, September 10, 1903, pg. 40; Saturday Evening Post, August 15, 1903; Ibid, August 29, 1903; Ibid, September 19, 1903; McClure’s Magazine, September 1903, pg. 60; The Munsey, October 1903 and Ibid, November 1903. 15 Crockery and Glass Journal, January 8, 1903, pg. 52; January 15, 1903, pgs. 18 and 29; Ibid, January 22, 1903, pg. 36; Ibid, April 2, 1903; Ibid, May 28, 1903, pg. 29; Ibid, June 4, 1903, pg. 29; Ibid, June 11, 1903 through August 13, 1903; Ibid, August, 20, 1903, pg. 40; Ibid, August 27, 1903, pg. 40; The Munsey, November 1903 and The Evolution of Table Glass, published circa August to October 1903.
Fall 2005 Continued from Page 58. river banks for Indian relics, I was familiar with the color of skeletal remains. The skull I’d found inside the house was ivory-colored and not nearly as dark as some of the Indian bones I’d found. I concluded these bones were newer and couldn’t have been found outside and hidden behind the wall by a wild animal. I also discarded the notion the bones might have been found by a child in a nearby old cemetery and hidden inside the wall, because there wasn’t a cemetery close enough to the house. Evidently someone had put them there on purpose so no one would ever find them, That meant foul play and probably murder. The small size of the skull indicated the victim had to be a child. Four or five inches of dust and trash had covered the bones so that meant the incident had to have happened nearly 100 years ago. My mind reeling from the discovery, I retreated to the front porch to gather my wits. Sitting in the cool shade, one of my first thoughts was to call the police and report what I had found. I discarded that idea since I didn’t think they’d be interested in investigating a 100-year-old murder and I wasn’t comfortable with the notion of being scrutinized by them. Besides, what if I was wrong and the remains were more recent? I could just imagine the questions they’d ask me! With the time fast approaching for Janet to pick us up, Cousin Billy and I loaded up our equipment and old bottles and headed to the rendezvous site. Our elation at finding the bottles was dampened by the discovery of the skull and bones, which I determined to take with me. Janet was about an hour late and Cousin Billy and I nearly froze, except I was as cold on the inside as the outside because of my grisly discovery. Janet was quite taken aback when I showed her the skull. Being close friends, she could sense that I was upset over the discovery. During the next couple of months, I read everything that was available about the Furgurson family. Thomas P. Furgurson and his wife had the house built shortly after the end of the Civil War. They became the parents of a son named John, who wed Sarah. In 1906, Sarah gave birth to Thomas, who lived until 1998. I was familiar with Thomas, having met him several times during my two-year tenure at Paul’s Food Market in South Pittsburg from 1977-79. I took the skull to my family doctor to get an opinion as to its age, gender and perhaps even the cause of death. The doctor, who had
Bottles and Extras known me for many years and also was familiar with my collecting habits, was quite surprised (to say the least!) to see the skull. He couldn’t determine gender or cause of death, but thought the skull as nearly a century old. In hopes that the bundle of letters I’d found hidden in the house’s attic would shed some light on my research, I began reading the ones I’d not perused. One dated 1910 caught my eye. The local Methodist church minister was enquiring into the health of John and Sarah’s two small children, baby Thomas and little Christina Lee. That was news to me because I was under the impression that John and Sarah had only the one child, Thomas, who had recently died at the age of 92. I began asking older folks living in the area about her. Inquiries proved fruitless and those who had known Thomas swore they’d never heard of an older sister! This was a revelation because surely Thomas would have known of an older sister, even had she died as an adolescent or even as a young adult. Was it Christina’s remains I had found behind that wall. If so, who put them there and more importantly, who had killed her? One of her parents? God forbid! The more I thought about it, the more that possibility had become a reality. Did the people who loved Christina the most end her life and put her into that awful, dark place? If so, how did they explain her disappearance to the minister and their neighbors? The hairs on the back of my neck stood up on their ends as a shudder passed through my body, thinking of the horrible scenario. I kept Teena (my nickname for Christina) in my dresser drawer for another 11 months. I had no nightmares or experienced any supernatural phenomenon during that time as I searched for a suitable final resting place. I had no intentions of returning her remains to the vile home place where she’d probably met her end. Instead, I chose the old Methodist church grounds as the only place hallowed enough, the grounds on which she may have played and picked flowers as a little girl. AUTHOR’S NOTE: Except for the ghostly sightings, this is a true story. I have changed a few names and rearranged dates and locations. Today, Teena lies where I buried her remains in April 2002, beneath a huge, 200-year-old oak tree in the Methodist churchyard. Its broad branches serve as a canopy for her final resting place.
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Check Out Our Website! If you haven’t seen our latest website, you might want to check it out. We have the latest and greatest finds in our Recent Finds column and a Bottle Detective column where you guess the bottle from a small clue and win $100. We also have a column called Auctioneer’s Viewpoint that is getting people’s attention. The What Is It column asks readers to help us out with identifying bottles we’re not quite sure of and Message In A Bottle is a forum for clubs and individuals to express their own opinions and announce upcoming events. It’s all good fun and in addition, we have a vast database of bottles sold over the years along with a recent bottle news, consigning information, and a resource page that will show you what clubs and other resources are available. Just go to www.americanbottle.com. We think you’ll find something of interest.
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Bottles and Extras
Figure 1, above: Souvenir plates from Saratoga, showing the High Rock Spring. Figure 2, below : A few of the many variations of High Rock souvenir spoons Close-up on right shows the detail of one of the spoon bowls. Each one is different.
Figure 6: Commemorative canteen flasks from the Spanish-American War. Close-up of the Com. W. S. Schley flask shown on the left.
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Do You Know “The Rest of the Story”?
With a little help from George Waller’s “Saratoga, Saga of an Impious Era” (Reference 2), the answer unfolded. In 1738, William Johnson, age 23, arrived from Ireland in the Mohawk Valley of what would become New York, to manage his uncle’s land and to establish a trading post. He soon won the respect of the Mohawks, the most powerful of the Iroquois Confederacy, by trading fairly with them when it was common practice to cheat the Indians. He enjoyed the wild forests and the primitive ways of the Mohawks and he mingled with them at every opportunity, accepting them as equals when they were used to being treated with contempt by the whites. He learned their language, shared their food and dressed in their clothing. Eight years after his arrival in the valley, he was such good friends with the Indians that Britain commissioned him Colonel of the Six Nations. During the French and Indian Wars, he and a band of Iroquois joined an English militia and defeated the French at the battle of Lac du Saint Sacrement, which Johnson later renamed Lake George. He was soon appointed His Majesty’s Superintendent of Indian Affairs and dubbed a baronet. Johnson took Molly Brant, sister of the war chief of the Mohawks, as his wife and made her mistress of his baronial mansion, Johnson Hall in Johnstown. She bore him children, managed his household and helped entertain the continuous stream of guests. He was not only one of the most important men in the new world, but one of the wealthiest. In 1767, at the age of 52, Johnson suffered severely from numerous ailments, including dysentery, the gout, and a musket ball, still lodged in his thigh from the battle of Lake George, years earlier. Neither Indian herbs nor doctors from Albany could ease his condition. He could not walk or stand, and kept to his bed, weak with pain. The Mohawk chiefs held a council. About 30 miles northeast of Johnstown, in a little wooded valley at the edge of the Adirondacks, were the “Medicine Springs of the Great Spirit,” whose waters had repaired and renewed the Iroquois for nearly 400 years. The sachems decided that if Johnson were to be cured, they must transport him to the magical springs. On August 22, 1767, an escort of Iroquois braves set out from Johnson Hall, carrying their friend on a litter. Although rumors had abounded for years about a spring with
by Don Fritschel
Have you ever wondered about some of the items in your collection? I’m not talking about the item itself, or where it came from, or what it is worth. I’m talking about the story behind it, or, as commentator Paul Harvey puts it, “The rest of the story!” Sometimes the most fascinating tales emerge as you start to research your favorite collectibles. There are several “levels” of research. At the most superficial level, one gathers enough information to satisfy basic curiosity. In the case of an antique bottle this might be to determine its age, what product it held, and possibly its current value. As you dig a little deeper, you start to uncover history of the product manufacturer, information about the town where it was made, and frequently, interesting stories and anecdotes. Wellresearched articles of this type appear in each issue of Bottles and Extras, as well as other hobby magazines. At the deepest level, one can amass so many data, photographs, drawings, advertisements, first person accounts and historical information that the story can only be told by writing a book. Such is the case with Peter Mallett’s recent 184-page volume on
a single patent medicine, Smith’s Green Mountain Renovator. (Reference 1) While I don’t intend to write any books, I do find myself becoming interested enough in certain items in my collections that I will often try to discover the story behind the story. For example, I was showing my bottle collection to another collector one day and he remarked on the interesting display on the bottom shelf of my bottle cabinet. Where the shelves above are tightly packed with flasks, medicines and other early glass, the bottom shelf has only eight Saratoga bottles separated by six decorated plates, each containing a different scene from the early Saratoga area. He noticed that two of the plates celebrated the Saratoga High Rock Spring. [Figure 1] After he left, I looked at the plates again. Both showed Indians drinking from a spring that was running from the top of a rocky mound, about four feet high. Next, I dug out my collection of souvenir spoons from Saratoga and noted that 16 out of 20 different spoons in the group also featured variations of the famous High Rock in their bowls. [Figure 2] With so many different mineral springs and bottles from Saratoga Springs, why is this scene so prevalent?
Figure 3: Early woodcut of Johnson being carried to the healing spring.
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wonderful healing powers, no white men had ever been allowed to enter the sacred area. Sir William Johnson would be the first. As the entourage neared the spring, he saw a strange cone-shaped rock, about five feet tall, and resembling a small haystack. Water poured from a round hole in the top of the rock and ran down its sides. [Figure 3] The Indians built a bark hut close to the spring and scattered leaves for Johnson to lie on. For four days, he drank and bathed in the salty waters of the spring. On the fourth day, a runner arrived with news that required the baronet to hurry home. The death of one of the chiefs and new land disputes between the settlers and Indians required his immediate attention. Much to Johnson’s surprise, his brief visit to the spring restored much of his strength and he was able to walk part of the way home. News of his miraculous cure traveled
Figure 4: A “High Rock” bottle showing the embossed 1767 date.
quickly and other health seekers were drawn to the spring. It was only a matter of time before the “high rock” spring, and others discovered nearby, would launch the spa that would become the famous Saratoga Springs. I looked at one of my Saratoga High Rock bottles and there was the date “1767”, (the date of Johnson’s visit), arched over the embossed “high rock”. [Figure 4] I looked more closely at my two souvenir plates. Both showed Indians drinking from water spilling from the haystack-shaped rock, but one of them, faintly, in the background, showed four Indians carrying a man on a litter! As I put my spoons away, I noticed one of my all time favorite souvenir spoons lying in the drawer. It has the raised relief of the Alamo in the bowl, along with the words, “The Alamo, Built in 1718, San Antonio, Texas.” This bowl is the most common of all San Antonio spoons, but the handle is not the usual “Texas” handle, showing cowboys, longhorns, a Lone Star, etc. This particular handle is in the form of a full-figured Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, dressed in uniform with a campaign hat. The workmanship is so perfect that you can even see the “U.S.” insignia on his tunic collar as well as a monocle on one eye! [Figure 5] Is there a connection between Teddy Roosevelt and the Alamo? I plugged “Teddy Roosevelt + Alamo” into an Internet search window and soon found out that the answer was both “yes and no”! Early in 1898, the United States sent its naval fleet to Cuba as a “show of force” against Spain, who was attempting to colonize the island. On February 15th, Spain sunk the U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor. President McKinley declared war on Spain on April 24th. Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, resigned his post to join the war effort by forming the 1st U.S. Cavalry Volunteer Regiment, soon called the “Rough Riders” by his men. He set up his headquarters in San Antonio, in the Menger Hotel, and did most of his recruiting from the hotel bar. In fact, if you visit this historic hotel today, you will see dozens of old photos of the Rough Riders training in San Antonio, as well as the actual bar stool where Roosevelt sat. Some of his new officers were already well known: Capt. Bucky O’Neill, mayor of Prescott, Arizona, and famous frontier sheriff; Capt. Llewellen of New Mexico, a highly respected peace officer who had been
Bottles and Extras wounded four times by outlaws; Lt. Ballard, another former peace officer, famous for breaking up the Black Jack Gang; Benjamin Daniels, marshall of Dodge City in its heyday; Sherman Bell, deputy marshall of Cripple Creek, Colorado. In addition, Roosevelt’s cause attracted patriots with names like Cherokee Bill from Indian Territory, Happy Jack of Arizona, Smoky
Figure 5: Sterling souvenir spoon featuring Teddy Roosevelt and the Alamo.
