Antique Bottle & Glass Collector by Ferdinand Meyer V

$4.00

April 2020

Whittle Known Facts About New England Glass w PAGE 7

IN THIS ISSUE:

Art Collectors Go Bananas w PAGE 11

A Barrel of Hutchinson History? w PAGE 14

How Bottles Talk to Us w PAGE 31

Th e M ag a z i ne Th at K e e p s Yo u I n f o r me d !

Seeking quality consignments for our 2020 auction schedule!

American Glass Gallery

As a consignor, consider these benefits to help ensure your valued items reach their highest potential: w Competitive consignor rates and low buyer premiums w Broad-based and extensive advertising w Experience, knowledge, honesty and integrity w Attention to detail and customer service

These items and many more, will be included in our upcoming 2020 Auction schedule.

American Glass Gallery • John R. Pastor • P.O. Box 227, New Hudson, Michigan 48165 phone: 248.486.0530 • www.americanglassgallery.com • email: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com

VOLUME 36, #12 • April 2020 FRONT COVER:

Some beautifully whittled bottles, along with a cast iron mold in the foreground, are featured on this month's cover. AB&GC columnist Mike George explains the nuances of "Whittle Known Facts" and other interesting topics in his column, New England Review. Read all about it beginning on page 7.

Publisher John R. Pastor

In This Issue:

Editors: Ralph Finch Bill Baab Jodi Hall

Letters to the Editor........................................................................... 2

Managing Editor Libby Smith The Medicine Chest John Panella Joe Widman American Historical Flasks Mark Vuono New England Review Mike George Bitters Columnist Bob Strickhart Spouting off on Mineral Waters Donald Tucker Contributing Writers: Ralph Finch Kevin Sives

Heard it through the Grapevine......................................................... 4 New England Review.......................................................................... 7 Is Rare Art More A-Peeling Than Rare Glass?.................................. 11 A Barrel of Fun................................................................................. 14 Fruit Jar Rambles: The Vacuum Seal Jar.......................................... 17 Classified Advertisements................................................................. 22 Show Calendar.................................................................................. 27 How Bottles Talk to Us..................................................................... 31 Medicine Chest: Peruna - King of the Bracers................................. 40

Design, Layout & Production Jake Pluta

ANTIQUE BOTTLE & GLASS COLLECTOR (ISSN 8750-1481) is published monthly by Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, P.O. Box 227, New Hudson, MI 48165-0227. Annual Subscription $35.00 at periodical rates, $49.00 at First-class rates and $4.00 per single copy. Canadian (First-class rate available only) $54.00 (in U.S. Funds). Overseas rates please inquire. Published by Antique Bottle & Glass Collector, PO Box 227, New Hudson, MI 48165-0227. Periodicals Postage is paid at New Hudson MI and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to ANTIQUE BOTTLE & GLASS COLLECTOR, PO Box 227, New Hudson, MI 48165-0227. PH: 248.486.0530; Fax: 248.486.0538, Email: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com, Website: www.americanglassgallery.com. © Copyright 2020 all rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any way without written permission from the publisher.

Coming in May: Nebraska Sodas, Digging, and a Great New Book, by Ralph Finch The Story of One Salve Jar, by Bram Hepburn Crossword Puzzle: Fruit Jars and More, by The Puzzle Maker Fruit Jar Rambles: The St. Denis Jars, by Tom Caniff Medicine Chest: Coughs, Colds, and Panaceas, by John Panella and Joe Widman And other very cool stuff! April 2020

LETTERS

to the Editor

I would like to thank Horst Klusmeier for his letter to the editor in the March 2020 issue where he corrects the quote from the article that indicated Rob Goodacre was no longer of this world. To the relief of many, Horst reported that Rob is in fact still alive and kicking! I reached out to the source of this erroneous detail, and he apologized and said he had based his presumption on the dearth of news from Rob in quite some time. He asked Horst if he would be kind enough to provide Rob’s contact information.

This recently dug super-rare aqua London Warner’s bottle featured our February issue was sold to an Australian collector but “ended up in a U.S.A. collection.” Will that fortunate collector be willing to share his or her story? We can only hope.

News and Updates on a Rare Aqua Warner’s Dear John, Thank you for printing the “Rare Aqua London Warner’s Rocks Collecting World” article in the February 2020 issue of Antique Bottle & Glass Collector. As always, the graphics and layouts were top notch. After sharing the article with my British friends on the Facebook public forum, “Warner’s Safe Cure - H. H. Warner,” I was notified that the bloke holding the freshly dug Warner’s in the Figure 1 picture on page 33 is in fact Les’ digging mate Stuart Lilley, and not Les himself, as I had erroneously reported in the article. Furthermore, it was Stuart who actually dug the bottle, in a hole that Les had started.

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

I’d also like to comment on Boyd Beccue’s letter in the same issue. Boyd has a whittled pint amber WARNER”S SAFE CURE FRANKFURT A/M in his collection, which I believe is cataloged as 2WFGVar1 in Michael Seeliger’s H. H. Warner - His Company and his Bottles. Boyd’s observations of the German Warner’s, based on viewing many examples during his time there in the early 1970s, corroborates the conclusions of Mike Sheridan and Michael Seeliger that, contrary to many people’s assumptions, the amber English and other European bottles are in fact older than the more exotic green examples. Per Boyd’s inquiry, he can get a hold of Michael on Facebook, and PM him there. Anyone can order Michael’s book on Amazon. There is one last bit of news to add to this story. Per a recent update on the same Facebook site, the recently dug super rare aqua London Warner’s bottle featured in the article was sold to an Australian collector but “ended up in a U.S.A. collection.” If that fortunate American collector would be willing to share his or her story, it would be fascinating to hear their comments on the bottle and how it fits into their Warner’s collection. John Savastio Latham, New York

The Long Island Milk Bottle display won the People's Choice Award at the recent Long Island show.

Long Island Show is Long on Success Dear John, Well, I finally recovered enough from our show to contact you. Let me just say this about the show: WOW. The local newspaper, Newsday, for the first time in our club’s 45 years, picked us up and I was featured in an article which ran just a few days before the show. Three pages, color shots, online video, the works. They were at our home for fourplus hours shooting everything. There was also a featured picture in the events listing. And it showed in the attendance figure: 462 paid at the door. We’d never had attendance like that before, not even in the heyday in the ’80s. Steady line to get in from opening at 10 to around 12:30, sporadic line to get in until 1:30 when it started to taper off to just a steady stream.

LETTERS

to the Editor

The show was a dealer sell-out, the second year in a row we sold out, but we did squeeze in one more dealer who showed up at 9 a.m. asking for a table, and he did very well along with all others, with several vendors having empty tables by 2 p.m. There were all kinds of items walking in the door – blobs, case bottles, pottery. It was amazing, really. I was able to get a few shots of the show. We had several great exhibits, including Long Island Dairy and Long Island Blob-tops. I missed the Long Island Deco Sodas as it was already broken down by the time I managed to get the camera. The Long Island Dairy won People’s Choice award. We are already working on our 2021 show and sale. Show co-chair Mark Smith Sayville, New York FYI: Smith, now 58, started collecting bottles at age 12 while growing up in Sayville and has since amassed hundreds of bottles and pieces of stoneware from back in the day.

A New Dr. Richardson’s Find Hello, John, I picked up something interesting the other day. In my article about the bottles and patent medicines of South Reading, Massachusetts, which ran in the June 2018 issue of AB&GC, I mentioned that the Richardson’s had also sold packets of dried herbs, labeled as “Jaundice Bitters.” This new (to me) item seems to be the front of a different packet, for “Dr. Richardson’s Concentrated [meaning, I believe, dried] Sherry Wine Bitters”. It measures 2” x 4.” It was re-purposed in an unusual way: it is used as the cover (a

ATTENTION READERS: Due to COVID-19 precautions, a number of upcoming bottle shows have been postponed or cancelled. Please check with show chairmen to see if your favorite shows are affected. We will have further updates in future issues.

The new Dr. Richardson’s Concentrated Sherry Wine Bitters cover.

replacement cover?) of a small 16-page chapbook published by Atwood & Brown of Concord, New Hampshire, in 1847. Of course, the Richardson’s cover could have been applied at any date after the booklet had been issued. Richard Sheaff Bethel, Vermont

Letter to AB&GC Medicine Chest columnist Joe Widman Hi, Joe, I read and enjoyed your article in the January bottle magazine titled “Should this be an Article.” I am a Rockford, Illinois, bottle collector and noticed the Humane Medicine bottle. Humane Medicine Co. was a short-lived company in Rockford from May 1883 to March 1884. ‘Mother’s Croup Cure’ was the product manufactured and sold by this company. The organizers were Fred W. Lee, Joshua O. Lee and H.A. Lee (I haven’t found the full name yet, perhaps they were brothers?).

That about sums up the history of this company. They did have some great advertisements (above) in the newspaper. A couple are kind of comical, so they must have had good writers. There was also a clear bottle, about 4 1/2” tall, similar to a standard druggist bottle. If you would like to have the ads, and a clear bottle, please contact me and I will gladly send them. Thank you and regards, Jeff Dahlberg Rockford, Illinois April 2020

Heard it through the

Grapevine Spring Antique and Bottle Show Combines with a Classic Car Show Several years ago, Batsto Citizens Committee, Inc (BCCI) joined with Cruisin’ Classic Car group for a spring antique, glass and bottle show. It seemed that a show with antique and classic cars should have something else for visitors to enjoy. What better than antiques? Taking place in the heart of Wharton Forest at Batsto Village, where glass and bottles were produced after the iron industry financially could not survive, also seemed appropriate. Iron is no longer produced at Batsto Village. The idea of the British coming up the river to end the production of shot and cannonball at the Village no longer exists. But the history can be seen at the monument at Chestnut Neck and whispers of such at Batsto. May 17 will be a day to enjoy the quiet of a once noisy iron producing town. A chance to walk around and remember some of American history. Not only can the

history of the Colonies before America was America be enjoyed, but some of our more recent history as well. Think of toys without batteries, tin toys (not plastic), records that were analog and not digital sounds produced on your phone, and bottles that were returned for two or five cents, not throw-away plastic.

New Book Release Long-time bottle digger and diver, Bram Hepburn, of Eliot, Maine, has just released a new book titled A Field Guide to American Trash. The book is a comprehensive guide to finding dumps, digging privies, and locating underwater trash sites dating back to the Civil War. The book has been in the works for years, and is a labor of love, explains Bram. Watch for a short teaser article from Bram’s book in next month’s issue of AB&GC. You may also visit his website, https://thedowneastdigger.com/business/

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

There will be food trucks to satisfy your hunger and quench your thirst. It is a rain or shine event, but let’s hope for sunshine. Hope to see you on May 17 at Historic Batsto Village from 9 to 3.