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Moore, The Dude, Hell Roarer, Tough Ike, Rattlesnake Pete, as weeks of waiting, blockading, and bombarding the coastal defenses, well as at least four former or current ministers and several former the Spanish ships, under the command of General Cervera, Texas Rangers. attempted to run the blockade. The Spanish fleet was destroyed, Later, Roosevelt wrote, “They were a splendid set of men, these with little damage to the American ships. Schley retired in 1901 South westerners—tall and sinewy, with resolute, weather-beaten at the mandatory age of 62. Ten years later he died and was buried faces, and eyes that looked a man straight in the face without in Arlington National Cemetery, where a gate is named after him. flinching. In all the world there could be no better material for Now that I knew Commodore Schley’s story, I bought the flask. soldiers than that afforded by these grim hunters of the mountains, While researching Schley, and his part in the war, I ran across these wild rough riders of the plains.” After training for several a website that gave several dozen brief biographies of other major weeks in San Antonio, Roosevelt’s regiment deployed to Tampa players in the war. Besides the military men, such as Roosevelt, Bay before the invasion of Cuba, where they charged to immortality Dewey, and Schley, there were others, such as Walter Reed, who on San Juan Hill. became an international hero by tracing yellow fever to its mosquito Shepard Manufacturing (1893-1920), the maker of this superb origin, and William Randolph Hearst, whose newspaper empire souvenir spoon, thought it indiscreet to feature the war hero, and gained readership during the war by its sensational war headlines 26th President of the United States, with a hotel, or, worse yet, followed by stories that were exaggerated, at best, and outright with a bar. So they created a spoon with T.R. in full battle dress, fabrications, at worst. One of Hearst’s more colorful employees on horseback, along with the Alamo, the building directly adjacent was Richard Harding Davis, often called “The First Modern War to the Menger Hotel, where he did most of his recruiting. Correspondent.” The daring Harding often defied orders in order A few months later, while my interest in the Spanish-American to get to the scene of the action, as he did for coverage of the War was still high, I was offered a label-under-glass famous charge up San Juan Hill. His reports of this battle were commemorative flask from that war. These bottles are shaped like largely responsible for the legend of Theodore Roosevelt and the figural canteens, about 4 ½” in diameter, with “U.S.” debossed on Rough Riders. one side and with a full color picture-under-glass on the opposite. For a time, Hearst also employed Frederick Remington to I already had two different ones, one with Admiral George Dewey’s illustrate some of his more sensational articles. Prior to the outbreak face on the front, and a second one showing a soldier and sailor of the war, Hearst ran a story about American women being stripshaking hands. The one I was being offered had an unfamiliar searched by male Spaniards, and he had Remington sketch a face, marked, “Com. W.S. Schley, U.S.N.” [Figure 6] I wondered provocative picture to accompany the article. Neither the article what part he played in the Spanish-American War. nor the sketch were factual, but they did much to incite American Once again, the Internet was a big help. I plugged “Schley + outrage against Spain. One of Remington’s original works of art, Spanish American War” into a search window and soon had a the famous “Bronco Buster” sculpture, was presented to Teddy five page biography in my hand! Winfield Scott Schley was named Roosevelt by the men of the Rough Riders at the close of the war. after the famous general of the War of 1812. Schley graduated Hearst’s primary rival in the publishing business from Annapolis, remaining lifelong friends with one of his was a Hungarian immigrant named Joseph Pulitzer. classmates, George Dewey. As a young officer, he served boldly After merging two St. Louis newspapers, Pulitzer on one of the blockade ships during the Civil War, and began expanded his journalistic empire by purchasing the his rapid rise through the Naval ranks. His exploits New York World from Jay Gould and went head-toincluded suppressing a riot of 400 Chinese on the head with Hearst’s New York Morning Journal, Chincha Islands, taking possession of the U.S. matching its sensationalism in war reporting. Custom House in San Salvador during an Among other credits, Pulitzer introduced insurrection, and landing marines in Korea to comic strips to newspapers. After his search for a missing American ship, believed death in 1911, his will established both plundered by Korean pirates. He held many the Columbia University School of positions, including various ship commands, Journalism and the much revered Pulitzer head of the foreign language department at Prize. Annapolis, and chairman of the Naval Bottles are not the only collectible items Lighthouse Board. that are fun to research. I have a small In 1884, Schley became a public hero, collection of cast iron banks. Most of them when he commanded three ships in a daring are still banks, but I do have one mechanical rescue of Army Lt. Adolphus Greeley, an bank. This features a fat man sitting in a arctic explorer whose expedition had plush chair. [Figure 7] When you place a disappeared three years earlier in Greenland. coin in his hand, his arm tilts downward Remarkably, he was able to locate Greeley and drops the coin into his vest and his and his group of six survivors in the frozen head nods. It’s very cute, but there is more wasteland. At the outbreak of the Spanishto the story. American War, Schley took command of The side of his chair is embossed the “Flying Squadron,” whose mission “Tammany,” so it didn’t take much research was to intercept the Spanish fleet. When to realize that the man is William M. it was determined that the enemy fleet Tweed, New York City’s political boss in Figure 7: Cast-iron mechanical was in Santiago Bay, Schley, with eight the late 1860s. His headquarters, located “Tammany” bank. ships, blockaded the harbor. After five on East 14th Street, was known as Tammany
68 Hall. Tweed orchestrated elections, controlled the city’s mayor, and was rewarded with bribes and kickbacks that he demanded from political supporters, in exchange for city contracts. There is little question that Tweed and his cronies were outright crooks. Between 1865 and 1871, an estimated 100 to 200 million dollars were swindled from the City. The most outrageous example of urban corruption was the New York County Courthouse, which cost more than three times its original estimate and took 20 years to complete. Contractors associated with Tammany Hall received exorbitant payments for their work and Tweed himself benefited from his personal interests in a Massachusetts quarry that provided the marble for the courthouse. When a committee investigated why it took so long to build the courthouse, it spent nearly $8,000 just to print its report. The printing company was owned by Tweed. The iron bank now takes on a different meaning. When Boss Tweed’s hand drops the coin inside his vest, he is accepting a bribe. The nod is one of patronage. Since I was now on a roll, I began thinking of other old things I owned that might also have a story behind them. One thing that came to mind was an old map, which had been part of a small collection of maps, that I had recently obtained in a trade for some bottles. Where most of the maps were related to mining, showing mine locations, colors, topography, and other details, this particular map was very uninteresting. It was black on tan, and about 8" high by 40" long. It traced a wagon route from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Albuquerque, N.M. There was little detail, except for occasional rivers and passes crossed, and grassland notations. The entire “trace” was only about 1" wide, including the limited details. It was titled, “Wagon Route of Edward F. Beale, 1858.” The map was certainly not very significant, but maybe there was a story behind Beale. When I researched Edward Beale, I was astonished to learn who this man was, and what he had done. Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1822-1893) was an American frontiersman, a friend of Ulysses S. Grant, and is credited with being the first to bring news of the California gold strike to the east coast. During the Mexican War, he and Kit Carson, slipped through the enemy lines to bring reinforcements to save General Kearney’s troops. Beale surveyed and marked numerous regional wagon routes,
Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005 as well as one of the three major wagon routes to California. Portions of “The Beale Wagon Road” exist today in the Southwest as the lines of the Santa Fe Railroad and old Route 66. During its brief existence, Beale also ran the Army’s experimental camel corps in Arizona. President Millard Fillmore appointed him Superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada, and President Lincoln appointed Beale Surveyor General of the same region. I thought I knew a lot about western history, so why had I never heard of Beale? It should be obvious by now that much of the fun in collecting can be enhanced by doing a little research about your collections. With the myriad of reference books available today, and especially with the capabilities of the Internet, this has become much easier. I need to close now as I just bought a little bottle called “Lord’s Opodeldoc” with the embossed picture in the glass of a man breaking his crutches! [Figure 8] I need to go find out “the rest of the story”.
References: Mallett, Peter S., 2004, Smith’s Green Mountain Renovator and the St. Albans Remedy Company, privately printed, P.O. Box 2001, Georgia, VT 05468 Waller, George, 1966, Saratoga, Saga of an Impious Era, privately printed. McKearin, Helen and Wilson, William, 1978, American Bottles and Flasks and Their Ancestry, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York Internet: http://www.spanamwar.com/schley.htm h t t p : / / w w w. h o m e o f h e r o e s . c o m / wallofhonor/spanish_am/18_people.html http://www.albany.edu/~dkw42/tweed.html http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/ article_display_printable.cfm?HHIDhttp://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/ bealeafb.htm
< Figure 8: “Lord’s Opodeldoc” medicine bottle.
Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005
69
Figure 1
by Robin Preston
Shooting Shots Part I With luck, this edition of Bottles and Extras should be appearing in your mailboxes before Thanksgiving, which means that Christmas is only a month or so away. So now might be a very good time to start dropping hints to Santa about what you’d like to find under the tree on the 25th. Shot glasses, yes, preferably a nice label-under Figure 2 glass or delicately-pasteled enamel shot, but how about shot-glass accessories? Maybe a shiny new digital camera to take pictures Figure 3 of your collection? Creating photographic records of shot glasses is one of the more difficult and frustrating aspects of the hobby. Many who try are so traumatized by their first attempt that they give up. It’s very different from taking snapshots of family or scenery – there’s issues of reflection and contrast and blurring to deal with. While sympathetic to such misgivings, I’d like to try and convince you that producing great photos of your glasses is actually relatively simple provided that After hearing me claim that “equipment doesn’t matter” when it comes to you take note of a few simple guidelines photography, one of my collecting friends asked if a cheap disposable camera and that you’re willing to spend 20 could be used to catalog a collection. Disposables are ubiquitous and cheap, so minutes or so experimenting with light it’s a reasonable question. My instincts told me that it should be feasible, but and camera angle. The payoff will be that before committing myself to paper here, I decided that a little research might be you’ll create images that make your prudent. I purchased a generic drug-store camera for $4.50 and gave it my best glasses (or bottles) look so irresistible that shot: the result is shown in Figure 3a above. Figure 3b below shows the same they’ll foment bidding wars when you list grouping recorded using a digital camera so that you can see that the subject does them on eBay. Plus, you’ll be able to show actually comprise a triplet of pre-pro’s. off an e-collection to family, friends, and While the disposable managed to capture an image of three glasses, it’s worthless fellow collectors by having the glasses as a photographic record. The problem is that disposable cameras are wide-angle showcased in a mini-web within by design. They’re unable to zoom in on small objects such as a shot glass to www.pre-pro.com! record the fine details of the etching. The only alternative is to zoom in on the There’s a common misconception that image of the glass on the negative or print, but this just enlarges the grain, as you the quality of a photographic image is see here. directly related to cost of the equipment used to create it. This is a source of great frustration to all those amateur photographers who see themselves as the next Ansel Adams, something that I can relate to personally. During my early days of pre-pro glass collecting, I was also a keen photographer and would spend many long hours traipsing around the countryside looking for that perfect combination of subject and light that would yield an award-winning photograph. Invariably, people’s reaction
70 to seeing the matted and framed result would be “wow, you must own really great equipment”, not realizing that while fine optics can give professionals an edge over the point-and-snap-shooters, good photography is 90% technique and only 10% equipment [note the disclaimer in Figure 3]. But since Christmas is coming and since a small investment in equipment can make the task of photo-documentation so much easier, I’ll make some buying recommendations in this first installment of “Shooting Shots” and then come back to techniques in a subsequent issue I’m going to assume that you already possess a conventional roll-film camera and you’re now thinking about making the digital leap. Both types of recording medium are capable of outstanding images, but while a print can be scanned to create a digital image for submission and display online [e.g. Figure 2], a digital camera has the supreme advantage of providing immediate feedback. This is particularly important with shot glasses: imagine the frustration of having waited a week and spent $10 in processing costs only to discover that all of your prints are out of focus or marred by a reflected image of you holding a camera. Digital is definitely the way to go when photographing shots. Having decided on digital, then how do you choose what model to buy? If you can’t wait until the 25th to start digiclicking, you’ll discover that your local discount warehouse has a dizzying array of silver shooters. I tend to gravitate to Olympus for small cameras that are sensibly designed, but any of the major brand names (Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Canon, Minolta) manufacture products with fine optics and there’s little to distinguish between them. So which one to choose? There are three principal considerations. The first is the ability to attach the camera to a tripod, so turn the camera over and check to make sure that it has a threaded mount. In practice, virtually all of them do (many stores use the tripod mount as a way to lock demo cameras onto a security device) but, as we’ll discuss later, it’s a vital feature and you should exclude any camera that lacks it. The second requirement is the ability to produce close-up images. Shot glasses average 2" or so in height and you’re going to have to get so close to one that it
Fall 2005 fills the height of the frame yet remains in crisp focus. This means selecting a camera with zoom capability, a feature that’s usually written on the housing of the camera itself (e.g. “3x Optical Zoom”). It’s important to make sure that it indeed says “optical zoom,” referring to an ability to adjust the lens. This is very different from the “2x Digital Zoom” seen proudly displayed on some cameras. “Digital zoom” refers to the ability to magnify the image on the camera’s view screen, a feature that comes standard on all digital models and does nothing to enhance image quality. The ability to focus on close objects (also referred to by manufacturers as “macro” or “supermacro” capability) is commonly indicated by a small tulip icon that appears adjacent to one of the buttons on the camera back [Figure 4], although some models require that you scroll through an on-screen menu in order to access it. A dedicated button makes life that much easier.
Figure 4: The ability to focus on objects close at hand is usually denoted by a small tulip icon, as seen on the back of this Nikon. The final consideration is price. Basic models possessing the features mentioned above start at around $150 and these will more than meet your shot photography needs. The more expensive models have added refinements, but the most obvious difference between cheap and expensive is that more money buys you more pixels: from an average of 2-4 Megapixels for the basic units to 8+ Megapixels for top-ofthe line models. While a testosterone surge may tempt the male readers among you to go for the biggest numbers available, it might be helpful to review what these numbers mean in practical terms. Digital photography was born over two decades ago with the promise that it would eventually replace roll film. If you were to examine an old-fashioned black-andwhite negative under a microscope, you’d
Bottles and Extras see that the image is composed of millions of tiny black dots. The dots are silver grains, deposited as a result of interaction with light and the chemical changes caused by developer. Color film works essentially the same way, with the image being composed of millions of microscopic colored dots (a million is abbreviated “Mega,” as in Megapixel or Megabyte). Because the technology is silver-based, it’s also expensive, but replacing it with digital “film” was implausible because the ability to create an array of tiny light detectors to replace the microscopic grains was beyond our technological means. First efforts to create digital cameras were scorned by professional photographers because images were composed of only a few thousand individual squares of color (commonly referred to as pixels) and hence the ability to resolve fine details of a subject was impossible. To get an idea of what the technology was like, turn on your TV and sit about a foot away from the screen. Although you’ll be aware of the overall image, you’ll be distracted by the fact that it’s composed of thousands of small rectangles of red, blue, and green. Twenty years on and we’ve now arrived at the point where light-detectors can be crammed into cameras at such high density that the resolution of images captured by the more expensive digital models approximates that seen with filmbased technology. This news is welcomed by the professionals because they’re now able to create large display prints from electronic images without a viewer being aware of the individual pixels. But the high resolution afforded by 8 Megapixel cameras turns out to be gross overkill for an average shot-glass photographer. To understand why, consider what you’re going to do with the images you create. Most likely you’ll have a set of 4" x 6" prints made, or you’ll load them onto the Web to support an auction on eBay. Optimum size of an auction image when displayed on a computer monitor is again around 4" x 6". To create an image of this size that displays without any hint that it’s composed of individual color squares requires an array of approximately 300 x 350 pixels [see Figure 5], orders of magnitude less than an 8 Megapixel camera is capable of. But let’s imagine that you did photograph your shots using one of these Mega-cameras at their maximum
Bottles and Extras
Small is beautiful when it comes to digital photography. These images were created using an Olympus 1.3 Megapixel pointand-shoot camera focused on a “Sunrise Pure Rye” shot glass, from Sonnenschein of Chicago. The images in the left column were created with the camera set at its lowest resolution, the images on the right at its highest. The photos in the top row show the entire glass and have been reduced to 50% of actual size for printing. The image on the left is composed of a 306 x 363 pixel array and displays 4-3/4" wide x 5-3/4" high on a 17" computer screen. The jpeg file is 31kb on disk. The panels printed at actual size (100%) show that this 31 kb image is crisp and clean and perfect for display. The image shown at right was generated from a 95 kb, highresolution jpeg. There is no difference in image quality: all that the extra resolution buys you is increased demands on storage space and upload time. The differences between the lowand high resolution images only begin to show when they’re enlarged. At 200%, the lowresolution image (left) begins to reveal its pixels and at 400% becomes unusable. By contrast, the high-resolution image on the right is still holding together well at 200%. Only at 800% do the individual pixels become obvious in the high-resolution image, corresponding to a print size of approximately 38" x 46".
Fall 2005
71
Figure 5
50%
100%
200%
400%
800% resolution. The jpeg file required to save such an image is gargantuan and, if you’re one of those unfortunates who access the internet using a dial-up connection, would require impossibly long to upload. To add insult to injury, eBay’s auction software would then resample the file and discard 90% of it to create an image of 3" x 5" or less. By contrast, an image composed of a 300 x 350 pixel array creates a file that is about 30 kb in size, which is far friendlier in terms of both uploading to
the web and storing on your hard-drive. In other words, unless you plan on making a 6-foot tall poster of a Hayner to put behind your bar, a 2- to 4-Megapixel model will serve all of your photographic needs. If I were shopping for a camera today, I would take a very close look a Nikon Coolpix [Figure 1], an Olympus Camedia [Figure 6A], or a Canon Powershot [Figure 6B], all in the $150 $200 range. If budget is more limited, then you
might want to look at used cameras. All of my shot photography is carried out using a three-year old Olympus. Even though it’s only rated at 1.3 Megapixels, that’s still more power than is necessary [Figure 5] and hence I always have it set at its lowest resolution. One of the secrets to great photography is the religious use of a tripod. In fact, I would argue that tripod use is essential, even though you might feel that owning one labels you a photo-geek. Thus, since
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Fall 2005
we are making a wish list, let’s consider what one looks for when selecting a camera support. The function of a tripod is to eliminate blurring of the image caused by camera shake, an inevitable consequence of hand-holding. While seldom a problem for snapshots taken outdoors, the problem is accentuated by low light levels (which leads to longer exposure times and hence the tendency for shake to declare itself) and close proximity, which is precisely the situation one faces when shooting shots. This is demonstrated in Figure 7.
^ Figure 6A Figure 6B >
Figure 7 Two sets of images of a beautifully-detailed “Monteagle Pure Rye” glass. The photos in the top row were created using a digital camera mounted solidly on a tripod. The right-hand image enlarges the head of the eagle to show how crisp the lines are, although the pixels are beginning to show. I then removed the camera from the tripod and braced it against the side of a chair to provide at least a modicum of support. Even so, you can see from the images in the lower row that the crisp lines are now blurred. Increasing the resolution at which the image was recorded would not have helped: it would simply have recorded the blur in finer detail. There really is no good substitute for a tripod in preventing camera movement.
If the goal of using a tripod is to eliminate camera movement, it follows that the heavier and more stable it is, the better, but not so heavy that it’s a chore to position and maneuver. For ease of use, I would also highly recommend selecting one with a three-way pan and tilt head because this allows for painless and precise adjustments of camera position. Fortunately, a sturdy tripod can be obtained at modest cost, particularly if you’re willing to consider buying second-hand. If you restrict your choice to a professional brand (e.g. Bogen), you’ll be acquiring one that’s rugged enough to have withstood whatever abuse might have been thrown at it, plus spare parts are readily available. New, a suitable tripod might cost as much as $150, but you should be able to find one at less than a third that price used. But if you’re baulking at the thought of making such an expensive investment in a piece of equipment that you’ll use rarely, any tripod is better than none and you can easily find compact, tabletop models for around $20 in a local camera or electronics store. If Santa needs yet more ideas for items to fill the stocking, then you might also
consider obtaining an extra camera card. powering the camera invaluable ($18 for a These are storage devices that hold the set of batteries, $40 for a set of batteries digital images generated by the camera and and a charger). While they’re more that, once full, have to be uploaded to a expensive than the regular copper-tops, computer hard-drive and then erased. they’ll pay for themselves many times over Keeping a spare handy allows for an within a surprisingly short time. And finally, for reasons that will become uninterrupted photography session when the card reaches capacity. Card format is apparent in the next installment, you may typically brand-specific, so buy one only also want to buy a clip-on halogen desk after buying the camera. A 128 Mb card lamp [Figure 8]. You can find 20W costs around $35, a 256 Mb card costs $20 versions online at Amazon and Target for more. In a similar vein, it’s much easier to $12.99, while a bricks-and-mortar Target take the card out of the camera and upload sells a 35W version for $9.99. I’m sure you using a dedicated card reader than it is to can find them elsewhere, but be certain that attach the camera itself to the computer. the bulb is a halogen. This will be indicated by the fact that that the bulb Card readers connect to the computer using is covered with a UV a USB port and once the card is filter bearing an inserted, the computer treats it as a exposure warning. disk drive. Indeed, my nephew uses Fig. 8 So have you been naughty or his camera to hold all of his term nice this year? Santa wants to know. papers and sundry other program files; neither the camera nor Robin is an enthusiastic collector of computer seem to care! A multishot glasses and maintains the collector’s format card-reader and USB website www.pre-pro.com. He can be cable costs around $25. reached at 245 N 15th St., MS#488, You’ll also find a battery Philadelphia, PA 19102, E-mail: charger and two sets of oldwhiskey@pre-pro.com. rechargeable batteries for
Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005
The Dating Game
by Bill Lockhart, Michael R. Miller, Bill Lindsey. Carol Serr and David Whitten © Bill Lockhart 2005 Illinois Pacific - A Division of the Illinois Glass Co. Few people seem to have been seriously interested in this company or its marks. Although Toulouse and others have recorded marks used the company, no one seems to have tried to arrange them in a chronological order. We offer a more complete interpretation. History The Illinois Pacific Glass Co. was formed in 19021 when the Illinois Glass Co. consolidated its West Coast holdings and bought the Abramson-Heunisch Glass Co. The initial office was in San Francisco2 (Toulouse 1971:268-269). The following year (1903), the company opened a plant in Los Angeles. In 1904, they expanded into Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. A final branch was opened in Oakland, California, in 1926 (Ayres et al., 1980:20-21). According to Toulouse (1971:268), Illinois Pacific incorporated in 1925. Ayres et al. (1980:20-21), however, dated the formation of the corporation at 1926, citing city directories. Unfortunately, information from city directories can be somewhat misleading. If the 1925 directory was published in April, for example, and the company incorporated in May, then the first listing would be in 1926, even though the actual corporation date was in 1925. The New York Times, however, reported the existence of all new corporations in the New England Area. The January 7, 1926, issue noted, “Illinois Glass Corp., Wilmington, reorganize the Illinois Pacific Glass, a California Corp., $31,000,000–310,000 shares.” In other words, the original Illinois Pacific Glass Co. was also a corporation, chartered in California, and the Illinois Pacific Glass Corp. was a reorganization of the corporation, based this time in Delaware to take advantage of that state’s more lenient corporation laws. The idea that the first Illinois Pacific Co. was actually a corporation is further supported by evidence from Toulouse
(1971:269-270), who stated, “The company now became the Illinois Pacific Glass Co. with Heunisch president and Abramson vice-president.” Sole ownerships and partnerships do not have officers; those are only necessary in corporations. Therefore, the “company” was a California corporation. To clarify, the change to the Illinois Pacific Glass Corporation occurred in 1926. According to Toulouse (1971:270) and Jones (1961:[7]), Illinois Pacific merged with the Pacific Coast Glass Co. in 1930 to form the Illinois Pacific Coast Co., and the New York Times (8/20/1930) noted that the Illinois Pacific Coast Co. was chartered in Delaware August 19, 1930. According to Paquette (1994:81-82), Owens-Illinois purchased the Illinois Pacific Coast Co., the largest glass manufacturer on the West Coast, on November 30, 1931. The name of the West Coast operation was changed to the OwensIllinois Pacific Coast Co. on April 23, 1932 (Paquette 1994:81-82). This conflicts with most sources, who agree that the OwensIllinois Glass Co. took over operations in 1932 (Ayres et al., 1980:21; Giarde 1980:54; Jones 1961:[7]; Toulouse 1971:271). The New York Times (June 2, 1932:33) placed the following notice: “San Francisco, Cal., June 1–Completions of negotiations by which the Owens Illinois Pacific Coast Company, a subsidiary of Owens Illinois Glass Company, will acquire the Illinois Pacific Coast Company, was announced here today by C. N. Davis, president of the last named concern.” Paquette’s information may provide a second possible explanation for the discrepancy in manufacturer’s marks and date codes. The Illinois Pacific Coast Co. may, indeed, have continued using IPG marks until the purchase by Owens-Illinois in 1931. At that point, the company may have wanted to distinguish its bottles from those of the prior owner by a slightly different mark. In 1932, the mark was then changed to that of Owens-Illinois Glass Co. The only way to distinguish the Owens-
73 Illinois Pacific Coast Co. marks from the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. marks is by the factory code to the left of the logo. West Coast numbers included 20-23 and 64 (see Toulouse 1971:406-408 for more details). Bottles and Marks Toulouse (1971:268-269) illustrated a total of nine marks used by Illinois Pacific, although he did not attribute any of them to a specific period (i.e., the company, the corporation, or the Coast Corp.). He showed three sets of initials (IPG, IPGCO, and IPCCO) in three formats: initials alone, initials in a diamond, and initials in a triangle. Because of the order in which they were presented, many readers have assumed that IPG represented the company; IPGCO was used by the corporation; and IPCCO indicated the Coast Co. Our research makes it clear that IPGCO was the earliest mark (the company) followed by IPG (the corporation). Although the initials IPCCO would have to indicate the Coast Co., we have never found a bonafide mark with those initials, although many have mistaken an unclear IPGCO embossing for the IPCCO (see below). Of the nine marks illustrated by Toulouse, we have found no evidence that six of these marks3 were ever used. Toulouse may have been influenced by Jones (1965:[21]) who illustrated both the IPGCO initials and IPGCO in a diamond. Although she correctly illustrated the mark in an elongated diamond, her language may have been misleading: “Fenced in or not – I have one beer type without the triangle around it.” Toulouse was one of May Jones’ network, and he may have misunderstood her reference. Although Jones was an accomplished researcher for her time, her reporting was often colloquial and unclear. T. L. Keusseff, plant manager of the Owens-Illinois’ Oakland plant, further confused the issue (Jones 1965:[16]) by claiming that an IPGCO in a triangle mark “was the next mark of Illinois Pacific, don’t know dates, again I think the third letter is ‘G’.” Although we would expect the plant manager to have knowledge of his company’s history and marks, we have been unable to find a single example of this mark. Her next issue (Jones 1966:20) further confused the issue by showing a drawing of IPCCO in a diamond, another bogus mark. Giarde (1980:54-55) essentially copied the Toulouse information – including the marks that do not exist (although he did
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not show the IPGCo in a triangle). He discussed the difficulty in discerning the “G” versus the “C” in the logos but noted that “the triangle mark is the one found on milk bottles.” He also noted that “often the last digit of the year of manufacture is found to the left of the triangle, particularly in the late 1920s.” Giarde’s discussion suggests that milk bottles were not produced prior to the “Corp.” Thus, milk bottles would only have been made in 1926 and later. That would be compatible with the dating scheme introduced below in the Illinois Pacific Glass Corp. section. Illinois Pacific Glass Company (19021926) From 1903 to 1909, Illinois Pacific made fruit jars for the Kerr Glass Mfg. Co. Kerr began in Portland, Oregon, as a sales unit, but had its first fruit jars (the Economy) made by Illinois Pacific. However, the Hazel-Atlas Glass Co. also made some of the Economy jars from 1906 to 1909, so jars with the Economy label cannot be said to be universally from Illinois Pacific. In 1909, Kerr bought a factory in Altoona, Kansas, and began making its own jars (Creswick 1987:165). I. P. G. Co. or IPGCO with no surrounding lines This mark (initials alone) appeared in slightly different formats on both heels and bases of bottles. The variation with no periods was found in contexts from the latter part of the first decade of the 20 th century to at least the early 1920s. Confirmed date ranges for the variation with periods extend from at least 1911 to 1924 (e.g., Elliott & Gould 1988:154, 189; Fowler 1998:51). Both marks were probably used simultaneously from the beginning of the company (1902 to the reorganization in 1926). However, we have no actual evidence for the use of the mark prior to ca. 1910. It is therefore possible that no mark was used during the first five or more years that the company was in business. This, however, does not fit the pattern of the Illinois Glass Co. – a firm that used the IGCo mark from at least 1880.