Heard it through the

Grapevine Flush with Money? You Can Also Flush a Bobwhite By Ralph Finch A while back, two items brought back a sound of my childhood. It was the twill of a bird that brightened my days more than sixty years ago, the bobwhite. One item was the May cover of AB&GC magazine, and the other was a cardboard sign for a brand of toilet paper. The connection? Hold on, and I’ll make it … On May 10, Showtime Auctions of Woodhaven, Mich., offered Lot 0211, a Bob White Toilet Tissue Die Cut Cardboard Sign, estimated at $150-$300. Back when I started to write this, the bidding was at $150 with five bids (including mine, at $150. I have a patient wife.). First, meet the bobwhite. Wikipedia notes that “The northern bobwhite, Virginia quail or bobwhite quail is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. It is a member of the group of species known as New World quails. The name ‘bobwhite’ derives from its characteristic whistling call. Despite its secretive nature …” Secretive? If one landed on my beak, I couldn’t identify it. But its sound? As a child, if I heard the whistle calling out, bobwhite, bobwhite, I’d feel like a budding ornithologist. “There’s a bobwhite,” I would proudly tell my grandmother (who had the thankless job of raising me), although I don’t recall ever actually seeing a bobwhite. As I grew, I continued to like birds (and the Finches always visit the National Aviary in Pittsburgh) but as an ornithologist? I have a friend who claims to be able to identify 300 different birds, while I am an expert only in the colored birds (is that

politically correct?). I know a blackbird, a red-winged blackbird, a blue bird, a goldfinch, a cardinal, and oh, yes, a purple something. Right. A purple martin, which Wikipedia claims to be the largest North American swallow (but some of my stories are hard to swallow). And I know a Baltimore Oriole when I see one, because there is orange on their baseball team’s uniform. The W. Hartman whiskey company of Schuylkill Haven, Pa. must have seen one, and made the bird its logo for the firm’s Bob White booze brand. (Maybe it was to indicate, if you think you see a bobwhite, it’s time to stop drinking.) The important thing to remember is that the cardboard sign is not part of the infamous Finch toilet paper collection. It sold for $500, with eight bids, plus a 22 percent buyer’s premium. My last bid was $450 on this bird. When Janet heard that, she said, “We've got a spot for it.” (If you could see our walls, you’d know what a challenge that is. Also, I have the best wife in the world.) But we were outbid. FYI1: Schuylkill Haven is also known for its coal (found around 1790), several floods (the last big one in 2006), and a shootout (1934) between Republicans and Democrats where several were killed.

This Bob White sign took wing, sailing away at $500 (plus 22 percent buyer’s premium). Note, I found nation-wide advertising for this product, selling from 1916 to1926 for three cent to five cents a roll. It was made by the APW Paper company “from wood pulp.” The next time you have to go to the men’s room and are pining for something new, consider wood pulp.

FYI2: Want to collect something new? How about living Bobwhite Quail? On the internet I found a firm that sells “the Northern Bobwhite Quail. “These wonderful little birds are great flyers, delicious eating, excellent for training your hunting dog, and just fun to raise. They mature in 16 weeks and dress between 7-9 oz. They will have started laying eggs by 24 weeks and are prolific layers. Your order must total 100 or more birds. Unsexed.” Unsexed? Do sexy quail lay more eggs?

These three rolls of toilet paper were offered at the last year's Indianapolis advertising show. Friend Mark McNee of Kalamazoo called me about them — to which I said YES! — but by the time he got back to the booth they had been sold. (Hand me a tissue. I’m sad.)

April 2020

The Collection of Russell & Doris Evitt

Bidding Begins: May 18th Closes: May 27th Select Auction 187: An Exceptional Group of Historical Flasks, Bitters, Early Glass, Inks & More

Heckler 6

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

www.hecklerauction.com | 860-974-1634 79 Bradford Corner Road, Woodstock Valley, CT 06282

A selection of 19th century bottles exhibiting “whittled” glass.

WHITTLE KNOWN FACTS I’ve often been asked, “What makes a bottle whittled? Is it made from a wooden mold?” For the advanced collector, this will probably put a smile on your face, because I’m sure you have heard these questions before. Not being a glassblower myself, I can’t elaborate too much on the production, but let’s try to understand the basic idea of how rippled glass resembling the effects of a wooden mold is created. Whittle marks; rippled, wavy or wrinkled glass; and hammered with whittle are some of the terms used by collectors to describe a glass texture characteristic that has nothing to do with any of these terms. These bottles were not blown into a wooden mold at all, but rather large cast iron molds, usually two-piece molds, but sometimes multiple leaves were used.

Collectors love this glass texture, which gives a bottle a very primitive and early look. So why do some bottles made from the same mold have a whittled look, when some do not? It all has to do with temperature, when the molten glass approaches a colder iron mold. Although these molds were heated, the temperature of the mold was often much colder, especially when unused for a while when starting a new glass batch. I would imagine that the extreme differences in temperature also created steam during the process. The temperature difference, and vapor from the steam, would create the beautiful ripples that we enjoy today.

ripple for granted. Enjoy the beauty that was created from this violent temperature interaction.

To be accurate, the term for this effect should be referred to by collectors as “cold mold ripple” rather than “whittle.” However, I am just as guilty of using the term as anyone. So don’t take your cold mold

Mr. Huntington’s first embossed “A. Huntington / Monmouth, ME” bottled product appeared in 1860, a product for “Dr. Huntington’s Horse & Ox Liniment” as advertised in the

DR. HUNTINGTON GOLDEN TONIC BITTERS Alpheus Huntington was born in Monmouth, Maine in 1820, and died at 84 years old (of old age) in 1905. Married with two children, Mr. Huntington did a number of different things to make ends meet, starting his occupation as a “Peddler” (1850 Monmouth Census) and ending as a “Patent Medicine Man” (1880 Deering Census).

April 2020

BEDFORD WATER – WHO, WHAT AND WHERE I own an early and relatively rare mineral water bottle, produced at Stoddard, New Hampshire, probably in the late 1850s. I wanted to learn a little bit about the source of this “Bedford Water” and it actually led me to another bottle on my shelf.

An Iodine Spring Water mold (looking more like a fire hydrant) must have taken quite some time to heat up.

Hallowell Gazette. The aqua paneled bottle was very similar in style to a number of cattle liniment bottles marketed at this time. Since the bottle is listed with just a name and town, I can only assume that Mr. Huntington (now a selfproclaimed doctor) was selling a number of different products in these bottles, differentiated simply by a label. A local businessman, John Curtis, opened up the first chewing gum factory in the United States in the 1850s in the neighboring town of Portland, Maine. This quickly became an interest for Mr. Huntington, who jumped on the bandwagon, calling himself “A Manufacturer of Gum” (1870 Portland Census). It is unclear if Mr. Huntington partnered with Curtis, or simply rode the coattails, but by 1870, Dr. Huntington was marketing his “Queen of the North Chewing Gum and Huntington’s Liniment and Golden Tonic Bitters,” as seen on a number of trade cards and advertisements. The “Dr. Huntington’s / Golden Tonic / Bitters – Portland / Maine” bottles were likely produced between 1868 and 1878. These bottles come in a number of dif-

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

ferent amber shades, aqua, and rarely in green. I believe they were made at two glass factory locations. Examples of this bottle were found at the South Stoddard, New Hampshire, factory site (which operated until 1873). Afterwards, I believe production carried on at the nearby Lyndeborough Glass Factory as needed. Collectors can recognize distinct contrasts in this production between the earlier bubbly amber glass and the much cleaner later aqua glass. These bottles, like so many other mid19th century Maine bottles, are not common and are highly desirable to collectors. We do not know of any commercial glass bottle manufacturing in Maine during this time, so the closest production center would have been in southern New Hampshire. The most prolific merchant during this time was probably Nathan Wood from Portland, followed by various other small local merchants. Bottle production was relatively low, so the supply for collectors today creates high demand. Some Maine merchant bottles are so rare that the number of known examples can be counted on one hand.

In the 1830s, a farm site in Bedford, Massachusetts, was owned by Augustus Pierce. Pierce noticed that cattle preferred the spring water at the small Fawn Lake, and the cows who regularly drank it gave better milk. An analysis from the springfed waters revealed that they contained the mineral iron, sulfur, and saline. These results prompted investors to purchase the farm and erect the Bedford Springs health resort, complete with hotel, bath house, stables and bowling alley. Unfortunately, this early resort was not a commercial success, until it was purchased, in 1856, by Dr. William Hayden. The Springs House, later the Hotel Sweetwater, quickly became an attraction for city dwellers seeking relief from their ailments and stresses. Dr. Hayden, well-known in the Bedford area as the president of the New York Pharmaceutical Company, operated his business at this location. He eventually moved the whole company to the Bedford Springs in 1867, complete with a full laboratory. The company produced up to 350 different potions based on the spring waters and various healing botanicals. Its principal products were Compound Phosphorus Pills, Uric Solvent, and Hayden’s Viburnum Compound. As I was reading this information about Dr. Hayden and the famed Bedford Springs, I realized that I actually owned a bottle or jar that was likely used to contain Hayden’s miraculous solvents and compounds. Also of the same era and glass of the spring waters, these Stoddardmade bottles have a form very much like an ointment or balm jar, cylindrical with

PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: Pair of Dr. Huntington’s Golden Tonic Bitters from Portland Maine. TOP RIGHT: “HAYDEN” marked ointment or balm bottle and a pint “BEDFORD WATER” bottle. BOTTOM: A small selection of early Maine embossed bottles.

April 2020

a wide flaring lip, and embossed vertically “HAYDEN.” Also like the Bedford Spring water bottle, the Hayden bottle is very rare, and until now, unrelated to the Bedford Springs. The relationship between the bottles is very likely, and I can now relate it to the story of Dr. Hayden and his healing properties of the Bedford Springs.

MODERN DAY COLLECTING Every collector loves a good bottle show, handling the glass, buying, selling, and the social camaraderie. However, if you have not embraced the opportunities of social media interaction through websites such as Facebook, well you are truly missing out. Change can be difficult, but often very necessary. If you have been a little disappointed at the attendance of your local bottle club or show, well I have some

strong numbers for you. As I write this, Facebook private social groups are really growing, and becoming a great place to learn, promote, and encourage new collectors. The “Antique Bottle Collectors” page currently has 12,965 members, and the “Bottle Diggers & Collectors” page currently has 15,860 members. These are very strong numbers indeed. If you are not embracing this opportunity to learn and interact, then you are you are missing out on some incredible information. As a young collector, I learned and researched about the hobby through the few books that I owned or was able to access. I also interacted with other collectors on a monthly basis, maybe if I was lucky. Now we can access collectors and any information instantly, creating a new “golden age” for collectors, especially new collectors. A vast number of people on these social media pages do not post or comment, but they are there, learning and getting

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familiarized with the hobby. As we fear the changes in our hobby, we often don’t recognize the underlying growth that comes from this change. We live in a time when information is at our fingertips. Articles and posts can be archived for years of enjoyment. Interact, and take advantage of this exceptional learning center. Michael George earlyglass@gmail.com

Now we can access collectors and any information instantly, creating a new “golden age” for collectors, especially new collectors.

Is Rare Art More A-Peeling Than Rare Glass? Collectors, once again, go nuts — and go bananas This banana with duct tape sold for $120,000. Art? It makes rare glass, sans duct tape, look like a bargain.

Edited by Ralph Finch

s there something rotten in the art world? It’s probably this overpriced old fruit.

What about the world of glass? Over the years, bottle collectors have ooh’ed and ahh’ed when years ago a rare bottle sold for $10,000. Then $20,000 for an ink, then $50,000, then $100,000. It’s hard to keep up with the up-and-up prices of great glass. It has been muttered by saner minds that some collectors are bananas. And, last December, that criticism has been proven true, and other art critics are going bananas. A banana duct-taped to a wall sold for $120,000 at a Miami art gallery, and I’m hungry to make sense of all this. The fruit and tape in question was the work of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, and it literally is just a real banana ducttaped to a wall, titled “The Comedian.” No joke. There are reports of three “edi-

tions” of the “work of art,” two of which have been sold. The third banana was expected to go for $150,000! On the one hand, the $120,000 banana duct-taped to a wall is good. People always like to dismiss modern art as simplistic, often remarking, “I could make that.” The go-to comeback to this statement is, “Yeah, but you didn’t.” Hate all you want, but you didn’t just make a couple hundred grand by attaching maybe a dollar’s worth of produce to the wall with pieces of tape. But Maurizio Cattelan did. And, as a piece of art, “The Comedian” actually does have something to say. Emmanuel Perrotin, whose gallery displayed the art — “Bananas, aisle three” — said the piece is about how the meaning and importance of objects changes depending on the context. (Huh?) “The spectacle is as much a part of the work as the banana.”

Cattelan is famous for another one of his works, an 18-karat gold toilet titled “America” valued at $6 million that was recently stolen from England’s Blenheim Palace. Now, $6 million for a gold toilet? As a collector of antique toilet paper I was tempted, but the auction house refused my credit card. Here’s the central rub with the banana duct-taped to a wall. It is both a funny critique of the absurdities of art and capitalism, yet it is inherently part of that problem, too. While I was at the Detroit News many years ago, I was friendly with the paper’s art critic. Once, visiting her home, I noted a square of blue fuzz framed and hung from her wall. It had been given to her by a local Detroit artist, and its title? “Clothes drier lint.” So, is the banana duct-taped to a wall good or bad? I don’t know. It’s higher in potassium than most art, so let’s just say, by that measure, it’s good. April 2020

The next time you hesitate spending a thousand clams — I mean, dollars — for a rare bitters, picture it with a piece of duct tape on it and it could be a bargain.

The Miami couple who purchased the much-talked-about piece of art consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall for $120,000 acknowledged the absurdity of the artwork and said they plan to gift it to a museum. Billy and Beatrice Cox said they believe the artwork, titled “The Comedian,” will become “iconic.” They spent the money after seeing “the public debate it sparked about art and our society.” The Coxes compared the banana artwork to Andy Warhol's iconic “Campbell's Soup Cans.” “We are acutely aware of the blatant absurdity of the fact that “The Comedian” is an otherwise inexpensive and perishable piece of produce and a couple [of ] inches of duct tape,” the Coxes said. “Ultimately, we sense that [artist Maurizio] Cattelan’s banana will become an iconic historical object. Yes, the banana itself will need to be replaced,” they acknowledged. The expensive piece of produce was the talk of the Art Basel Miami festival last week, with critics lambasting the conceptual artwork by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan as evidence of wealth inequality. Three editions were sold ranging from $120,000 to $150,000. Some reasoned they could easily recreate Cattelan's work with a trip to the grocery and hardware stores. Parodies even sprung up online, such as the framed bagel with a piece of duct tape over it by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. On Saturday, performance artist David Datuna removed the lastest edition of the banana from the wall and proceeded to unpeel and eat it, much to the public's shock and amazement. "I respect Maurizio, but it’s art performance: Hungry artist,” he had said.

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

TOP: In this photo, gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin poses next to Italian artist Maurizio Cattlelan's "The Comedian" at the Art Basel exhibition in Miami Beach, Fla. The work sold for $120,000. A Miami couple who bought a headline-grabbing banana duct-taped to a wall say they acknowledge the absurdity of the artwork, but believe it will become an icon and plan to gift it to a museum. (Siobhan Morrissey via AP) BOTTOM: This new glass banana is easily found on the internet for around $12. With duct tape, it may go higher or it may be cheaper by the bunch.

Editor’s note 1: A spokesperson for the Popeye’s firm noted that its chicken sandwich was included as a piece in a recent art festival. Like the infamous banana, the popular sandwich was duct-taped to a canvas. The piece, officially named “The Sandwich,” was listed at $120,003.99 and is being described as “a mixed media work of art consisting of a toasted brioche bun, two pickles, fried chicken, mayo and duct

tape over a canvas.” What’s next? Can you duct tape spaghetti to a wall? Editor’s note 2: It has been long suggested — but long debated — that Groucho Marx authored this bit of wisdom: “Time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana.” Fruit flies and Groucho would appreciate this latest art “scandal.”

R E N O 2 02 0

FOHBC RENO NATIONAL ANTIQUE BOTTLE CONVENTION WESTERN REGION

Thursday, July 30 - Sunday, August 2, 2020 Antique Bottle Show & Sales, Bottle Competition, Early Admission, Seminars, Displays, Awards Banquet, Membership Breakfast, Bowling Competition, Silent Auction, Raffle, Children’s Events and more... $5 General Admission Saturday and Sunday half day

Go to FOHBC.org for hotel booking information, schedule and dealer contracts. Hotel rooms will go fast!

Richard & Bev Siri (Show Chairs) rtsiri@sbcglobal.net

Eric McGuire (Seminars, Keynote Speaker) etmcguire@comcast.net

Max Bell (Displays) maxbell1205@gmail.com Warren Friedrich (Show Treasurer) warrenls6@sbcglobal.net

Ferdinand Meyer V (Marketing & Advertising) fmeyer@fmgdesign.com

TEAM RENO

Gina Pellegrini (Event Photographer) angelina.pellegrini@gmail.com

Info: FOHBC.org

April 2020

A Barrel of Hutchinson History? Like it? It’s really a big (and empty) load of old bottle caps By Ralph Finch

ffered recently by the A-OK Auction Gallery of Abingdon, Va., was Lot 0108, a 7-Up Wooden Bottle Cap Barrel described (edited) as “Manufactured By W.H. Hutchinson & Son, Chicago, Barrel Holds 100 Gross Bottle Caps, Hand Painted 7-Up Logo For John G. Epping Bottle Co.,” in good condition and 23 1/2 inches tall.” It required a starting bid of $10, plus a buyer’s premium of 13 to 20 percent, although the auction house estimated its value at $600-$800. Other similar barrels have been known, but rarely (if ever) in such good condition. Interesting. For those of you who haven’t had a math class since 1907, a “gross,” as explained by Wikipedia, means “a group of 144 items (a dozen dozen or a square dozen, 122). A great gross refers to a group of 1,728 items (a dozen gross or a cubic dozen, 123). A small gross or a great hundred refers to a group of 120 items.”

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

100 gross is 14,400 bottle caps. Now, don’t you feel smarter? My little brain is completely exhausted. My question is: Years ago I knew many collectors of Hutchinson items — remember the great Bob (and Barbara) Harms of Chicago? Bob was president of the 1st Chicago Bottle Club back in 1986. Are there Hutchinson collectors still out there? Email me at rfinch@twmi. rr.com and let me know. The A-OK barrel sold for $577 plus $42 shipping. Wow! To me! What luck. This barrel of bottle caps had been on my bucket list for, well, a few days anyway. However, once I received the barrel I realized that with all our other wooden boxes — for ketchup, and even one for old toilet paper — that there is no more room at the Finch inn, and decided to have John Pastor put this into one of his upcoming American Glass Gallery auctions. NOPE! We changed our minds (see the photo of our cluttered dining room next page).

Editor’s note 1: The internet states: ‘’In 1927, the John G. Epping Bottling Works of Louisville acquired the NuGrape Bottling Co. of Lexington, bottlers of NuGrape and Orange Crush. Their plant was located at 210 Clark St., with Hilary Bell the General Manager.” Also: “7 Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg, who launched his St. Louis-based company, the Howdy Corp., in 1920. Grigg came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929.” Noted Peachwood Glass: “Charles G. Hutchinson, the son of William H. Hutchinson, a long-time Chicago soda bottler and equipment manufacturer, patented his ‘Hutchinson’s Patent Spring Stopper’ April 8, 1879. This stopper gained widespread popularity with bottlers and consumers, rendering other closures obsolete, and revolutionizing the soda bottling industry. Several factors combined to prompt bottlers to shift to crown seal bottling equipment by World War I.”

LEFT: Barrel Bottom – 100 Gross Bottle Caps on the wall, 99 gross bottle caps on the wall, sounds like a great song, and a great Hutchinson go-with. On the barrel’s bottom is: “Manufactured By W.H. Hutchinson & Son, Chicago, Barrel Hold 100 Gross Bottle Caps, Hand Painted 7-Up Logo For John G. Epping Bottle Co.”

Editor’s note 2: A-OK auction claims that “diversity is the key in this business. We’ve sold everything from $2 antiques to helicopters!” It is the kind of smalltown auction house that sells items from $10,000 down to a dollar. It’s a place where you never know what is coming up next. Win a lot and put it carefully in your car and drive it to a museum, or throw it into the back of your pickup and haul it to the nearest dump. Editor’s note 3: Abingdon’s population was 8,191 at the 2010 census. The region was long the territory of varying cultures of indigenous peoples, including the Chisca and Xualae. From the late 17th century, it was occupied by the Cherokee Nation, whose territory extended from the borders of Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky through the spine of North Carolina and later into Georgia. In 1760, famed frontiersman Daniel Boone named the area Wolf Hills, after his dogs were attacked by a pack of wolves during a hunting expedition. The site of the attack is on “Courthouse Hill.” In the 21st century, the town sponsored a public art event, in which artists created 27 wolf sculptures. The town also is noted for “The Barter Theatre, designated as the ‘State Theatre of Virginia’ in 1946 and is one of the longest running professional regional theatres in the nation. In 1940, Gregory Peck, before becoming a major star, worked in exchange for food and performed at the Barter Theatre.” Editor’s note 4: After a few weeks in the Finch Funhouse, we fell in love with the barrel. Janet rearranged the furniture and found room for it. We ordered a round piece of glass and made a table of it. MIDDLE: The John G. Epping building. BOTTOM LEFT: An Epping soda bottle. BOTTOM RIGHT: The Finches’ dining room with barrel. Watch your step. The painting is the first piece of art I purchased 55 years ago, showing my favorite city. (No, it’s not Toledo.)