Figure 1: I P G C O Heelmarks [eBay]
It is also possible that the IPGCO mark with all letters the same size was used first, followed by the design where the mark forms a diamond pattern with the letters growing from I to G then decreasing to O. The I. P. G. Co. mark was almost always embossed on the heels of bottles and could appear on either the front (obverse) or back (reverse) side [Figure 1]. The mark was accompanied by two- to four-digit numerals, also embossed on the heel, sometimes with decimal points or with some of the digits separated by a space (e.g., a jar in Creswick [1987:66] embossed I. P. G. CO. 2695 on the heel). Colorless Boyd Mason jars with continuous-thread finishes were embossed I. P. G. Co. on the heel during the 1910-1920s period. A variation had the I. P. G. Co. in a diamond logo on the base (Roller 1983:71). At least one case, provided by Serr, from the Silver Gate Soda Works (Schnepp Bros), was embossed I.P.G.CO. 70 on the front heel and was made by an automatic bottle machine. IPGCO (with no punctuation) is almost always (in every example we have seen) found on the base (as are both variations of the diamond mark described below). These basemarks are generally accompanied by two- to four-digit numbers and occasionally by a separate, single-digit number. In a few cases, the mark was on the base, but the two- to four-digit code was embossed on the heel. Often (maybe always), the initials form a diamond pattern (letters growing larger from I to G then smaller to o) even though they are not enclosed by lines [Figure 2]. Creswick (1987:22) noted the mark (with a lower-case “o”) on the GENUINE Boydes MASON jar. We found one interesting bottle that was embossed with I. P. G. Co. on the heel and IPGCO-in-a-diamond on the base (ca.
Figure 2: IPGCO Basemark [Lindsey]
Bottles and Extras 1924). It is likely that a marked baseplate was inadvertently placed on a mold that already contained a heel mark. Such unintended errors were common in the early 20th century. IPGCO in a diamond (with or without periods) May Jones (1965:[16]) quoted T. L. Keusseff (Owens-Illinois Glass Co.) as stating, “I think this was the oldest mark of Illinois Pacific Glass Company, used before about 1920. I think the third letter was “G” not “C”, but perhaps not always clearly cut in the mold or clearly blown up.” She later (1966:20) misdated the mark as “1898-’99.” Toulouse (1971:) included the mark in the nine he attributed to Illinois Pacific but gave no specific date for this individual mark nor any other information about it. Unlike the initials-only mark, the diamond marks are almost always found embossed on bottle bases. The mark was frequently shaped where the first three letters increased in size (with the G as the largest) then decreased in size to the “o” (or a diamond shape). This may be the only form of the mark [Figure 3]. It is often only recorded in brief with no reference to letter size at all. While this may indicate a variation with all five letters being the same size, it is more likely that the size of the letters was simply unreported. The mark was also used on jars. Colorless Boyd Mason jars with continuous-thread finishes were embossed I. P. G. Co. in a diamond on the base during the 1910-1920s period. A variation had the I. P. G. Co. on the heel. A version of the IMPROVED Everlasting JAR also was embossed with IPGCo in a diamond on the base as was the SEALTITE WIDE MOUTH MASON (Creswick 1987:121; Roller
Figure 3: IPGCO in a Diamond [Lockhart]
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Fall 2005
1983:71, 165, 325). These marks were frequently accompanied by three- or four-digit numbers that either preceded the mark or followed it. The numbers are likely catalog codes that identified the style of the bottle, although they may have served a currentlyunknown function. These codes are often located on the heels of bottles, although the mark, itself, is on the base. These marks, like the initial-only variations discussed above, were used during the entire period of the IPG Company (1902-1926), although we have found no documented bottles that dated earlier than about 1909. As mentioned above, the company may not have used manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marks during the first few years of operation. The marks are mostly documented on soft drink bottles, although Colcleaser (1966:17) showed the mark on a Lashâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bitters bottle. We have also observed the mark on other bottle types. Miller (1999:7) illustrated a blown-inmold bottle used from ca. 1912-1913 that was embossed with a Diamond IPGCO mark. Elliott & Gould (1988:154, 189) listed the diamond mark both with and without punctuation on mouth-blown bottles in the 1910-1917 range. These time periods are in keeping with the general trend toward semi-automatic bottle machine use that began about 1910 and was in full swing by 1914. We suggest that
Figure 4: IPGCO with Arrows [Miller]
Illinois Pacific may have adopted semiautomatic machines about 1912. This does not, however, preclude the manufacture of mouth-blown bottles after 1912; some glass houses used both techniques during a sometimes-lengthy transitional period. It should be noted that this is only speculation. The only bottles we have observed with IPGCo marks (with or without the diamond) have been either mouth blown or made with an Owens machine (see below). IPGCO-in-an-oval mark This mark was found on the base of a 16-sided pickle bottle from the El Paso Coliseum excavation with a 3 embossed below it. The pattern of the letters was the same diamond shape as those within the diamond mark described above (Lockhart & Olszewski 1993:37; 1995:29).4 No other mark of this type has been reported. It may have only been a fluke made by a single engraver. Once the error was discovered, the mold (or at least the baseplate) may have been withdrawn. We would like to propose an interesting idea. Please remember that this hypothesis is as yet unproven. We have noticed that there are four major variations of the first mark (initials only, initials with punctuation, initials in a diamond with punctuation, and initials in a diamond without punctuation). There were also four major branches of the company: San Francisco (1902); Los Angeles (1903); Portland (1904); and Seattle (1904). Each of these branches may have used a different variation of the IPGCO mark. In addition, a fifth branch, Oakland (1925), was opened toward the end of the company period (the last year before the name/mark change). Oakland may have used the IPGCO-in-anoval mark. If so, we would not expect to
Figure 5: Improved Everlasting Jar [Creswick 1987:52]
75 find many of those due to the short period of time the branch was open. IPGCO with triangles at each end and the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine In 2004, Mike Miller found an Arizona soft drink bottle marked with IPGCO on the base [Figure 4]. The mark is in a diamond shape (without the enclosing diamond) but, unlike typical marks we have seen, it has small horizontal triangles at both ends. This may only have appeared on machine-made bottles. We know of at least two bottles from this period made by the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine. Both have the IPGCO mark with triangles on each end, but the mark is not enclosed in an embossed, elongated diamond; both are marked with the distinctive Owens scar on their bases. One is a colorless, square pharmaceutical bottle that could have held pharmaceutical products, toiletries, or some form of household product. Another is an aqua soft drink bottle that could not have been made prior to about 1924. The American Bottle Co. had the exclusive license to make soft drink containers from 1905 until sometime in the early 1920s. Thus, the bottle was probably manufactured between ca. 1924 and 1926 when the Illinois Pacific Glass Co. became the Illinois Pacific Glass Corp. This brings up the timing of the use of the Owens Automatic Bottle Machine by Illinois Pacific. The Illinois Glass Co. obtained an Owens license in 1911 (probably for the manufacture of pharmaceutical bottles). Actual production likely began a year later. It is possible that Illinois Pacific, a subsidiary of the Illinois Glass Co., was able to make use of the
Figure 6: Ad for Everlasting Jar [Creswick 1987:195]
76 license (Lockhart et al. 2004:54-56). It seems more likely, based on the scarcity of identified Owens-machine-made bottles with any of the IPGCo marks, that the West Coast plants did not obtain Owens machines until the early-to mid-1920s when such technology (including other fully-automatic machines) became available to glass houses that had previously been excluded by the strict licensing previously followed by Owens and other producers of fully automatic machines (e.g, see Smith 1989:25-27). ILLINOIS PACIFIC GLASS Co. S. F. CAL. Colcleaser (1965:30) showed a drawing of the IMPROVED EVERLASTING JAR with ILLINOIS PACIFIC GLASS S. F. CAL. embossed in circular pattern around the edge of the base. This is one of the rew cases we have found where the location of a plant is included with the mark. Creswick (1987:52, 195) and Roller (1987:164) both showed the same jar with an identical logo on the base except that theirs included “Co.” [Figure 5]. She noted that the lid was patented August 22, 1905. She also included an ad for the jar from 1905. The ad noted that the jars were made at the San Francisco and Los Angeles plants. Although not specifically marked with a factory logo, the Everlasting JAR was made by Illinois Pacific, probably during the 1904-1909 period [Figure 6]. These jars used lightning-style covers with either PAT. NOV. 29. 04. on green lids or PAT. AUG. 22. 05. on colorless lids. The patents were held by Edward Abramson (with Edward O. Bennett in 1905), vice president of Illinois Pacific in 1907. An undated brochure from Illinois Pacific illustrated the jar on the cover (Creswick 1987:52; Roller 1983:118). ILLINOIS PACIFIC GLASS CO./ MANUFACTURERS/SAN FRANCISCO U.S.A. This mark appeared on an unusual food bottle offered for sale on eBay. The seller, Peter Crouch, identified the container as a pickle bottle. The mark was embossed on the rear heel: ILLINOIS PACIFIC GLASS CO. (downward arch)/ MANUFACTURERS/SAN FRANCISCO U.S.A. (both horizontal). Since Crouch is located in New Zealand, the bottle was probably made for export by Illinois Pacific. That likely explains the inclusion of the full name rather than the usual manufacturer’s mark. Since the bottle was machine-made,
Fall 2005 it was probably manufactured during the last few years of Illinois Pacific Glass Company (early 1920s). Crouch further offered information on 26-ounce, machine-made beer bottles that were produced by Illinois Pacific for J. R Dodson Brewers of Nelson, New Zealand. He noted that the bottles were made in the 1920s and were the only ones that Dodson imported from Illinois Pacific. The New Zealand bottles were marked with the full Illinois Pacific name [Figure 7]. Crouch noted that amber bottles made by Illinois Pacific had a reddish tinge that distinguished them from New Zealandmade containers. Based on identification by this color variation, it is possible that Illinois Pacific made bottles for Kirkpatrick’s of Nelson. This information suggests that many of the fruit jars shown in Creswick (1987:106108) were also manufactured for export. Similarly-marked jars were made by later Illinois Pacific companies. It is probably a good assumption that any bottle embossed with the full name of one of the Illinois Pacific companies was made for the export trade, especially if it is accompanied by the city/state designation of the factory. I. P. G. Co. S. F. Cal. Creswick (1987:52) also described a second version of the IMPROVED EVERLASTING JAR that was marked on the base with “I. P. G. Co. S. F. Cal. (within a triangle)” (her parentheses). Unfortunately, she did not illustrate the base of this jar. If she is correct, it would be the only recorded instance of the letters I P G Co in a triangle. I suspect it is more likely that she meant the initials were in a diamond with the city/state designation around the edges. Roller (1983:164) described the jar as “IPGCO S F CAL in diamond logo embossed on base” (note there are no periods in the Roller version).