April 2020

D E L L E

C N A C 16

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Fruit Jar Rambles Extra By Tom Caniff — Photos by Deena Caniff

THE VACUUM SEAL JARS In April 1931, THE GLASS PACKER, a trade magazine, ran the photo in Figure A of two VACUUM SEAL jars. The VACUUM SEAL jar, the accompanying article explained, was an all-glass container with a glass lid that had proved its merit for many products over a period of years. Arrangements had recently been concluded between Owens-Illinois Glass and the Vacuum Seal Company of New York whereby Owens-Illinois became the sole manufacturer of the Vacuum Seal jars.” This family of base-embossed VACUUM SEAL jars, with roots dating back to the early 1900s, has always seemed a bit confusing to me. A number of VACUUM SEAL jar variations exist, in a number of sizes, but their history is hard to track. The jars are obviously named and embossed VACUUM SEAL, but “Vacuum Seal” is also a descriptive phrase identifying a jar that has the air expelled in the sterilization process, creating a vacuum in the head space below the sealed lid. Use of the term in this fashion makes it difficult to research the VACUUM SEAL fruit jars. Between 1911 and 1959 many fruit jars were described as “Vacuum Seal” jars, including the GOLDEN STATE (1911), the SCHRAM (1913), the EUREKA (1919), the IMPROVED EVERLASTING (1921), and various Ball, Kerr, and Presto fruit jars. Identifying these named jars is easy, but things get murky when the ads offer fruit jars for sale, listed only as “Vacuum Jar Quarts,” or pints or whatever. Dating by these references is meaningless. Gray Staunton, of Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, and Muskegon, Michigan, was issued numerous jar sealing patents

from 1906 through 1913, as noted in Dick Roller’s STANDARD FRUIT JAR REFERENCE. The Staunton Jar Corp., of Buffalo, New York, sold Vacuum Seal jars around 1917, and in 1925, the Vacuum Seal Co., Inc., of Alden (near Buffalo), New York, advertised Vacuum Seal jars; by 1926, the company had moved to New York City. Staunton’s Jan. 2, 1912 Patent #1,013,230, for a “Vacuum Packing Apparatus” is noted on the jar baseembossed VACUUM SEAL JAR COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK, PAT’D OCT.10.11 JAN.2.12 DEC.17.12 NOV.25.13 DEC.12.16 JAN.16.17. Photo 1 shows the typical style VACUUM SEAL base, bearing Staunton’s Jan. 16, 1917 patent number. In March 1928, MODERN PACKAGING reported that the “Vacuum Seal Co., Inc., 154 Nassau St., New York City calls attention to ‘Vacuum seal’ jars in an 8-page folder recently issued. These jars are all glass –– no metal cap nor fiber–– and offer the advantage that the complete package can be thoroughly sterilized and vacuumized to a high degree. The jars are made of clear flint glass, with flushfitting glass covers, and are obtainable in a variety of sizes ranging from 4 oz. to 32 oz. They are shipped complete with glass caps and rubber rings and packed in re-shipper, corrugated cartons.” It was likely these Vacuum Seal jars referred to in an article in the Sept. 5, 1932 ST. LOUIS (Missouri) STAR AND TIMES, which stated that “A new straight-sided glass container is now on the market for use in canning. This vacuum seal jar comes in 16- and 24-ounce sizes... The flat glass top is easily pressed down to close the jar. It has a double rim and a little U-shaped cut where a file or paring knife can be slipped in to raise the

FIGURE A: Two VACUUM SEAL jars from the 1932 GLASS PACKER.

PHOTO 1: One variation of VACUUM SEAL jar base.

lid...” When the same and similar articles were carried in several different newspapers across the country, it was common for some to capitalize “Vacuum Seal” and others to print it as “vacuum seal,” in lower case. The jar in Photo 2 is interesting in that its label is for “Mechling’s Oleate Coated Arsenate of Lead,” which “Kills Japanese Beetles.” From the Mechling Bros. Chemical Co., in Camden, New April 2020

Fruit Jar Rambles Extra By Tom Caniff — Photos by Deena Caniff

lettered VACUUM SEAL PAT. 1,212,274 PATS. PEND., with the Owens-Illinois OI-diamond logo. This patent number refers to Gray Staunton’s Jan. 16, 1917 patent. (Figure B)

PHOTO 2: VACUUM SEAL jar with Poison label.

On May 1, 1934, Randolph H. Barnard, of Toledo, Ohio, was granted patent #1,956,555 for “Closure Means For Hermetically Sealed Jars,” which he assigned to the Vacuum Seal Co., of New York, N.Y. This patent is cited on the jar base-embossed VACUUM SEAL PAT 1,956,555 PAT’S. PEND. Bernard’s patent, which was an improvement on Staunton’s June 16, 1917 patent #1,212,274, dealt mainly with the “packing ring,” which was compressed between the bottom angle of the glass lid and the tapered ledge within the jar’s mouth. The jar’s glass lid, secured by a flat metal clamp, had from one to three notches for inserting some pointed object to break the gasket seal. The lids may be found in either of two embossing styles, or unembossed.

FIGURE B: Staunton's 1917 patent drawing.

Jersey, the back of the label displays an impressive skull and crossbones over an inverted triangle, superimposed with the word “Poison.” For some reason this jar had crossed metal clamps on it when we discovered it; it doesn’t seem correct, but we left it intact. Maybe they were concerned with the poisonous contents escaping. The lid of our poison jar was embossed TO OPEN INSERT PIN OR KNIFE POINT AT NOTCH, and its base was

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also sold the VETERAN fruit jars.) THE EVENING LEADER, of Corning, N.Y., carried on Aug. 29, 1935 the ad in Figure C by Associated Stores offering “Something New for Home Canning! Vacuum Seal Jars Pint Dozen 79¢ Quart Dozen 89¢. The Vacuum Seal Jar is the only preserving jar in which a high vacuum can be produced in the Home as well as in the canning factory, without the use of special machinery.” In the “Label Space,” March 1994, we featured 7 1/2” tall and 6 1/4” tall variations of the VACUUM SEAL jar, with bases embossed VACUUM SEAL PAT 1,956,555 PATS PEND. The jars had labels for “Red Turkey Vacuum Jar Coffee… J. B. Maltby Inc., Corning, N.Y.” and “Hostess Pantry Pears… James McCreery & Co.,” respectively.

The 1934 GLASS FACTORY DIRECTORY listed R. H. Bernard as vice president and general factories manager of the OwensIllinois Glass Co., in Toledo, Ohio. Not surprisingly, Bernard’s jars were made by the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. for the Vacuum Seal Co. VACUUM SEAL jars were possibly more popular with packers than with home canners. In March 1935, Photo 3 was shown in THE GLASS PACKER, claiming that “A 44 per cent sales increase the first week resulted from a change to glass, according to Brewster, Gordon Co., Inc., packers of Veteran brand coffee... Housewives like the jar for its re-use possibilities.” The jar’s label reads, “Veteran Vacuum Jar Coffee All Purpose Grind... Distributed By Brewster, Gordon Co. Inc., Rochester, N.Y.” (This company

PHOTO 3: 1935 "Veteran Vacuum Jar Coffee."

Fruit Jar Rambles Extra By Tom Caniff — Photos by Deena Caniff

And in the August 2001 “Fruit Jar Rambles,” we showed the jar in Photo 4, also base-embossed VACUUM SEAL PAT. 1,956,555 PAT’S PEND., with the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. logo and date code for either 1936 or ’46. It’s unique in being pyroglazed, rather than embossed, on the side with STONE HOUSE FARM (scene of a house, farmer and animals) DURHAM, N.H. Durham is a small town in Stafford County, New Hampshire, and in 1940, its population was a modest 1,533.

FIGURE C: 1935 ad for VACUUM SEAL jars.

Yet another member of the VACUUM SEAL family is shown in Photo 5 with a partial label. Its base is simply embossed VACUUM SEAL PATS. PEND., around the Owens-Illinois Glass Company’s OI-in-a-diamond logo. This jar has the remnants of a label for “... Porto Rico Molasses Full Quart Providence Public Market Co., “a company which in 1949 considered themselves “Competitors” of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company.

PHOTO 4: Pyroglazed STONE HOUSE FARM jar.

Photo 6 shows a small, 3 1/2” tall, slightly-tapered, half-pint, single-notched lid, Vacuum Seal jar with unembossed lid and base. A companion piece to this jar, reported as being 3 3/4” tall, has its lid embossed TO OPEN INSERT PIN OR KNIFE POINT AT NOTCH, and its base lettered VACUUM SEAL PAT. 1,212,274 PATS. PEND., with the Owens-Illinois OI-diamond logo. I’m not at all sure just how many different sizes of VACUUM SEAL jars there are, but a collection of the different sizes, variations, and labeled examples would make a good specialized project for some ambitious jar collector. The only way to really understand some of our collectible jars is for some enterprising collector to corral the variations together for comparison. It’s surprising the differences you’ll find when comparing

PHOTO 5: VACUUM SEAL jar with partial Molasses label.

even rare jars side by side. And while it must be admitted that the VACUUM SEAL jars themselves aren’t terribly striking, many, if not all, of the variations could likely be found with original labels with diligent hunting. That would be a truly impressive collection!

PHOTO 6: Half-pint Vacuum Seal jar.

April 2020

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LIFETIME GUARANTEE! Tom Frazier 85-576B1 Hoopuhi St. #A Waianae, HI 96792

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Greer #s of the mint state #1265 United States Syrup #1685 United States Syrup #1383 Dr. Perkins’ Syrup #5 Arthurs Renovating Syrup #778 Halls / Palingenesia / Or Regenerator

Also non Greer bottles of the mint state Dr. C.W. Robacks Scandinavien Blood Purifier Cincinnati, O, IP

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For Sale d FELLOW COLLECTORS/DEALERS: Please include a name and phone number with your advertisements. Not everyone has a computer, and an address does help. FOR SALE: Extremely rare 1890s large 7" D P coffin-shaped Cobalt Blue Poison Bottle, KV-8, Near Mint - Mint. RALPH, 347-661-7131. 4/20 FOR SALE: Fifty demijohns - varied forms, sizes, and colors, including cobalt, mostly pontiled, excellent condition. No stain or damage. Would like to sell as a lot. RAY TROTTIER, 603-934-3839. 4/20

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Shows, Shops & Services d 2020 BUCKS-MONT BOTTLE SHOW, 26th Annual, Sunday, April 5th. 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. $2.00 admission. Early buyers at 8 a.m. for $10. Good variety of merchandise, plenty of free paved parking, no stairs, easy access from major roads. Tylersport Fire Co., 125 Ridge Road, Tylersport, PA, 18971. www.bucksmontbottleshow.com AARON HECKLER, 484-655-8170 or pegpens822@gmail.com. (See display ad in this issue.) 4/20

ANTIQUE BOTTLES AND ANTIQUES FOR SALE in my booth and case at Scranberry Coop, Rt. 206, 42 Main St. Andover, NJ. Many milks, blob beers, medicines, oak furniture, jars, sodas, etc. Hours are 10-4 Wednesday through Sunday. JOANNE ZARGER,18 Alan Lane, Mine Hill, NJ 07803. 973-366-7482. Email: zarger18@aol.com 12/20 ATTENTION COLLECTORS (or the curious!) DON’T MISS the 54th Annual Golden Gate Historical Bottle Society’s BOTTLES, ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES SHOW AND SALE. This 2-day event takes place at the Contra Costa Event Park (Sunset Hall) in Antioch, CA on Friday 4/10 from Noon to 5pm ($10

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early admission fee) and Saturday 4/11 from 9am to 3pm (FREE ADMISSION). Free walk-in appraisals and buyers available both days. You’ll find bottles, plus a wide variety of collectibles and “go-withs”. For more info, contact GARY OR DARLA ANTONE at 925-373-6758 or packrat49er@netscape.net 4/20 IT’S THE 51ST ANNIVERSARY GVBCA SALE IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK! Come join the Genesee Valley Bottle Collectors Association on Sunday, April 19th, 2020 (9am - 3pm) for our Annual Sale held at Roberts Wesleyan College – Voller Athletic Center, 2301 Westside Drive, Rochester, NY 14624. There will be over 100 dealers with approximately 220 tables of bottles, postcards & paper, advertising, table top antiques, and other fun items. In addition, we will have displays featuring outstanding private collections. We will have our 50-50 raffle with only 200 tickets to be sold and a guaranteed prize of $1000.00. After the show opens, those same tickets will be used for chances to win a portion of $300.00 “show money” to be used only at our show. For more info, contact AARON & PAMELA WEBER at 585.749-8874 or gvbca@frontiernet.net and visit www.gvbca. org. 4/20 SW BOTTLE AND JAR SPA - Do some of your dug treasures need a trip to the Spa to be rejuvenated? Reasonable rates, many references. Our prices are online at www. swbottleandjarspa.com! The Spa also offers a $1 bounty on solid metal Hutchinson stoppers. We polish these stoppers and replace the dried-out rubber seal. Check us out! CACTUS JOE BRISSON, Phone: 505-948-0993. 4/20 PRO STOCK METAL DETECTORS, Michigan's oldest multi-line metal detector sales & service since 1968. Whites, Garrett, Minelab, Fisher, Makro, Detector-Pro. Large selection of treasure hunting and prospecting supplies. 1211 M-89 Plainwell, MI 49080 www.prostockdetectors.com 269-685-1776. 4/20

VISIT THE MUSEUM OF THE MOUNTAIN WEST in Montrose, CO. Runner Up to the Top Western Museums in the U.S. Also contains the largest collections of "Patent Medicines" in the U.S. in original labeled containers / bottles. Also visit 25 original buildings moved on to the grounds, many furnished. website: museumofthemountainwest.org Phone: 970-240-3400. 5/20 FREE! Public access to the "Hutchinson Bottle Directory" is FREE. HutchBook. com includes a detailed history of Hutchinson's Patent Spring Stopper, including data and images of over 20,000 different Hutchinson bottles. Likewise, public access to "Hires to You! - The Illustrated History of Hires Root Beer" is FREE! HiresBook.com features an extensive, factual Hires Root Beer history, including over 2,300 Hires images. 4/20 "STONEWARE REPAIR" - FIX CRACKS AND CHIPS. Replace handles and missing parts. I bring them back historically correct. GERT or JIM HEALY, 518-829-7032 (until 6pm, EST). 4/20

DON'T MISS THE DELMARVA ANTIQUE BOTTLE CLUB SHOW AND SALE, Sunday, May 17, 9 am-3 pm; (Dealer Setup: Sunday 7 am-9 am) at the Ellendale Fire Hall, 302 Main Street, Ellendale, DE. Admission $3.00. No early buyers. Antique Bottles, Milk Bottles, Insulators, Fruit Jars, Advertising, Breweriana, Small antiques, Stoneware and Tabletop Collectibles. Dealer loading and unloading at back of building - ground level!! Large Club Display!! ****FREE APPRAISALS*** For additional Info: KEITH FLEMING, 13798 Emerald Pine Rd., Ellendale, DE 19941 PH: 1-302-6848138. Email JohnKeithFleming@gmail.com 5/20 FELLOW COLLECTORS/DEALERS: Please, if at all possible, include a name and phone number with your ads. Not everyone has a computer, and a physical address does help. Thanks. 12/18

Wanted d

CHARLES L. MARQUETTE JR. ANTIQUES Antiques Bought and Sold. Country Furniture - Display Cases - Sports - Clean Out Services Available. Phone: 484818-9489. 4/20

WANTED: Hobbleskirt embossed Coca-Cola bottles: 1915's, 1923's, D-Patent's 6oz's and 6 1/2 oz's. Collector will buy or trade. JIM GEORGES, georges77@twcny.rr.com or 315-662-7729. 7/20

VISIT THE NATIONAL BOTTLE MUSEUM and see a collection of over 2,000 bottles dating from the 1700s to a few years ago. Learn about bottle manufacturing from the handmade era to modern day. 5/20

WANTED: U.S.A. Hospital Dept. and any pre-1866 embossed food bottles, mustards, early Baltimore, Wheeling, D.C., Alexandria sodas, beers (stoneware or glass) damage free. BRUCE, cwaddic@yahoo.com Phone: 703307-7792. 12/20

On Sunday May 3, 2020, the Mohawk Valley Antique Bottle Club will host its 26TH ANNUAL UTICA BOTTLE SHOW & SALE at the Utica Maennerchor, 5535 Flanagan Road, Marcy, NY 13403. For information, contact PETER BLEIBERG at (315) 735-5430 or by email at pmbleiberg@ aol.com. www.mohawkvalleybottleclub.com 5/20

WANTED: Any "flag" Esposito, Philada, Pa. that I do not already have. R.J. BROWN, 813-286-8696. Rbrown4134@aol.com 4114 W. Mullen Av., Tampa, Fl 33609. 11/20 WANTED: GEORGE OHR CABINS. Or Cabin Inks. BOB TERRY, 303-569-2502. llterryualusa@yahoo.com 9/20 April 2020

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WANTED: EMBOSSED CURES WANTED: Including these pontils: Avery's, Benson's, Bernard's, Brown's, Bull's, Burt's, Cannon's, Flander's, Frambe's Geoghegan's, Hamilton's, Jacob's, Lay's, McAdoo's, McElroy's, Parham's, Rhodes' Prov. R.I., Rohrer's, Rudolph's, Star-in's, Stone's, Toledo, Woodman's. ALSO BIMALS: Anchor, Bavarian Bitters, Beesting, Bixler's, Bliss, Boot's Indigestion, Bowanee, Bower's, Bradford's, Bromo Mineral, Bronson's, Bull's (Baltimore), Carey's CholiCura, Clement's Certain (green), Collins' Opium (aqua), Cook's Turpentine, Cowan's Certain, Davis Indian, Detchon's Infallible, Edelweiss, Electrofluid, Ewer's Arcanum, Forest Pine (unpontiled), Francisco's, Frog Pond 8", Green's King's Cure, Large Handyside's (chocolate amber), Helmer's, Hilleman's, Hinderman's, Holden's (green), Hungarian, Indian Mixture, JBF, Kauffman Phthisis, Keeley's (opium, neurotine, solution), Large Kellum's, Kid-Nee-Kure, Lenape's, Lindley's, Long's Malaria, Loryea (green), Marsden, McConnon Cough, Amber McLean's (8"), Miniotti's (clear), Morning Glory, Murphy K & L. Pageapfel's, Park's (clear), Peck's, Pennock's, Peterman's (green), Rattail, large River Swamp, Riverview, Scott's (bird), Streetman's, Struble's (aqua), Tremaine's, Universal, Vosburgh, Wadsworth (goat), Warner's K & L Rochester (green, aqua, clear), Wildwest, Wilkinson's, Wilson Footrot, Winan's (no Indian), York Corn Cure. Looking for many others, especially embossed with label, contents, box. Also would like data on unlisted cures for future Cure Book. JOHN WOLF, 937-275-1617. ohcures@yahoo.com 1186 Latchwood Ave., Dayton, OH 45405. 12/20 WANTED: Lime Green J. Esposito "flag" bottle, 812 814 Washington Avenue, Philadelphia PA. R.J. BROWN, 813-2869686. rbrown4134@aol.com 4114 W. Mullen Ave. Tampa, FL 33609. 11/20 WANTED: H.H. Warner bottles and go-withs to enrich our collection. MIKE or KATHIE CRAIG, 408-374-4158. kathiecraig@sbcglobal.net 4/20

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

WANTED: Clarke's Vegetable Sherry Wine Bitters, Sharon, Mass & Rockland, ME. All bottle sizes & variants. Thank you. CHARLIE MARTIN, 781-248-8620. cemartinjr@comcast.net 5/20 WANTED: HUTCHINSONS - G.H. Wilkison, Wallingson Conn. (eagle with flags and powder horn), American Soda Works S.F. (flag green color), New Castle Bottling Co. New Castle, Del. (crossed flags), J.E. McKinley, Frankford, Pa. (flag), McKinley & Schlafer, Frankford, Pa. (flag). R.J. BROWN, 813-286-9686. Rbrown4134@aol.com 4114 W. Mullin Ave., Tampa, Fl. 33609. 11/20 WANTED: Hutchinson - (FLA BREW'G CO. TAMPA, FLA) R.J. BROWN, Phone: 813-286-9686. Email: rbrown4134@aol.com 4114 W. Mullen Ave. Tampa, FL 33609. 5/20 WANTED: McQuade Utica NY liquor bottles. SUE YOUNG, 315-724-2778. 6/20 WANTED: Dr Claris Buffalo NY bottles, jugs, billheads, advertising items, photos, All Buffalo NY bottles, stoneware and beer advertising. PETER JABLONSKI, Phone: (716) 440-7985. pjablonski66@gmail.com 12489 Hunts Corners Rd. Akron, NY 14001. 6/20 WANTED: Old OWL DRUG Co. bottles, tins, boxes, paper, anything/everything from the Owl Drug Company. Paying TOP DOLLAR. MARC LUTSKO, Email: letsgo@montanasky.net PO Box 97, Libby MT 59923. 5/20 WANTED: Paying $2000 for amber or unusual colored Wisconsin strapped-sided Flasks. Let me know what you have. Also looking for Wisconsin Whiskey advertisement especially Peter Barth - Milwaukee advertisement or signs. JOE WHEELER, 715-572-9810. llnur@uniontel.net PO Box 232 Plainfield WI 54966. 4/20 WANTED: Arizona lady's leg amber bitters. S. HICKMAN, 520-648-8148. 4/20