Figure 7: Illinois Pacific Bottles Exported to New Zealand [Crouch]
Bottles and Extras BEAVER According to Peterson (1968:41), BEAVER was “affixed to bottles and flasks” by the Illinois Pacific Glass Co. in 1910. He also noted that “fruit jars with a beaver design and name were made in Canada.” These were made by the Lamont Glass Co. and should not be confused with any Illinois Pacific products. Genuine (script) MASON Creswick (1987:56-57) showed four variations of this jar, all marked with some variation of Genuine MASON, including one that had only block letters for GENUINE. She dated the jars ca. 19001910 but failed to present her reasons for attributing the mark to the Illinois Pacific Glass Co. IPGCO in a triangle May Jones (1965:[16]) claimed that this mark existed, although we have yet to see one. As stated above, she noted Keusseff as saying, “I think this was the next mark of Illinois Pacific, don’t know dates, again I think the third letter is ‘G.’” Toulouse (1971:) also reported this mark (probably based on the Keusseff information) but gave no dates or additional information about it. When discussing Illinois Pacific marks in a later volume (1966:20), however, Jones did not mention this mark. IPGC Griffenhagen and Bogard (1999:124) listed the I P G C mark as belonging to the Illinois Pacific Glass Co. They erroneously dated the mark 1902-1930, probably based on Toulouse’s confused rendition. They added that the mark was found on bottles used by Schmidt’s Pharmacy and the Home Bitters Co., St. Louis. They almost certainly took their information from Ring (1980:248). Ring listed the Home Stomach Bittlers and noted either I.C. CO (probably meaning I G Co) or I P G C on the base of the bottle. We have found this mark in no other sources and have not seen it on containers. Ring may have seen a single example where the “o” in “Co” was very indistinct, or the exclusion of the “o” may have been a typographical error. Illinois Pacific Glass Corporation (19261930) IPG in a triangle As far as we can discover (except for the PRESTO jars), the only mark ever used by the corporation was IPG in a triangle
Bottles and Extras (despite the claim by Toulouse that three variations were used). This mark was mostly embossed on heels of the bottles (as noted on soft drink, food, and milk bottles), although it was occasionally placed on bases of medicine, some beer, and some food bottles [Figures 8 - 9]. It was often accompanied by numbers that fit into identifiable design. The marks uniformly followed the same pattern. The “I” leans in toward the center as does the “P” with the “G” slanted backwards. The apex of the triangle has a tiny, solid embossed triangle above the “P.” Each IPG mark we have examined followed this pattern, although Robert Leavitt (personal communication, 5/11/2005) reported a single example that lacked the smaller, solid triangle at the apex. This was probably an engraver’s error, quite common during the 1920s and for two decades to follow. Creswick (1987:31) reported the triangle mark on the base of a Boyd MASON jar. Boyd MASONs were also made by the earlier Illinois Pacific Glass Co. (see above). The triangle mark was also positioned at the back heel as in the case of the Getsbest jar (Creswick 1987:57; Roller 1983:137). The IMPROVED Everlasting Jar (also made by the earlier “company”) was embossed with the triangle logo on the heel (Roller 1987:165). Jones (1965:[16]) was the first researcher to report this mark. According to her, T. L. Keusseff claimed that “this was the mark of Illinois Pacific in the 1920’s, prior to the merger with Pacific Coast . . . . Trade mark after 1924 ‘Electroneal.’” Three years later (1966:20), she again mentioned the mark but with a completely incorrect date of 1903. We have found no other reference to the “Electroneal” trademark, even though Carol Serr has rigorously searched the internet. Bill Lindsey, however, has a paperweight that notes the process [Figure 10]. Toulouse (1971:268-269) also included the triangle mark, again with no specific information. Giarde (1980:55) discussed the mark as used on milk bottles. He claimed that single-digit date codes were found to the left of the triangle “particularly in the late 1920’s” and noted that “the triangle mark is the one found on milk bottles.” Most of the bottles we studied were soft drink bottles used in Arizona along with some from New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. However, all bottles (including milks and households) we have found with the
Fall 2005
Figure 8: Triangle IPG Heelmark [Lindsey]
Figure 9: Triangle IPG Basemark [Lockhart]
Triangle IPG mark could be dated from 1925 to 1931. We attribute the mark to the Corporation period. Beginning in 1927, soft drink bottles with the triangle mark displayed two notable patterns: 1) number – number located somewhere away from the mark (e.g., 7 - 1); or 2) number mark number (e.g., 8 manufacturer’s mark 5). The manufacturer ’s marks were always embossed on the heels; we have found only one number pattern that appeared on a base. All other number patterns were embossed on the heels, although we found the first pattern inconsistently placed on the front or on the back heel, regardless of the location of the manufacturer’s mark. On bottles that should be from 1926, there are no identifiable date codes. However, the number “7” appeared in one of the formats described above (usually the number to the left) on all bottles that can
Figure 10: Electoneal Paperweight [Lindsey]
77 be dated to ca. 1927.5 This is the first year for the use of a date code by Illinois Pacific. In 1928, the numeral “8” is usually a part of the code and generally appeared also on the crown finish. The numeral was embossed on the second or lower, more bulbous area of the crown. Occasionally, however, the numeral “7” was in the codes associated with the mark, but “8” was on the crown. In all likelihood, this represented a transition to date codes embossed on the crown. Bottles with “7” near the manufacturer’s mark were probably made from molds cut in 1927. When the engraver added the “8” at the crown, he likely forgot to change the heel number. Examples of this kind of error during a transformation period are common on Owens-Illinois Glass Co. bottles as well, and careful examination often reveals where an old code was obliterated and a new digit added to update the year. The date code on the crown probably began sometime during the year, so bottles exist in both configurations. The move to the crown seems to have been completed by 1929, although occasional examples still retained an “8” near the manufacturer’s mark. As above, this was a common error during transitions. In 1930, the only consistently-identifiable date code was embossed on the crown, although two examples attributed to that year did not have marks on the crown. One of these exceptions, however, had a “0” next to the manufacturer’s mark (probably indicating 1930). Even though Toulouse (1971:268, 270) and Ayres et al. (1980:21) both claimed that the switch to the Illinois Pacific Coast Co. came during 1930, bottles with date codes for 1931 still retain an identifiable IPG mark (instead of the expected IPC mark). This suggests that the actual merger took place in 1931, and the dated code probably indicates bottles made in 1931 prior to the merger. However, the “31” date codes may be found either on the crown or in conjunction with the manufacturer’s marks. By this date, codes on both sides of the mark are often unrelated to the date. The discrepancy in the date codes may show up because the company waited until all its old molds wore out. After all, the change in mark was very minor. The company may also have filled all of the existing contracts with the older mark because that was the name under which they were ordered. That apparently took from August 1930 to January 1931 or later. This
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practice is documented by Smith (1989:2527) in describing the Ball Brothers takeover of the Three Rivers Glass Co. MANUFACTURED BY ILLINOIS PACIFIC GLASS CORP. The PRESTO series of jars was made by the Illinois Glass Co. and its subsidiaries after March 1, 1927 (the first use date of the trademark). The PRESTO logo (#243,989) was registered by the Illinois Glass Co. on July 3, 1928 (Creswick 1987:155). Both PRESTO GLASS TOP jars and PRESTO SUPREME MASONS were embossed MANUFACTURED BY ILLINOIS PACIFIC GLASS CORP. in two lines across the back heels of the jars (Creswick 1987:106-107 – Figure 11). Contrary to Creswick’s statement (1987:106), the jars were not made by the earlier Illinois Pacific Glass Co. The “Co.” ended in 1926, a year before the PRESTO logo was ever used. Roller (1987:293) also featured the PRESTO GLASS TOP with the mark but not the Mason jars. See also the last entry under the Illinois Pacific Coast Co. and Owens-Illinois Pacific Coast Co. below for other PRESTO jars. These jars were probably made for export – hence the embossing of the full name (see discussion above). Illinois Pacific Coast Co. (1930-1932) Although Toulouse (1971:269) claimed three variations of the IPCCO mark were used by the Coast Co., we have not seen a single one of them. Because the IPGCO marks are often small and somewhat indistinct, many people mistake the “G” for a “C” (as noted by Keusseff – above). As a result, reports of an IPCCO mark are often found on eBay, in collectors’ literature, and in archaeological reports. However, we have not found a single report that can be authenticated by research that provides alternative dating. While we have tightlydated evidence for all the marks we present, we have found no such evidence to support an IPCCO mark of any kind. In order to qualify as conclusive evidence, a bottle with an actual IPCCO mark would have to fit into a date range of 1930 to 1932. Most of the marks we have seen (identified as IPCCO) were much more likely made during the 1910-1920 period based on manufacturing characteristics. Jones (1965:[16]), quoted T. L. Keusseff as stating that the IPC in a triangle was the “mark of Illinois Pacific Coast Co. 19301932, between merger of Illinois-Pacific
Figure 11: Presto Supreme Mason – Illinois Pacific Glass Corp. [Creswick 1987:106]
Figure 12: Triangle IPC Basemark [Lockhart]
Figure 13: Date Code on Crown [Lockhart]
and Pacific Coast, and before merger with Owens-Illinois.” Jones again mentioned the mark three years later with a date of 1903, probably a typographic error for 1930 (1966:20). Jones (1966:20) may have influenced Toulouse to consider the IPCCO-in-a-diamond mark. She showed a drawing of the mark and dated it 1930. She almost certainly misread the IPGCO mark. IPC in a triangle The only mark we have identified as being used by the Coast Co. is IPC in a
Bottles and Extras triangle. Logically, this is the style we would expect to follow the IPG-in-atriangle mark used by the corporation preceding the merger, and we have carefully examined marks with a magnifying glass to verify that the letter is indeed a “C.” Date codes of “31” and “32” on the crowns verify the mark as belonging to the Coast Co. [Figures 12 - 13]. Although date codes for the Coast Co. may appear on either the crown, the heel, or both, the crown code is usually the defining feature. The marks were only used in 1931 and 1932. A final bit of evidence for the use of this mark comes from eBay where a seller offered “a beautiful dual embossed Presto Supreme Mason on the front, reverse heel embossed : MANUFACTURED BY ILLINOIS PACIFIC COAST CO. front heel is embossed IPC in triangle and mold 5 off to the right.” This jar was also listed in Roller (1987:294), although he described it as “ILLINOIS PACIFIC COAST CO. Embossed on reverse, IPC in triangle logo embossed on heel.” MANUFACTURED BY ILLINOIS PACIFIC COAST CO. Along with the PRESTO SUPREME MASON discussed above, the Coast Co. also embossed the long version of the name to mark the back heel of PRESTO WIDE MOUTH GLASS TOP jars (Creswick 1987:108). These jars were probably made for export – hence the embossing of the full name (see discussion above). Owens-Illinois Pacific Coast Co. The Illinois-Pacific Coast Co. reverted to using the same Diamond OI mark as the parent Illinois Glass Co. The only way to tell the bottles used by the Coast division is to note the plant codes. Toulouse (1971:395) illustrated a graph with plant names, numbers, and approximate dates in business, but some of his information does not fit with known plant locations on the West Coast. An undated table from the internet gives the following plant locations and closing dates. Oakland, California, received the designation as Plant #20 in 1937 when the Backenridge, Pennsylvania, plant (the former holder of #20) closed; #21 and #22 were in San Francisco; and #23 was in Los Angeles. The first San Francisco plant (#21) closed in 1937 and the number reassigned to Portland, Oregon; the closure date for the second San Francisco plant is unknown. Apparently, Owens-Illinois closed the Seattle plant about 1932,
Bottles and Extras although why the Portland factory was not renumbered until 1957 is not explained. Number 22 was reassigned to Tracy, California, about 1960 (Anonymous 2005).6 Mike Miller discovered an interesting colorless, soft drink bottle embossed 21 I-in-an-oval-superimposed-on-anelongated-diamond 7 on the front heel. This mark was used by the Owens-Illinois Pacific Coast Co. from 1930 to ca. 1954. The back heel, however, is marked 1 followed by a blanked-out triangle. The Owens-Illinois workers used an old mold from either the Illinois Pacific Glass Corp. or the Coast Co. to make the bottle. The 7 to the right of the Owens-Illinois mark is a date code for 1937 (the final year the plant was open), so the mold had laid in storage at least seven years prior to its reuse. To remove all doubts, the factory code 21 is for one of the two San Francisco (former Illinois Pacific) plants. This was apparently a common occurrence. Creswick (1987:106) notes a PRESTO GLASS TOP jar marked MANUFCTURED BY ILLINOIS PACIFIC GLASS CORP. that also had the Diamond OI mark on its base. Either the OwensIllinois Pacific Coast Co. used a mold from the Illinois Pacific Glass Corp. with a newer Owens-Illinois baseplate, or the older company used a baseplate from the parent company in Alton, Illinois (I consider this last possibility very remote). Unfortunately, Creswick did not fully illustrate the jar; it would have been instructive to have seen the factory and date codes for the jar. MANUFACTURED BY OWENSILLINOIS PACIFIC COAST CO. A final PRESTO WIDE MOUTH GLASS TOP jar was made by the OwensIllinois Pacific Coast Co. and was so marked on the back heel in two lines. These jars were probably made for export – hence the embossing of the full name (see discussion above). Imperial Packing Co. Colorless or amethyst jars with BEECH NUT and TRADE MARK around an embossed nut and leaves in four variations are sometimes marked on the bases with I. P. C. along with a patent date of July 11, 1893 [Figure 14]. Creswick (1995:16) attributed the mark to the Illinois Pacific Glass Co. It is much more likely to have been made for the Imperial Packing Co. Imperial, a meat-packing company was
Fall 2005 formed in 1891 and was renamed Beech Nut Packing Co. in 1899 (Toulouse 1971:89-91). Although Toulouse was unclear, Imperial (and later Beech Nut) probably did not make glass jars. The makers are currently unknown. Summary Marks from the Illinois Pacific Glass Co. (IPGCo) appear in letters-only and diamond shapes (with or without periods) and were used from at least 1912 until 1925 (possibly as early as 1902). Only the triangle marks were used by the Illinois Pacific Glass Corp. One-digit date codes appeared in 1927 in conjunction with triangle marks. The codes appeared on both heels and crowns in 1928 and 1929 (in case of discrepancies, the crown mark is correct). Two-digit date codes are found on the crown only in 1930 and on either the crown or heel (or both) in 1930 and 1931. Only IPC triangle marks are reliably reported for the Illinois Pacific Coast Co. These are all date coded 1931 or 1932. The year of transition appears to have been 1931. References: Anonymous 2005 http://www.fruitjar.org/PlantCodes/ Owens- Illinois_files/image001.gif
79 Creswick, Alice 1987 The Fruit Jar Works, Volume II, Listing Jars Made Circa 1900 to Modern. Privately printed, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1995 The Fruit Jar Works, Vol. I, Listing Jars Made Circa 1820 to 1920’s. Douglas M. Leybourne, N. Muskegon, Michigan. Elliott, Rex. R. and Stephen C. Gould 1988 Hawaiian Bottles of Long Ago. Hawaiian Service, Inc., Honolulu. Fowler, Ron 1998 Ice-Cold Soda Pop 5¢: An Illustrated History of Oregon Soda Pop Bottling. Privately published, Seattle, Washington. [Revised version of the 1986 edition] Giarde, Jeffery L. 1980 Glass Milk Bottles: Their Makers and Marks. Time Travelers Press, Bryn Mawr, California. Griffinhagen, George and Mary Bogard 1999 History of Drug Containers and Their Labels. American Institute of the History of Pharmacy, Madison, Wisconsin. Jones, May 1961 The Bottle Trail. Bishop, California. 1965 The Bottle Trail, Volume 5. Nara Vista, New Mexico. 1966 The Bottle Trail, Volume 6. Nara Vista, New Mexico.