WANTED: Harley bottles of West Chester, Pa. and Philadelphia, Pa. The West Chester bottles display either J. Harley or James Harley. The Phila. Bottles display Edwd Harley, Schul (Schuylkill) 4th & Market St., Philada (Philadelphia) or E. Harley, 802 Market St or E. Harley, West Market St. These two bottling businesses operated in the 1840s through the early 1880s. BOB HARLEY, Phone: 215-721-1107. Email: rwh220@yahoo.com 12/20 WANTED: Buffalo, NY & Lockport, NY stoneware and bottles. Also, Buffalo beer trays and advertising signs. PETER JABLONSKI, 12489 Hunts Corners Rd, Akron, NY, 14001. Ph: 716-440-7985. 12/20 WANTED: Looking for Rockingham / Bennington Pottery Spaniels. Email: sjlagrange@psci.net 4/20 WANTED: Clean, crude, early American pontiled blackglass DemiJohns. Phone: 248-922-3723. 4/20 WANTED: H. & J. F. Meyer / New York, aqua soda bottle. DAVID RAKES, 352-8175136 call or text. Barakes123@gmail.com 5/20 WANTED: Perry NY & Avon NY Bottles, Advertising, Ephemera and go-withs. Also buying Geneseo Jam Jars, Labels and gowiths. AARON WEBER, 585-749-3861. awebby@frontiernet.net 4/20 WANTED: Quart Aqua or Amber CoffinShape Flasks, Base Embossed E SON & H. RICHARD KELLEY, 315-946-6316. Kelleye719@verizon.net 4/20 WANTED: Michigan; Flint, Holly and Fenton Bottles: Wildanger, Wm Finlay, A. Pearsall, McWethy, Golden, Central, Lewis, Case, Root, Williston, Hux, Ingalls & Bush, Whiskeys, Nye, Steele & Austin, embossed Miller Road Dairy and labeled Crowns. Phone: 810-695-0433. Email: donbsimons@yahoo.com 4/20

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WANTED: Bottles from British Columbia, Canada. Drug store, milk, soda and Ginger beers. All types of British Columbia bottles. Also U.S. Drug store bottles. METRO WESELOWSKI, Phone: 250-699-8010. Box 31 Fraser Lake, B.C. Canada VOJ-1SO 4/20 WANTED: Rare Figural Bitters, Rare American & English Poisons, Sandwich Colognes & Scents, Small Pontiled Meds, Xmas lights. BOB BARBOUR, Phone: 913-248-1478. bwbcsr@gmail.com 4/20 WANTED: Saratoga County Mineral Water Bottles and Go-Withs - need rare colors and molds. DAVE MERKER, 330-894-2127. dmerker634@frontier.com 4/20 WANTED: Collector of chromolitho advertising signs, made by Wells & Hope of Philadelphia or Tuchfarber of Cincinnati. Even if not for sale, would appreciate a photo sent to me. JOHN O'NEILL, 650-619-8209. joneill@risk-strategies.com 4/20 WANTED: Native Southern Californian still needs the sample bottle embossed, "FIRST WATER FROM LOS ANGELES AQUADUCT NOV. 5th 1913." It celebrated the opening of the 235 mile aquaduct from Owens Valley to L.A. and spawned one of the most aggressive growth spurts ever! MARTY VOLLMER, martyvollmer@aol.com Phone: 803.629.8553. 6/20 WANTED: Seeking Treatments/Cures for Epilepsy, Fits, Hysteria. Prefer Labeled if possible. Also interested in related advertising. DAN LUCIANO, 914-271-9785. Email: dluciano56@optonline.net 4/20 WANTED: Avid collector of anything from Gaffney, South Carolina for over 50 years. CHAD HOPPER, 864-489-4882. 4/20 WANTED: R.J. Milk Bottles and Bottles, Indian Artifacts; Have Peppersauces Bottles, Couple Demijohns, and Pickles for sale or trade. DR. JAN BOYER, 401-2126205. boyerinri@yahoo.com PO Box 53, Wyoming, RI 02898. 4/20

WANTED: Collect Hutchinson Bottles and Embossed Milk Bottles from North and South Carolina. Leave message. Thanks! RON, 704-860-3402. 4/20 WANTED: Half Gallon Fruit Jar. Red Book #636 Collins Wholesale Hardware Co. Seeds, Hardware, Paints & Oils, Lynn & Boston (all in Tombstone Slug Plate). Also: Half Gallon Red Book #2853 United Drug Co. Boston, Mass. (in Slug Plate) BILL BURGESS, 517281-7356. wbur192447@aol.com 4/20 WANTED: USA Hosp Dept Bottles & Southern Pontil Sodas & Medicines. rfhjr5123@gmail.com 5/20 WANTED: Paperweights of the Mint State: Joe St. Claire, Inkwell and Teapot design, signed; Orient and Flume, Peacock pattern, signed. Other designs and patterns considered. GENE JOO, 336-585-1607. 7117 Paschal Rd., Burlington NC 27217. 4/20 WANTED: Bottles/stoneware, etc. from the following Pennsylvania towns: Telford, Souderton, Lansdale, North Wales, Quakertown, Ambler, Conshohocken, Shannonville, Doylestown and Norristown. GREG, 215-530-8645. grgmam@aol.com 4/20 WANTED: North Jersey Sodas, Picture Beers and Sodas; Somerset County, N.J. Beers, Sodas, Druggists, Milks. RAY BUCH, Phone: 908-735-5014. 4/20 WANTED: Colored or Pontil Canadian Bottles, especially from New Brunswick. Also stoneware and ginger beer bottles from New Brunswick. Also bottles, stoneware and advertising items from Woodstock, New Brunswick. Note to friends: Retire and moved back to Canada. STEPHEN DICKINSON, 506-425-1949. smdbottles@gmail.com 4/20 WANTED: Pine Tree 1859 Bottles, Large or Small, in good shape and different colors. I have nice bottles for trade or I have cash money. MARTY JENSEN, 610-872-7550. 4/20

WANTED: Westwood NJ bottles that I don't have. Please call or email. TOM, 201-9568404. silkcityt56@yahoo.com 4/20 WANTED: Minnesota coffin flasks, blob sodas, blob top beers, stoneware bottles, bitters, beer mugs and colored liquor bottles. Also want accumulations of pre1920 postcards and stereoviews. PAUL NEUBURGER, Phone: 763-545-8272. 2720 Kilmer Lane N. Plymouth, MN 55441. 4/20 WANTED: Paying generously for Chester County PA sodas: C F Brown Phoenixville, T P Bowen (green squat / IP) Phoenixville, Taylor & Owens Parkesburg, A Jimason (green / IP) Parkesburg, Josh. Scott Downingtown, F O'Neil (green / slug / IP) Downingtown, stolen from Samuel Pugh (Avondale). MARK SPANGLER, 610-2473270. mspanglr@yahoo.com 4/20 WANTED: Northeastern PA Blobs, Squats, Hutches, Jugs, Flasks, from Hazleton, Freeland, Shenandoah, Audenreid, Sheppton, Hopeville, Yorktown, Seiwellesville, Nuremburg, Weston, McAdoo, Lansford, Nesquehoning, Coaldale, Weatherly, Beaver Meadows, Eckley, Sandy Valley, Schuylkyll Haven, Mt. Carmel, Shamokin, Locust Gap, Slatington, Tamaqua, Mauch Chunk, Summit Hill, Ashland, Girardville, Pottsville, Model T parts, German helmets, License Plates PA. TED KAPES, Phone: 570-788-2158 or 570-956-3606. 4/20 WANTED: Always looking for bottles embossed with the Moroney logo. MICHAEL MORONEY, Email: mmoroney@epix.net 4/20 WANTED: WILLIAMSPORT PA - any rare bottles from this PA town or local area. Embossed or labeled bottles desired. Will pay top price for pontiled bottles. Also Towanda PA bottles wanted. Leave message. BOB KANE, 570-220-5982. 4/20 WANTED: Looking for a screwband for Mason's Improved Quart Jar. Email: russelltope@att.net 4/20 April 2020

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WANTED: Looking for Marinette, WI and Menominee, MI brewery and bottling items. Also wanted quality American Poison bottles and Dr. Townsend bottles. HANK JOHNSTON, hankj@johnstonfurnace.com N4123 W. Townline Road Marinette, WI 54143. Phone: 715-923-9351. 4/20

WANTED: Bottles, Especially Milk Bottles, from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and surrounding towns, including Highspire (Highspire Whiskey Bottles), Middletown and Steelton. CHARLS KIHM, Phone: 717-939-0288. 4/20

WANTED: Old advertisement pieces in the form of posters, signs, serving tray, etc. Metal, Cardboard, Paper - all good condition. Must be fine or better. Topics of main interest are Ammunition, Guns, Fishing, Whiskey, Cigars, Seed Co, etc. ED GEORGE, 530795-0360. 4/20

WANTED: Pre-1930 ephemera to include maps, broadsides, trade catalogs, pamphlets, historical documents, manuscripts, photo albums, scrapbooks, newspapers. Especially interested in material from Western and Southern states, Vermont, Eastern New York State. Will travel or pay shipping. Phone: 518-756-6492. 4/20

WANTED: Hagerstown, Boonsboro and Keedysville Maryland Bottles. Whiskey, Beer, Medicine, Milks, etc. Want embossed and paper label bottles. ARLIE, 301-432-6473. ansgifft@myactv.net 4/20

WANTED: Will pay $650.00 for half pint Cheatham and Woods, Nashville, Tennessee flask. Must be mint to near mint condition. TERRY WILLIAMS, 931-389-0425. PO Box 129 Wartrace, Tenn. 37183. 4/20

WANTED: Buying collections of quality antique bottles, including flasks, bitters, sodas, medicines, etc. MATT LACY, 440228-1873. info@antiquebottlesales.com 5/20 WANTED: Any signage or milk bottle go-withs; “lids”, tin cans, porcelain signage, etc, that has the name Maxbauer, having to do with the Maxbauer Meat Market and Maxbauer Dairy in Traverse City, Michigan. I have plenty of Milk bottles, but more interested in the other go-withs. Contact LIZ MAXBAUER at Liz@mcnamaraortho. com or call 734-645-5585. 12/19 WANTED: Unusual and rare Cincinnati, Ohio bottles. Interested in anything you may have. Please call or email. ED, 513,732,1898. dkamann@fuse.net 6/20

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Any old Medicine or Pharmacy Bottles from Columbus, Georgia or Phenix City, Alabama 26

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Show CALENDAR APRIL 4

APRIL 5

APRIL 17-19

DAPHNE, ALABAMA

TYLERSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA

WHEATON, ILLINOIS

The Mobile Bottle Collectors Club's 47th Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 3 PM; Dealer set-up Friday, April 3rd, 3 PM to 7 PM, and Sat. 7 AM to 9 AM), at the Daphne Civic Center, 2603 US Hwy 98, Daphne, AL 36525. Free Adm., Free Appraisals. Info: ROD VINING, 251.957.6725, Email, vinewood@mchsi.com, or, RICHARD, P.O. Box 241, Pensacola, FL 32591. PH: 850.435.5425; Email: shards@bellsouth.net

The 26th Annual Bucks-Mont Bottle Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM, Early buyers 8 AM, $10) at the Tylersport Fire Company, 125 Ridge Rd., Tylersport, PA. 18971. Adm. $2. Info: AARON HECKLER, PH: 484.655.8170; Email: pegpens822@gmail. com, Web: www.bucksmontbottleshow.com. (See display ad in this issue!)

Antique Bottle Club of Northern Illinois Antique Bottle & Advertising Show, (Dealer set-up and Early Adm. Friday 17th, Noon 6 PM; General Adm. Saturday & Sunday), at the DuPage County Fairgrounds, 2015 Manchester Road, Wheaton. For hours, additional info. and dealer set-up packets please call: JOHN PUZZO, 815.338.7582, or: GREG SCHUENEMAN, 847.623.7572. Note; the show is being held in conjunction with Zurko Promotions, Antiques, Bottles & Collectibles Show.

APRIL 4 WHEATON, ILLINOIS DuPage Collectors Expo featuring insulators, lightning rod items, weathervanes, telephone & telegraph items, bottles, jars, and related items, (9 AM to 3 PM), at the DuPage County Fairgrounds, 2015 Manchester Road, Wheaton, IL. Adm. $2. Info: BOB STAHR, 360 S. Kenilworth Ave., Glen Ellyn, IL, 60137. PH: 630.793.5345; email: bob@hemingray.com APRIL 5 HUTCHINSON, KANSAS 13th Annual Kansas Antique Bottle & Postcard Show & Sale, (9 AM to 3 PM), at the Kansas State Fairgrounds (Sunflower South Bldg), Hutchinson, KS. Free Adm. Info: MIKE McJUNKIN, PH: 620.728.8304, email: scarleits@cox.net, or, MARK LAW, PH: 785.224.4836, email: kansasbottles@gmail. com. Sponsored by the Kansas Territory Bottle & Post Card Club. APRIL 5 ENFIELD, CONNECTICUT Yankee Polecat Insulator Club Antique Insulator, Bottle & Collectibles Show, (8 AM to 2 PM), at the American Legion Hall, US Route 5, Enfield, CT (Exit 49 off I-91). Insulators, Bottles, Railroadiana, Telephone & Telegraph Collectibles, Lightning Rod Equipment. Info: JOHN RAJPOLT, PH: 860.342.5511, email: rajpolt@earthlink.net

APRIL 10 & 11 ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA Golden Gate Historical Bottle Society 54th Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 3 PM, early buyers Fri, Noon to 5 PM, $10), at the Contra Costa Event Park (County Fairgrounds), Sunset Hall, Antioch, CA. Sat. FREE Adm. Info: GARY or DARLA ANTONE, PH: 925. 373.6758, email: packrat49er@netscape.net APRIL 10 & 11 DELAND, FLORIDA The 50th Annual Deland Antique Bottle and Collectibles Show, (Dealer set-up and Early Buyers Friday, 1 PM to 6 PM; General admission Sat. 8 AM to 4 PM), at the Volusia County Fairgrounds (Elvin Daugherty Building), 3150 East New York Ave, Deland, FL 32724 (SR 44 & I-4). Info: ROBIN C. LENNON, 386,804,5510; Email rlennon@ drtcpa.com, or: LOUISE O'QUINN, 386.943.2766, Email edlouise210@gmail.com APRIL 11

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN

The Kalamazoo Antique Bottle Club’s 41st Annual Show & Sale, (10 AM to 3 PM, early buyers 8 AM), at the Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, 2900 Lake St., Kalamazoo, MI. Info: JOHN PASTOR, P.O. Box 227, New Hudson, MI 48165, PH: 248.486.0530, Email: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com or: MARK McNEE, PH: 269.343.8393.

APRIL 19 HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA The Historical Bottle-Diggers of Virginia 49th Annual Antique Bottle and Collectible Show & Sale, (9 AM to 3 PM), at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds, U.S. Rt. 11 South, (Exit 243 off I-81), Harrisonburg, VA. Info: SONNY SMILEY, PH: 540.434.1129 or email: lithiaman1@yahoo.com APRIL 19

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

The Genesee Valley Bottle Collectors Association's 51st Annual Bottle, Table Top Antiques, Paper & Postcards Show & Sale, (9AM to 3PM), at the Roberts Wesleyan College, Voller Athletic Center, 2301 Westside Drive, Rochester, NY. Info: AARON & PAM WEBER, PH: 585.749.8874, Email: gvbca@frontiernet.net, Website: www.gvbca.org

MAY 1 & 2 STURBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS The National Association of Milk Bottle Collectors 40th Annual Convention at the Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center, Sturbridge, MA. Activities include seminars, displays, a banquet, buying and selling of dairy bottles and related memorabilia. Registration for the convention is open to all. For more info, or to join the NAMBC, contact: GENE SCHURMAN, 1663 Rt. 580 Hwy, Clymer, PA 15728. PH: 724.541.2111, Email: exs10@psu.edu., or visit their website: www. milkbottlecollectors.com April 2020

Show CALENDAR MAY 3

MAY 16

JUNE 6

MARCY, NEW YORK

RICHMOND, RHODE ISLAND

Mohawk Valley Antique Bottle Club’s 26th Annual Antique Bottle Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2:30 PM), at the Utica Maennerchor, 5535 Flanagan Rd, Marcy, NY, 13403. Adm. $3; (no early adm). Info: PETER BLEIBERG, 7 White Pine Road, New Hartford, NY. PH. 315.735.5430, Email: pmbleiberg@aol.com www.mohawkvalleybottleclub.com

The Little Rhody Bottle Club tailgate swap meet, (9AM to 2PM) at the Jules Antique Center, 320 Kingstown, Richmond, Rhode Island (3 miles East of Route #95 on Route #138). Free set up for all! Free coffee, donuts and pizza for participants. Bring your own tables! Info: WILLIAM ROSE, 508.880.4929; email: sierramadre@comcast. net.

RALEIGH (YOUNGSVILLE), NORTH CAROLINA

MAY 9 COVENTRY, CONNECTICUT

MAY 17

The Museum of Connecticut Glass Annual Spring Antique Bottle & Glass Show, (9 AM to 1PM, Early buyers 8 AM, $15), outdoors, rain or shine, on the grounds of the historic Coventry Glass Works, 289 North River Road, (at the blinking light - intersection of Rt. 44 & North River Road), Coventry, CT. Adm. $4. Tailgate show and House Tours. Info: BRUCE MITCHELL, PH: 203.799.2570, Email: Bruce.Mitchell@glassmuseum.org. Visit: www.glassmuseum.org

WASHINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA

MAY 9

Delmarva Antique Bottle Club Show & Sale, (9 AM to 3 PM; Dealer set-up 7 - 9 AM), at the Ellendale Fire Hall, 302 Main Street, Ellendale, DE. Adm. $3. No early buyers. Info: KEITH FLEMING, 13798 Emerald Pine Rd., Ellendale, DE 19941. PH: 302.684.8138; email: JohnKeithFleming@ gmail.com

MANSFIELD, OHIO The Ohio Bottle Club’s 42nd Annual Mansfield Antique Bottle & Advertising Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM, early buyers Friday 3 to 6 PM, $35), at the Richland County Fairgrounds, Mansfield, OH. Adm. $5. Info: MATT LACY, PH: 440.228.1873, Email: info@antiquebottlesales.com; or LOUIS FIFER, 330.635.1964, Email; fiferlouis@ yahoo.com Website: www.ohiobottleclub.org MAY 15 & 16 KENT, WASHINGTON The Washington Bottle & Collectibles Association Annual Show, (Friday, Noon to 5 PM, $5 early buyer; Saturday, 9 AM to 3 PM, Free) at Kent Commons West Gym 525 4th Ave N, Kent, WA 98032. Info: PETE HENDRICKS, PH: 253.335.1732, or: NIEL SMITH, 360.485.8343, or 360.943.0518, Email: wbcaweb@gmail.com

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Washington County Antique Bottle Club 46th Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM), at the Alpine Star Lodge, 735 Jefferson Ave., Washington, PA 15301. Adm. $3. Info: ED KUSKIE, 352 Pineview Dr., Elizabeth, PA 15037. PH: 412.405.9061, email: bottlewizard@comcast.net MAY 17 ELLENDALE, DELAWARE

MAY 17 HAMMONTON, NEW JERSEY The Spring Antiques & Bottle Show, presented by the Batsto Citizens Committee, Inc, (9 AM to 3 PM), in the Historic Batsto Village, Wharton State Forest, Rt. 542 Pleasant Mills Road, Hammonton, NJ. FREE Adm. Info: HARRY RHEAM, PH: 856.768.1532, email: hcrheam@gmail.com

New Location: The Raleigh Bottle Club Annual Show and Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM, Dealer set-up 7-9 AM) at the Hill Ridge Farms Event Center, 703 Tarboro Road, Youngsville, NC, 27596. Adm. $3, Children under 12 Free! Info: DAVE TINGEN, PH: 919.848.4387, Email: tingen1@mindspring. com, or visit the Website: raleighbottleclub. org JUNE 7 BALLSTON SPA, NEW YORK The National Bottle Museum presents the Annual Saratoga Springs Show & Sale, (9:00 AM to 2:30 PM; early adm. 8:00 AM, $15) at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds, 4H building, 162 Prospect St, Ballston Spa, NY. Adm. $5, Children 12 and under free. Info: NATIONAL BOTTLE MUSEUM, 76 Milton Avenue, Ballston Spa, NY 12020, PH 518-885-7589; www.NationalBottleMuseum. org, email: nbm@nycap.rr.com; Co Chairmen: ROY TOPKA, PH 518-7791243, email: rmt556@yahoo.com, or ADAM STODDARD, PH: 518.256.7663, email: acstoddard63@gmail.com JUNE 13 CAMBRIDGE CITY, INDIANA Antique Jar, Bottle, and Antique Show, (9 AM to 3 PM, dealer set-up 7:30 AM), outdoors on the grounds of the historic Huddleston House, 838 National Road, Cambridge City, IN 47327. Info: MARTY TROXELL, PH. 765.478.3800, or: RICHARD LEECE, 765.586.2798. JUNE 27 JOHNSTON, IOWA The Iowa Antique Bottleers 51st Anniversary Show and Sale, (8 AM to 1 PM), at the Johnston Lions Club, 64th Place and Merle Hay Road, Johnston, IA. Adm. $2. Info: MARK C. WISEMAN, 3505 Sheridan Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310-4557, PH: 515.344.8333, email: markcwiseman@msn. com, or: JOYCE JESSEN, 515.979.5216.

Show CALENDAR JULY 11

SEPTEMBER 12

OCTOBER 4

RICHMOND, RHODE ISLAND

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA

CHELSEA, MICHIGAN

The Los Angeles Historical Bottle Club’s 54th Annual Antique Bottles, Fruit Jars, Insulators, Antiques & Collectibles Show & Sale, (9 AM to 3 PM; Early Birds $10 at 8 AM), at the Huntington Beach, Elks Lodge #1959, 7711 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach, CA 92648. Free Adm! Info: DON WIPPERT, Ph. 818.346.9833, Email donwippert@yahoo.com, or DICK HOMME, Ph. 818.362.3368.