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.
Lockhart, Bill and Wanda Olszewski 1993 The El Paso Coliseum Collection: A Study of 20th Century Bottles. The County of El Paso, Texas and the University of Texas at El Paso.
Colcleaser, Donald E. 1965 Bottles of Bygone Days. Privately Published, Napa, California.
1995 “The El Paso Coliseum Collection: A Study of 20th Century Bottles.” The Artifact 33(3):1-91. (revised version of 1993 study)
1966 Bottles of Bygone Days, Part II. Privately Published, Vallejo, California.
Miller, Michael R. 1999 A Collector’s Guide to Arizona Bottles & Stoneware: A History of Merchant Containers in Arizona. Privately Printed, Peoria, Arizona. Paquette, Jack K. 1994 The Glassmakers: A History of OwensIllinois, Incorporated. Trumpeting Angel Press, Toledo, Ohio. Peterson, Arthur G. 1968 400 Trademarks on Glass. Washington College Press, Takoma, Md. Ring, Carlyn 1980 For Bitters Only. Nimrod Press, Boston.
Figure 14: Imperial Packing Co. [eBay]
Roller, Dick 1983 Standard Fruit Jar Reference. Privately published.
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Smith, Michael David 1989 Texas Glass: An Illustrated History of the Three Rivers Glass Company 1922-1937. Atwood Printing, New Braunfels, Texas.
The mark was incorrectly recorded as IPCCo in both publications and attributed (also in error) to the Illinois Pacific Coast Co.
4
Both Miller (in Arizona) and Lockhart (El Paso, Texas, and Southern New Mexico) have extensively dated local bottles using a combinations of company information, manufacturer ’s marks, possible code combinations, manufacturing techniques, and the observation of hundreds, possibly thousands, of bottles. This resulted in many cases in the development of a chronology for bottles initially used by a company within a oneor two-year period. These techniques have enabled us to develop, test, and often confirm 5
Toulouse, Julian Harrison 1969 Fruit Jars. Thomas Nelson & Sons, Camden, New Jersey. 1971 Bottle Makers and Their Marks. Thomas Nelson, New York. (Footnotes) Jones (1961:[7]) claimed the merger occurred in September 1903.
1
Jones (1961:[7]) provided a three-page history of the founding of the Illinois Pacific Glass Co. in California “Furnished by Owens-Illinois, Oakland Plant.” Unfortunately, the history was almost all about the earlier pre-1902 companies. Jones did not number the pages in her series until 1966, so numbers are used in brackets here.
2
est. 1979
possible date codes on many bottles. The source for these plants and dates is an unnamed internet site. We know nothing of the origin of the site, so its accuracy is in question. Both this and the Toulouse data leave unanswered questions. What happened to the Seattle plant of Illinois Pacific? Did the OwensIllinois Pacific Coast Co. close the plant in 1932? What happened to the Oakland plant between 1932 and 1937? Even more mysterious, what happened to the Portland plant between 1932 and 1957? At least the anonymous site was aware that there were two plants in San Francisco.
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We have found no evidence that IPG (initials alone); IPG in a diamond; IPGCO in a triangle; or IPCCO in any of the three formats were ever used on bottles.
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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
For Sale: Quart Sealfast, Sold by Wm. Cushard Dry Goods Co., Decatur, Ill. (Redbook #2599) $300.00, June Lowry, 401 Johnston Ct., Raymore, MO 64083; PH: (816) 318-0160 or E-mail: OSUBuckeyes71@aol.com. Jar Doctor (for all your cleaning supplies) 2006 shows: Muncie, Indiana Columbus, Ohio Baltimore, Maryland St. Joseph, Missouri Bloomington, Minnesota Mansfield, Ohio Shupp’s Grove (Adamstown) Pa. Reno, Nevada Tulsa, Oklahoma Richmond, Virginia Keene, New Hampshire Springfield, Ohio Auburn, Ohio Keep wathing JarDoctor.com for updates (should be updated soon). For more information, contact: R. Wayne Lowry, the Jar Doctor, PH: (816) 318-0161, Fax: (816) 318-0162; or E-mail: JarDoctor@aol.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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Enclose the Appropriate Amount and Mail to: FOHBC, 1021 W. Oakland Ave, Suite 109, Johnson City, TN 37604 Make checks payable to: The Federation of Historicial Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) Please Note: Allow 6-8 weeks from the time you send in your payment until you receive your first issue of Bottles and Extras.
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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B&E Editor 414 Molly Springs Rd Hot Springs, AR 71913 or Email : kathy@thesodafizz.com
Name ___________________________________________________ Associate Member Name(s) $5 additional each:_______ __________________ Street____________________________________Apt.#_____________ City _____________________________________________________ State _____________ Zip __________ Phone (_____)______________ Collecting Interests: _________________________________________ E-mail Address: ____________________________________________
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Bottles and Extras
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Classified Ads FOR SALE For Sale: Western bottles, Louis Taussig square, nice, glob, $150. Cutter’s “Bird” whiskey, Barnett #233, $275. Tahoe deco crown tope, fancy, Carson City, Nv. $40. Silver State, Reno deco, crown soda, embossed Miner & packed muled, scalloped, $50. Pawnee Indian Balm, clear, tooled, druggist, $45. Kelloggs Extra Bourbon, tooled, miniature whiskey, light amber, excellent, $60. Drug store med. Jone-Thierbach, San Francisco, clear, 10” $50. E.G. Lyons & Co. Ess Jamaica Ginger, S.F., dark aqua, applied lip, perfect, $40. Spice, G. Venard, S.F., applied top, crude, $45. Gillett’s Extract, embossed own on a crescent moon, 5 1/ 2”, clear, $40. Sample, aqua, Mellin’s Food, Free, screw top, $35. JEAN M. POULIOT, Box 205, West Glacier, MT 59936; PH: (406) 888-9092. For Sale: Nevada bottles and related, and Western glass, antiques, western memorabilia, paintings, glass & china, Victorian furniture. Formerly Chapen Antiques of Carson City, Nevada. JOHN SHULER, PH: (775) 720-4723. For Sale: 1) Hoffman & Joseph, Albany, OGh, picture of lion laying on a pestal, aqua, glob top, $145. 2) Portland Soda Works, P.O. picture of eagle with spread wings, glob top, aqua, $85. 3) Hutch Astoria Soda Works, Astoria, OR, open letters, aqua, $145. 4) Mt Hood Soda Works, Portland, Ore., pontiled base, aqua, picture with head, $40. 5) Hutch City Bottling Co., Albany, Ore., aqua, $50. 6) Hutch Western Soda Works, P.O. picture elk head, $45. 7) Hutch The Dalles Soda Works, aqua, N.M. $65. 8) Henry Roll Blue Island, Ill., SCA, Hutch, $45. JAMES C. DENNIS, 1625 S.E. 9th, The Dalles, OR 97058. For Sale: Fruit Jars: Dark green, smoothlipped Mason’s Patent Nov. 30th, 1858, $1,000; Citron, quart Glassboro Improved, aqua lid, $600; half-gallon amber KYGW Co. wax sealer, $300; amber pint Globe, $200. PHIL MURPHY, Ph: (618) 345-3511; E-mail: pmurfe@sbcglobal.net. For Sale: Fly catcher, $45 plus postage. Mint. NORMAN GORDON, 3415 Windemere St., Columbus, GA 31909; Ph: (706) 324-3347.
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 - National Show 2005 Souvenir Items Souvenir T-Shirt - Sizes: L, XL and XXL (Limited quantities available) EXPO Souvenir Program This 72-page guide includes several outstanding research articles on Michigan bottles and glassworks not found elsewhere! EXPO Auction Catalog - in full-color. Includes a listing of prices realized. Add this catalog to your reference library.
All three for $20.00 Postage Paid!
Also available, a small quantity of XL Polo shirts in ʻstoneʼ color for $30.00 Postpaid. And finally - personal-size hot/cold stainless beverage containers for travel (with logo) for $12.00 Postpaid. To order, please contact: John Pastor 7288 Thorncrest Dr. SE, Ada, MI 49301 Ph: (616) 285-7604 E-mail: jpastor2000@sbcglobal.net
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Classified Ads BOOKS / PERIODICALS 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 for computer users. Contents: almost 200 pages of inventory / research for Dr. Hatchett’s Drug Store Museum of Lumpkin, Georgia. Patent medicines & other drug store products 1870s to 1950s. Research on products, history, composition of medicines, company histories, medical uses, costs of products, etc. Products can be searched by their names or manufacturers. Price: $12.00 for mailing to U.S. addresses. Order from Stewart County Historical Commission, P.O. Box 818,
Lumpkin, GA 31515 or contact: ALLEN VEGOTSKY, 2215 Greencrest Dr., Atlanta, GA 30346-2629; PH: (770) 2701034; E-mail: Vegotsky@earthlink.net. FOR SALE: A limited number of 2002, 2003 and 2004 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: 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,
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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PH: (623) 486-3123 or by E-mail: gramike@earthlink.net. 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, including 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
2001 EDITION ... “The Fruit Jar Collectorʼs Bible”
RedBook
9
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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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: 1) 4 TH EDITION BOTTLES: IDENTIFICATION & PRICE GUIDE - Comprehensive Updated Pricing Guide / three new chapters: Cobalt Blue 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 57 Pricing Chapters $21.00 (includes shipping/handling). 2) Warman’s
Bottlefield Guide, 1st Edition, by Michael Polak - Values & Identification 511 pages - all color photographs - $15.00 (includes shipping/handling). Check or money order to: MIKE POLAK, P.O. Box 30328, Long Beach, CA 90853; PH: (562) 4389209; 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 musthave 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. FOR SALE: The American Poison Bottle Book, presented by the Antique Poison Bottle Collectors Association, full-color poison bottle work book. Updated
information on sizes, colors and new listings. Contains the Kuhn ID system and is dedicated to him. $50 + $4.95 s/ h. Printing limited so get yours now! Check to: JOAN CABANISS, 312 Summer Lane, Huddleston, VA 24104. FOR SALE: Out of print books / prices reduced. 1) Bitters Bottles by Watson HB $35.00. 2) Supplement to Bitters $25.00. 3) Fruit Jars by Toulouse HB $55.00. 4) Grand Old American Bottles by Freeman. $35.00. 5) American Bottles and Flasks by Mck and Wilson, HB $80.00. 6) Bottle Flasks and Dr Dyott $25.00. 7) Treasury American Bottles, Ketcham $20.00. 8) Tempo, Glass Folks of South Jersey, by Horner $15.00. 9) Coca Cola Four Vols., by Goldstein $40.00. 10) Downeast Glassman, 16 issues published by Noel Thomas, lot $25.00. Also: whiskey labels, pack of 16 - all different, $2.00 ea., include one first class stamp. Red Book Fruit Jars, No. 2, 3, 7 & 9 - call for prices on Red Books. Postage extra on books. SAM FUSS, 232 Harmony Rd., Mickleton, NJ 08056; Ph: (856) 423-5038; E-mail: quarrylane@sectorsystems.com.
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: Any / all embossed advertising druggists’ dose glasses. Building a 50 state dose glass collection, but lacking the following states: AL, AZ, FL, HI, MS, NC, NV, OK, RI, SC, UT, VT, WV, WY. Also, any GA or any with picture embossed. TRACY GERKEN, 1131 Kings Cross,
Brunswick, GA 31523; Ph: (912) 269-2074. I HAVE TRADERS posted on website: http:// home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-doseglass; E-mail: 1gerken@bellsouth.net Wanted: Early New England glass, especially blown 3-mold, Stoddard glass, colored pontiled medicines, colored pontiled inks, etc. Also figural Bennington pottery pieces. Also scarcer Saratoga-type mineral waters. DON FRITSCHEL, 1996 Hardscrabble Place, Boulder, CO 80305; E-mail: don.fritschel@aol.com. Wanted: Labeled and / or embossed Michigan Bitters bottles. Also want mineral, spring, well water and Saratoga-type bottles from Michigan cities. Please contact me if you have bottle embossed with “Closman” name. Looking for rarer square-type bitters. Contact: BRUCE SCHAD, 1108 W. Jefferson Ave., Greenwood, MS 38930; Ph: (662) 455-9343; E-mail: Brschad@aol.com.
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Classified Ads
Wanted: Georgia dairy items: bottles, calendars, ice cream trays, blotters, post cards. Have dairy stuff for trade. PAUL IRBY, 5981 River Oaks, Flowery Branch, GA 30542; E-mail: irbybottles@juno.com. Wanted: Arizona bottles, advertising, tokens, souvenir china, calendar plates, signs, tins, etc. Dose glasses from western states, Hawaii, Alaska, South Carolina. Small (under 4”) colored pharmacy bottles from North & South Carolina, North & South Dakota, Ohio, Connecticut, Delaware, Montana, New Mexico, West Virginia, Rhode Island. MICHAEL MILLER, 9214 W. Gary Rd., Peoria, AZ 85345, Ph: (623) 486-3123; E-mail: helgramike@earthlink.net.
Wanted: Clay face pipes - especially presidential pipes - Washington - Cass Clay - Filmore - Pierce. Also tongue & wreath (cast or stamped) belt buckles from California Gold Rush area complete buckles or parts. Top prices paid for these items, one or a whole collection. Also looking for California sodas, cobalt blue Italian soda water S.F., B.R. Lippincott, Stockton. MAX BELL, Ph: (530) 823-3315. Wanted: Oregon Pre-Pro whiskey and beer bottles. Any type of bottles from Medford, Ashland or Jacksonville, Oregon. DAVE SCAFANI, Ph: (541) 773-6503; E-mail: scafanind@cs.com. Wanted: Bottles, flasks, whiskies and stoneware from Pittsburgh and Southwest Pa. Also looking for a Danes Dog milkglass back bar bottle. Good luck! DAVID M. FASSINGER, 45 McMichael Rd., Carnegie, PA 15106; Ph: (412) 279-2367; E-mail: DMFass@pghpa.net. Wanted: South Carolina bottles, especially milk, dispensaries & older sodas. JOHN T. BRAY, 1960 Mt. Lebanon Rd., Donalds, SC 29638; Ph: (864) 379-3479. Wanted: Tennessee Chero Cola and Chero Soda Water Mello bottles: Dickson, Fayetteville, Gallatin, Harriman, LaFollette and Springfield. All grades. All sizes. MIKE ELLING, 4042 Sidonia, Sharon TN 38255; Ph: (731) 973-4995; E-mail: cheromike@citlink.net. Wanted: Fruit jars wanted, always
looking for better fruit jars to add to my collection. PHIL MURPHY, Ph: (618) 345-3511; E-mail: pmurfe@sbcglobal.net. Wanted: Cash for your Pre-1920 Miss. & La. postcards, Confederate money & letters & Miss. & La. stoneware liquor jugs. H.L. “SONNY” HILL, JR., 1036 Briarwood Dr., Jackson, MS 39211, Ph: (601) 957-0254; E-mail: sonnyhill3@earthlink.net.
Wanted: Fruit jars, color, closures, especially pints. Wish list includes: Scranton jar, pt. or qt.; J.J. Squire, pint; Peerless, pint; Rovenna, pint; original closures for Buckeye, small mouth Crowleytown pint, Thompson quart; 2” Willoughby stopple. Frank Tea & Spice items w/original closures. PHILLIP SMITH, 2281 Clarkston Ln., Union, KY 41091; Ph: (859) 912-2450: E-mail: Phil.Smith@insightbb.com. Wanted: Fish Bitters: F-44, F-45 & F46, in all colors. Also, cabins, cannons, barrels, Queens & corns. Plus, other bitters which are unusually shaped or unusually colored. Mint bottles only. Contact: RANDOLPH HAUMANN, 615 Woolsey St., San Francisco, CA 941341815; Cell: (415) 518-4124 or E-mail: Hawkeye751@aol.com. Wanted: Napa Soda Water bottles, advertising or go-withs. Also, California utilitarian stoneware impressed with potter’s marks from J.W. Orr, Michigan BAR, Thomas Gaffney, West & Co., Pacific Pottery, Sac. City, Sacramento Pottery, D. Brannan, San Antonio, Napa Pottery & Petaluma Pottery. JOHN O’NEILL, 1805 Ralston Avenue, Belmont, CA; Ph: (650) 631-7495, Email: joneill@croins.com. Wanted: Tennessee bottles & Tennessee pottery, American & foreign poison bottles. Porcelain & tin advertising signs. Southern beer trays, southern pontiled medicines. Tennessee & southern bitters. Turtle & teakettle inks. Koca Nola bottles. Pottery pigs. George Obr pottery, story padlocks, American tin wind-up toys. 1960s Ford Mustang automobile items. DON RAMSEY, 415 Mapletree Drive, Knoxville, TN 37922; Ph: (865) 6754675. Wanted: Colored pontiled medicines, target balls, old trapping lure bottles. Please call JEFF HOOPER, Ph: (360)
460-2791; P.O. Box 3082, Port Angeles, WA 98362; E-mail: jeffhoo4@webtv.net. Wanted: Clean pharmaceutical bottles: National Alcon Ayerst Catrol Dunham Smith Cole Crookes Barnes Cutter Labs Dome Eaton Endo Marion Miles Ortho Poythress Reerig Stuart Van Pelt Brown Walker Westwood White. NORMAN F> GORDON, 3415 Windemere St., Columbus, GA 31909; Ph: (706) 3243347. Wanted: Shelly Dairy, Wooster, Ohio heading, bottles - any size. Also, any other Wooster, Ohio bottles and early advertising. Also need O.C. Barber Anna Dean Farm, Barberton, Ohio milk bottles, any size. Do you have any advertising items from this dairy?? I’m interested in this stuff also. Please call or write: RALPH BOWMAN, 479 Bicksler Drive, Wadsworth, Ohio 44281-1217; Ph: (330) 336-8279. Want to buy: J.H. Miller stoneware from Kentucky & Indiana. Call JERRY A. McKinley, Ph: (502) 682-0522. Wanted: Yellow old Saheheni & Wigwam tonic, damaged Green Kellys and other rare colored bitters. JONATHAN MELVICH, P.O. Box 15832, Sarasota, FL 34277-1832; Ph: (941) 922-7004.
Montana Sodas - Embossed - ACL - Paper Label -
Especially Cleo Cola Billings, Mont. R.J. Reid 1102 East Babcock St. Bozeman, MT 59715 (406) 587-9602 rjkreid@mcn.net
. , , p y e 2 A :
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Wanted: Barber bottles. Also, anything relating to Cape May, N.J., including bottles, post cards, old photos, old souvenir items, stock certificates and ephemera. DICK GIBBS, P.O. Box 126, Essex, Fells, NJ 07021; Ph: (973) 228-1459; E-mail: capemayone@aol.com.
Wanted: All items and info of J.L. Polhemus, Druggist, Sacramento, Calif. Write or call: JOHN SCHREINER, 427 Westchester Ln., Valparaiso, IN 46385; Ph: (219) 4651190. Wanted: Louisville, Ky. bottles & good cobalt blue bottles & Georgetown, Ky. jugs, large or mini. DON FINGER, 3227 Cynthiana Rd., Georgetown, KY 40324; Ph: (502) 863-0689. Please no calls after 9 PM. Wanted: Delaware & College Milk bottles. ROWLAND HEARN, 10 Wordsworth Dr., Wilmington, Delaware 19808; Ph: (302) 994-2036. Want to Buy: Missouri whiskey PrePro Shot Glasses, labeled bottles, stoneware, advertising. Will buy complete collections. FRED SWEENEY, Ph: (913) 962-2100. Wanted: Old OTT or KENNEDY bottles (except common Dr. Kennedy’s). Rarer Poison Insect bottles as well as Harrisburg, Pa. bottles (any type). Also, any related poison of skull items to add to my collection. CHARLIE KENNEDy, 2113 Chestnut St., Camp Hill, PA 17011; Ph: (717) 761-7786 or E-mail: charles.kennedy@verizon.net. Wanted: S.T. Suit bottles, jugs, etc. Call: (304) 258-4300 or E-mail: bsam@earthlink.net. Wanted: Early black amber Hostetters Bitters. Crude & mint only. Call: (719) 269-1530 or E-mail: strayhorsestudio.com. Wanted: Labeled Polar Star bottles and boxes (little cops, Polar Star plasters, Polar Star cough drops). EDGAR O. DETWILER, 50 Syracuse St., Ocean View, DE 19970; Ph: (302) 539-8385. Wanted: Houghton-Dalton Pottery. Searching for all Houghton and Dalton pottery items. Pottery made from 1842-
1951 in Dalton, Ohio. If you have Houghton or Dalton items, please contact DR. JIM HOUDESHELL, 1610 S. Main St., Findlay, Ohio 45840; Ph: (419) 4232895 or E-mail: JDMMH@woh.rr.com or houdeschell@findlay.edu. Will pay fair prices.
Wanted: Sealed and / or dated bottles from America, England or elsewhere in Europe. Looking for 17th, 18th or early 19th century crude early examples of “black glass” and similiar. Also like freeblown chestnuts, globes, demi-johns and other utility jars and bottles from New England and elsewhere. Would like to hear from other collectors with similiar interests. Call CARY ADELMAN at: (773) 327-6075; 2134 W. Melrose St., Chicago, IL 61618 or E-mail cary@mcihispeed.net. Thanks! Wanted: Labeled “Marshal’s Bitters” and “Webs Tonic” - both Sacramento bottles at least 90% labels please. Also obsolete flat top and cone top beer cans from the 1940s and 1950s, such as casinos, hotels, gas stations, saloons, mom & pop grocery stores and restaurants, etc. Contact: LOREN LOVE, P.O. Box 412, Dayton, NV 89403; Ph: (775) 246-0142. Wanted: I need these two Oregon sodas to complete my Oregon collection. JAMES O. DENNIS, 1625 9th St., Dalles, OR 97058; Ph: (541) 298-1979. Wanted: Souvenir China & souvenir custard glass of the late 19th & early 20th centuries in excellent condition depicting scenes from American towns & villages especially western New York state & states west of Mississippi River. I also seek pieces with resort scenes & views from major World’s Fairs. BURTON SPILLER, 22 Tobey Brook, Pittsford, NY 14534; Ph: (585) 264-8968; E-mail: bottlebug@frontiernet.net. Wanted: St. Louis blob sodas, beers & whiskeys. Top prices paid. Sodas: Wake & Co.; Maas & Schlisler; Humbert & Ottchad, H. Grone (coravitating stopper); Danhorst qt.; Ed Fennerty, qt.; Vail & Co.; Any colored St. Louis soda. Beers: H. Grone Brewing Co., F. Anglebeck; E. Anhuser & Co.; H. Volkmann; Jos Uhrig; Lemp Special Brew. Bitters: Stonewall Jackson; Landsbrug; Eagle. Please call first. CURT FALKENBERRY,
9459 Easy Street, Hillsboro, MO 63050; Ph: (636) 797-5220; E-mail: stlbottlebabe@yahoo.com. Wanted: Oregon pumpkinseeds and “gowiths,” pint Billy Winters Log Cabin, 1/2-pt. Ginocchio & Co., pt. Bureau; 1/4-pint Hotaling4ecc. Contact: GARTH ZIEGENHAGEN, Ph: (541) 548-4776. Will pay top dollar for good condition or trade other bottles.
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
SPRING STEEL PROBES
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
Bottles and Extras
Fall 2005
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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.
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) 6748890. 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) 674-8890. 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 Twila Lane, Richmond, VA 23234, PH: (804) 275-1101. OCTOBER 1 - POINT PLEASANT, WEST VIRGINIA West Virginia Bottle Show (Sat. 9 AM – 5 PM) at the West Virginia State Farm Museum, Fairgrounds Rd. 4 miles north of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. INFO: CHARLIE PERRY, 39304 Bradbur Rd., Middleport, OH 45760, PH: (740) 992-5088, E-mail: perrycola@eurekanet.com. 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, Email: tkatonak@comcast.net or MIKE GAY, PH: (505) 899-8755, E-mail: cdn102@comcast.net. OCTOBER 2 ALBANY, NEW YORK Capital District Antique Bottle & Insulator Club’s 9th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 2:30 PM) at the Historic 1848 Shaker Meeting House, 875 Watervliet Shaker Rd., Albany, New York. INFO: BOB LATHAM, PH: (518) 463-
1053, E-mail: blath@capital.net or FRAN HUGHES, PH: (518) 377-7153, E-mail: fhughes3@nycap.rr..com. 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) 623-1446, E-mail: abbott4girl@sbcglobal.net, Website: www.insulators.com/clubs/hvbic. 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 HallNeptune Hose Co., Rt. 13, Dryden, New York. INFO: GEORGE BLAASCH, 78 Main St., Van Etten, NY 14889, PH: (607) 589-6436, E-mail: Gblaasch@aol.com. OCTOBER 7- 8 MORRISTOWN, TENNESSEE The Tennessee Valley Traders & Collectors Club and Morristown Parks & Recreation Department’s 2nd Annual Antique Bottle & Collectibles Show & Sale (Sat. 8 AM - 2 PM; Free Adm.; Fri. early buyers, 12 Noon - 6 PM, $10 Adm.) at the Talley-Ward Recreation Hall, 324 South James St., Morristown, Tennessee. INFO: BILL HENDERSON, 346 Fuller Estate Circle, Morristown, TN 37813; PH: (423) 5818386, E-mail: showprobill@charter.net or PETE WYATT, PH: (865) 471-0146, E-mail: botlfarm@usit.net. 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) 969-9423, E-mail: rkrshop@cox.net, Website: http:// www.phoenixantiquesclub.org/. OCTOBER 8 ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA Pennsylvania Antique Bottle, Breweriana & Advertising 5th Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9:30 AM – 2:30 {M, early admission 8 AM) at the Merchants Square Antique Mall, 12th & Vultee St., Allentown, Pennsylvania. INFO: MARK ZEPPENFELT, 4881 Cypress St., Wescosville, PA 18106, PH: (610) 391-0271, Email:
uuubuy@rcn.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 9 BEDFORD, PENNSYLVANIA Bedford County Antique Bottle Club’s 28th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 1 PM, early admission 7 AM) at the Bedford County Fairgrounds, 4H Bldg., Bedford, Pennsylvania. INFO: LEO McKENZIE, PH: (814) 623-8019 or CHARLES HAZLETT, PH: (814) 695-0128. 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 Annual Fall Show and Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM) at the Scriba Fire Hall, U.S. Rte. 104 East, Scriba, New York. INFO: BARRY HAYNES, 5721 Scenic Ave., P.O. Box 900, Mexico, New York 13114, PH: (315) 396-0922 or (315) 963-3749 and cochair, JOHN GOLLEY, E-mail: ByGolley@msn.com. OCTOBER 16 FINDLAY, OHIO Findlay Antique Bottle Club’s 29th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM) at The Old Barn, Rt. 224 (1 mile west of I-75 exit 159), Findlay, Ohio. INFO: FRED CURTIS, 1635 Washington Ave., Findlay, OH 45840, PH: (419) 424-0486. OCTOBER 21-22 CANYONVILLE, OREGON Jefferson State Insulator & Bottle Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission Fri. noon – 7 PM) at Seven Feathers Resort, Canyonville, Oregon. INFO: BRUCE SILVA, P. O. Box 1565, Jacksonville, OR 97530; PH: (541) 899-8411, E-mail: jsglass@intergate.com. OCTOBER 28-29 MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE Memphis Bottle Collectors Club’s 25th Annual Show & Sale (Sat. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission
88 Fri. 2 - 9 PM & Sat 7 - 9 AM, during setup) at the State Fairgrounds, Pipkin Bldg., Memphis, Tennessee, INFO: GENE BRADBERRY, 3706 Deerfield Cove, Bartlett, TN 38135, PH: (901) 372-8428. OCTOBER 30 GLENDALE HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS 1st Chicago Bottle Club’s 36th Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 2 PM) at the Ramada Inn, 780 E. North Ave. (1/2 block west of I-355), Glendale Heights, Il. INFO: JOHN & CLAUDIA PANEK, 1790 Hickory Knoll, Deerfield, IL 60015, PH: (847) 945-5493, Email: paperbottl@aol.com. NOVEMBER 4-5 TULARE, CALIFORNIA The Nor-Cal Insulator Club’s 38th Annual Tulare Harvest Insulator & Bottle Show (Fri. 11 AM - 6 PM, Sat. 9 AM - 2 PM; Setup Fri. 8-11 AM) at the Tulare Veteran’s Memorial Building, 1771 East Tulare Ave., Tulare, California. Features: free coffee, raffle items, free walk-in appraisals on insulators and on-the-spot silent auctions. INFO: DAVE BROWN, PH: (559) 592-7456 or (559) 936-7790. NOVEMBER 5-6 MADISON, WISCONSIN Madison Antique Bottle & Advertising Show (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM, early admission Sat. 6 PM -9 PM & Sun. 7 AM - 9 AM) at the Roadway Inn, 4916 E. Broadway (Hwy. 12 - 18 exit 142A), Madison, Wisconsin. INFO: BILL MITCHELL, 703 Linwood Ave., Stevens Point, WI 54481, PH: (715) 341-6860 or (727) 3192875. NOVEMBER 5-6 SPRINGFIELD, OHIO The 35th Mid-Ohio Insulator Show (Sat. 8 AM – 4 PM, Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM) at the Clark County Exposition Center, 4401 S. Charleston Pike (I70 exit 59), Springfield, Ohio. INFO: ALAN STASTNY, PH: (937) 836-4691, E-mail: fuzzyface42@aol.com or GLENN DRUMMOND, PH: (334) 257-3100, E-mail: glenn@patent-1871.com. NOVEMBER 6 ELKTON, MARYLAND Tri-State Bottle Collectors & Diggers Club’s 33rd Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM) at the Singerly Fire Hall, Rte. 279 & 213 (I-95 exit 109A), Elkton, Maryland. INFO: DAVE BROWN, PH: (302) 738-9960. NOVEMBER 13 PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh Antique Bottle Club’s Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 2 PM, early admission 7 AM) at the Ice Garden, Route 51 North (I-70 exit 46B), Rostraver Twp., Pennsylvania. INFO: BOB DeCROO, 694 Fayette City Rd., Fayette City, Pennsylvania 15438, PH: (724) 326-8741 or JAY HAWKINS, 1280 Mt. Pleasant Rd., West
Fall 2005 Newton, PA 15089, PH: (724) 872-6013. NOVEMBER 13 OAKLAND, NEW JERSEY North Jersey Antique Bottle Collectors Association’s 36th Annual Show (Sun. 9 AM – 2 PM, early admission 8 AM) at Valley Middle School, Route 202 (off I-287), Oakland, New Jersey. INFO: KEN DICKSON, PH: (973) 9077351. NOVEMBER 19 PHENIX CITY, ALABAMA Dixie Jewels Insulator Club’s Fall Swap Meet (Sat. 9:30 AM until the last person leaves) at the Bethany Baptist Church pavilion, 5301 Summerville Rd., Phenix City, Alabama. INFO: JIMMIE HOBBS, 322 Rocky Creek Dr., Cataula, GA 31804, PH: (706) 494-0003, Email: linedad777@att.net. NOVEMBER 20 SPRINGFIELD, OHIO The Annual Springfield, Ohio Antique Bottle & Fruit Jar Show & Sale (Sun. 9:30 AM – 3 PM) at the Heart of Ohio Antique Center, US Rt. 40 at I-70 exit 62, Springfield, Ohio. INFO: JOHN BARTLEY, P. O. Box 53, North Hampton, OH 45349-0053, PH: (937) 964-8080, E-mail: jbartley@woh.rr.com, Website: http:// www.heartofohioantiques.com. NOVEMBER 20 - GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA The 4th Annual Greensboro Antique Bottle, Insulator & Collectibles Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM, Adm. $1; Dealer setup 6-9 AM, early buyers 7:30 AM) at the Farmer’s’ Curb Market, 501 Yanceyville St., Greensboro, North Carolina. INFO: REGGIE LYNCH, P.O. Box 13736, Durham, NC 27709; PH: (919) 7894545; Website: www.antiquebottles.com/ greensboro. NOVEMBER 23-24 THERMOPOLIS, WYOMING Fruit Jar Collectors Show at the Dancing Bear Folk Center, 119 S. 6th, Thermopolis, Wyoming. INFO: ELLEN BLAKEY, PH: (307) 864-9396. NOVEMBER 27 - BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA Forks of the Delaware Bottle Collectors Association’s 32nd Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 3 PM, early admission 7:30 AM) at Bethlehem Catholic High School, Madison & Dewberry Ave., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. INFO: BILL HEGEDUS, 20 Cambridge Pl., Catasaqua, PA 18032, PH: (610) 264-5945. NOVEMBER 4-5 TULARE, CALIFORNIA The Nor-Cal Insulator Club’s 38th Annual Tulare Harvest Insulator & Bottle Show (Fri. 11 AM - 6 PM, Sat. 9 AM - 2 PM; Setup Fri. 8-11 AM) at the Tulare Veteran’s Memorial Building, 1771 East Tulare Ave., Tulare, California.
Bottles and Extras Features: free coffee, raffle items, free walk-in appraisals on insulators and on-the-spot silent auctions. INFO: DAVE BROWN, PH: (559) 592-7456 or (559) 936-7790. NOVEMBER 5-6 MADISON, WISCONSIN Madison Antique Bottle & Advertising Show (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM, early admission Sat. 6 PM -9 PM & Sun. 7 AM - 9 AM) at the Roadway Inn, 4916 E. Broadway (Hwy. 12 - 18 exit 142A), Madison, Wisconsin. INFO: BILL MITCHELL, 703 Linwood Ave., Stevens Point, WI 54481, PH: (715) 341-6860 or (727) 3192875. NOVEMBER 13 PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh Antique Bottle Club’s Annual Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM – 2 PM, early admission 7 AM) at the Ice Garden, Route 51 North (I-70 exit 46B), Rostraver Twp., PA. INFO: BOB DeCROO, 694 Fayette City Rd., Fayette City, Pennsylvania 15438, PH: (724) 326-8741 or JAY HAWKINS, 1280 Mt. Pleasant Rd., West Newton, PA 15089, PH: (724) 872-6013. NOVEMBER 20 SPRINGFIELD, OHIO Annual Springfield, Ohio Antique Bottle & Fruit Jar Show & Sale (Sun. 9:30 AM – 3 PM) at the Heart of Ohio Antique Center, US Rt. 40 at I70 exit 62, Springfield, Ohio. INFO: JOHN BARTLEY, P. O. Box 53, North Hampton, OH 45349-0053, PH: (937) 964-8080, E-mail: jbartley@woh.rr.com, Website: http:// www.heartofohioantiques.com. NOVEMBER 20 - GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA The 4th Annual Greensboro Antique Bottle, Insulator & Collectibles Show & Sale (Sun. 9 AM - 3 PM, Adm. $1; Dealer setup 6-9 AM, early buyers 7:30 AM) at the Farmer’s’ Curb Market, 501 Yanceyville St., Greensboro, North Carolina. INFO: REGGIE LYNCH, P.O. Box 13736, Durham, NC 27709; PH: (919) 789-4545; Website: www.antiquebottles.com/greensboro.
www.fohbc.com 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
An Invitation The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) cordially invites you to join a dedicated group of individuals and clubs who collect, study and display the common glass and ceramic gems of yesteryear. The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors is a non-profit organization supporting collectors of historical bottles, flasks, jars and related items. The goal of the FOHBC is to promote the collection, study, preservation and display of historical bottles and related artifacts and to share this information with other collectors. Federation membership is open to any individual or club interested in the enjoyment and study of antique bottles. The Federation publication, Bottles and Extras, is well known throughout the hobby world as the leading publication for those interested in historical bottles and “go withs.” The magazine includes articles of historical interest, stories chronicling the hobby and the history of bottle collecting, digging stories, regional news, show reports, advertisements, show listings and an auction directory. Bottles & Extras is truly the place to go when information is needed about this popular and growing hobby. In addition to providing strength to a national and international organization devoted to the welfare of the hobby, your FOHBC Membership benefits include: • A full year subscription to the Federation’s official publication, Bottles and Extras (published quarterly) • Free advertisements in Bottles and Extras • Quarterly newsletters detailing news of the Federation and the hobby • The opportunity to obtain “early admission” to Federation sponsored National Shows and EXPOs • Access to a knowledge of the world of antique bottle collecting unavailable elsewhere • Contact information for clubs devoted to the study of historical bottles • A forum for your writings, articles and editorials regarding the hobby • Participation in the nomination and selection of Federation members for the Honor Roll and Hall of Fame • Federation-sponsored writing, show poster, and newsletter-design contests • Free publication assistance for your book or manuscript • And more… Finally… We need your support! Our continued existence is dependent upon your participation as well as expanding our membership. The Federation is the only national organization devoted to the enjoyment, study, preservation, collection and display of historical bottles. The FOHBC welcomes individuals who would like to contribute by running for Board positions or by sharing their expertise and volunteering their talents in other areas of interest such as contributions to our publications, assistance with the Federation’s National and EXPO shows, or through membership promotion. If you haven’t yet joined our organization, please do so and begin reaping the benefits. If you are already a member, please encourage your friends and fellow collectors to JOIN US!
For more information, or to join the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors, please contact:
See page 81 for information to join or renew!
Ralph J. Van Brocklin FOHBC Director at Large 1021 W. Oakland Ave., Suite 109 Johnson City, TN 37604 PH: (423) 913-1378 E-Mail: thegenuine@comcast.net or visit our home page on the Web at:
www.fohbc.com
Let始s Talk About Ink - Inwells, that is... Page 52
The Wistars - Casper, Richard, Dr. Casper, Henry & Issac Page 46
Louisville Glass Factories of the 19th Century concludes in this issue with Part 3 - Page 42
Charles Hilton: Milk Bottle Collector Constantly on the Moove Page 54
www.FOHBC.com
FOHBC c/o Ralph Van Brocklin 1021 W. Oakland Avenue, Suite #109 Johnson City, TN 37604
The Rest of the Story? Page 64
Bottles andExtras
Shooting Shots Page 69 PERIIODICALS
POSTAGE PAID Johnson City, TN 37601