The Huron Valley Bottle and Insulator Club 44th Annual Show & Sale, (9AM to 2 PM), at the Comfort Inn Conference Center, 1645 Commerce Park Drive next to the Comfort Inn, Chelsea (Exit 159 off I-94). Adm $3 for adults, children 16 and under, free. Info: MIKE BRUNER, Email, abbott4girl@ sbcglobal.net, or ROD KRUPKA, 248.627.6351; Email: rod.krupka@yahoo. com

ADAMSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

SEPTEMBER 15

NOVEMBER 14

The 20th Annual Shupp’s Grove Bottle Festival, (Sat. & Sun. 6 AM to dusk, early buyers Fri. 3 PM), at the famous ‘Shupp’s Grove’, 607 Willow Street, Reinholds, PA 17569. Info: STEVE GUION, PH: 717.626.5557, or: 717.371.1259, Email: affinityinsurance1@windstream.net

CHEEKTOWAGA, NEW YORK

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

New Location! The Greater Buffalo Bottle Collectors Association 22nd Annual Show and Sale, (9:00 AM to 2:00 PM), at the Pvt. Leonard Post, Jr. VFW, 2450 Walden Avenue, Cheektowaga, N.Y. Info: TOM KARAPANTSO, 716.487.9645, email: tomar@stny.rr.com, or: PETER JABLONSKI, 716.440.7985, email: peterjablonski@roadrunner.com; or JOE GUERRA, 716.207.9948, email: jguerra3@roadrunner.com

Antique Bottle Collectors of North Florida 52nd Annual Show & Sale, (Sat. 8 AM to 2 PM; early buyers Fri. 2 PM to 7 PM, $50, 3 - 7 PM, $40, 5 - 7 PM, $20), at the Fraternal Order of Police Bldg., 5530 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, FL. Free adm. Saturday. Info: MIKE SKIE, 3047 Julington Creek Road, Jacksonville, FL 32223, PH: 904.710.0422, or COREY STOCK, 904.607.3133, or email: jaxbottleshow@ yahoo.com

JULY 18 & 19

JULY 30 - AUGUST 2 RENO, NEVADA 2020 FOHBC National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo, Grand Sierra Resort & Casino, Information: RICHARD SIRI, email: rtsiri@sbcglobal.net, or FERDINAND MEYER V, email: fmeyer@ fmgdesign.com, FOHBC National Convention – Western Region. AUGUST 22 EDGEWOOD, KENTUCKY 3rd Annual Northern Kentucky Antique Bottle & Small Antiques Show, (9AM to 2PM; Early Bird, 8AM, $15) at the Milligan Hall - St. Pius X Church, 348 Dudley Pike, Edgewood, KY. Adm. $3. Info: ED MORRIS, PH: 859.414.4693; email: ed@ morristreasures.com, or: RANDY DEATON, PH: 859.334.0512; email: nkyfinds@gmail. com

SEPTEMBER 19 RICHMOND, RHODE ISLAND The Little Rhody Bottle Club tailgate swap meet, (9AM to 2PM) at the Jules Antique Center, 320 Kingstown, Richmond, Rhode Island (3 miles East of Route #95 on Route #138). Free set up for all! Free coffee, donuts and pizza for participants. Bring your own tables! Info: WILLIAM ROSE, 508.880.4929; email: sierramadre@comcast. net. SEPTEMBER 26 BATH, ONTARIO, CANADA 4th Annual Bath Antique Bottle and Insulator Show, (9 AM to 2:30 PM), at the Bath Masonic Lodge, 428 Main Street, Bath, Ontario, Canada. Info: RICHARD DOBING, email: loyalistcollectibles@gmail. com

April 2020

The Spring Antiques & Bottle Show Presented by Batsto Citizens Committee, Inc

Sunday, May 17, 2020 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Rain or Shine event Batsto Village Wharton State Forrest Hammonton, NJ 08037 For information: Harry Rheam (856) 768-1532 (hcrheam@gmail.com)

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Please don't forget to use your 60-Word FREE classified ad credit in the magazine. Email, or "snail-mail" your ad to us! Libby@AmericanGlassGallery.com P.O. Box 227 New Hudson, MI 48165

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

How Bottles Talk to Us, and the History They Tell (And listen as Orange County, N.Y., artifacts will butter us up) By Alex Prizgintas

often read of how glass bottle collectors are drawn towards unique colors and shapes, the swirl of the glass near their tooled tops, and the roughness of the pontiled bases. Some of these features reveal unique facts about their age and tell us the story of when, where, and how. I think it is those mysteries that we ardent collectors appreciate when finding a fascinating bottle. Understanding these traits helps us to travel back in time to when these gems were first blown, creating the very artifact we cradle in our hands. As curators, we either rejoice in retrieving them from the earth’s clutches or when acquiring them from another collection. As a community, we sometimes find a treasure that we recognize will benefit the collection of a fellow guardian as we forward it onward. I have been very fortunate to know other generous collectors who contact me with their finds in the hope of enriching my research. My interest and research lies with milk bottles, which are sometimes referred to as the “ugly sisters” of antique bottles due to their uniform shapes and bland colors. However, I find them to be intriguing, as they provide a narrative to the colorful history of dairy farming, filled with innovation and conflict. This narrative is further enhanced by the fact that I live in Orange County, N.Y. — which in so many ways is the birthplace of milk transportation, milk advertisement and,

of course, milk bottles. This is a brief tour of Orange County’s dairying history as seen through the lens of the ubiquitous milk bottle. While the United States’ earliest milk bottles originate between 1870-80, it is important to recognize that Orange County’s dairy products were renowned decades before that time. The region’s geography made it ideal for agriculture, with mountains on the southeast and northwest sides that act as natural barriers and made the interior of Orange County a haven for agricultural development. This valley between the Hudson Highlands and the Shawangunks varies between 500 and 1,000 feet above sea level, protecting it from the fungi and algae that are found in low coastal areas. Dairy production began here in the late 18th century and, by the 1800s, butter was widely produced and exported from Orange County. The village of Goshen was the center of butter production in the county and was popularly known in the region as the “Butter Capital.” It is not surprising that high-grade butter of this era, whether from Orange County or far away, was coined with the name “Goshen Butter.” One beneficial aspect of butter is its long shelf life that allows for it to be shipped over great distances. The same cannot be said for milk. While it was needed to make the savory Goshen Butter, trans-

porting milk over extended distances was considered by most as simply impossible. However, those thoughts changed when an industrial wonder better known as the New York and Erie Railroad made its way through Orange County in the 1830s. Upon reaching the village of Chester, the railroad workers encountered a serious problem. The black dirt, a commodity that was fertile in nutrients and most valuable to the farmers of the area, proved to be very spongy and weak in supporting the weight of a railroad. The solution was to first construct a wooden trestle with deep pilings that would provide the sturdy foundation for the railroad. Once completed, the trestle would then be backfilled with gravel and fill so that the railroad would blend in with the surrounding scenery. What did this transportation-related construction technique have to do with the legacy of Orange County’s dairy industry? Well, it is precisely how the birth of milk transportation came to be. One of the individuals who was granted the contract to construct the railroad in Chester was Thaddeus Selleck. The construction of the trestle was arduous. To make things worse, the New York and Erie Railroad went into bankruptcy and was unable to pay Selleck for his work. Once the railroad reorganized, Selleck was compensated by being appointed as Chester’s first station agent. That would soon prove revolutionary in the history of milk. April 2020

When Selleck was appointed a station agent in 1841, butter was still Orange County’s most popular dairy export. However, Selleck’s attention was drawn not towards the rich butter but rather the superior quality of the pure Orange County milk. Having spent much of his time in 19th century New York City, Selleck recognized that residents had grown accustomed to the vastly inferior and dangerous swill milk that was produced by disease-ridden cows and resulted in the deaths of thousands of infants. Visualizing a very lucrative market on the horizon, Selleck was focused on solving what was considered impossible: transporting fresh milk, without it turning sour, to the New York City market. Continuing to push forward, Selleck found that the largest obstacles were the farmers themselves who had become comfortable and satisfied with the strong and stable trade established through butter. Historian Robert Mohowski describes their reaction to the concept of transporting milk, stating that “they scoffed at Selleck and his idea in the same manner that had greeted most visionaries since the dawn of time.” Farmers could not grasp the concept of milk traveling more than fifty miles, especially in the hot summer months, accompanied by jarring movements from the railroad cars. Still, unfazed, Selleck met with local farmers Philo Gregory, James Durland, Jonas King and John M. Bull to discuss his novel idea of shipping milk by rail to New York City. Before the railroad arrived in Orange County, butter was transported to New York City first by horse and wagon to Newburgh followed by a trip on a barge down the Hudson River. However, the railroad greatly reduced the time it took to reach New York City, and accessed

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distant regions of the county rich with dairy farms. In Selleck’s proposal, the milk would be transported in butter churns 41 miles from Chester to Piermont and then an additional 21 miles by barge to a storefront located at 193 Reade St. in New York City, the location where Selleck would consign the milk.

As his business improved, other farmers joined with other meerchants to transport their milk, knowing more money could be made shipping milk than by churning it into butter. By 1897, more than 7,000 milk depots had opened in New York City, selling close to 750,000 quarts of milk a day to the eager city residents!

It took some time for Selleck to convince any farmers, but by the spring of 1842, farmer Philo Gregory of Chester agreed

Selleck’s successful 1842 shipment started a period where farmers, better known as producers, gained control over this new and vibrant industry. They were able to control the price of milk for the dealers, who acted as middlemen by purchasing the milk from the producers and then selling it to the public. This profitable period for the producers lasted between 25 to 30 years, until the terms of sales gradually shifted in favor of the dealers. Since farmers were spread far across rural areas, organized dealers trading with the individual farmers gained control of the powerful tools of distribution. This gave dealers the power to usurp the producers’ inherent rights and to fix the prices of milk paid to farmers, as well as the price for the public.

An overview of Orange County, with the seven main regions of dairy production outlined.

to send approximately 240 quarts of milk bound for Gotham, which successfully arrived without spoiling. He accepted Selleck’s proposal since he also had a business in New York City and made an agreement with Selleck that the milk would be sold immediately upon its arrival. Surprisingly, the milk was not popular among the city crowds. They found the yellow “scum” on top of the milk repulsing. This was the rich layer of buttery fat that made Orange County’s milk so vastly superior to the milk produced by the sickly cows fed on swill in the city. It did not take long for the city folks to envy the smell, taste, and look of fresh milk sent directly from country farms and the demand became so great that Selleck was forced to open additional milk depots.

Confronted with this hostility, farmers faced two choices. The first was to submit to the often corrupt terms and conditions of the dealers. The second, however, became available after 1880 when farmers began to sell their milk independently in their villages due to the innovation of a new tool — the milk bottle. Milk bottles, aside from their respective town name, had gained a uniform appearance. However, the earliest milk bottles looked nothing like today’s examples and more closely resembled large fruit jars, the earliest of which were pontiled. Even the first patented glass milk jar, invented by George Henry Lester in January of 1878, looked like a

An example of the Lester Milk Jar, the first U.S. patented glass object to hold milk. An early Warren milk jar from the New York Dairy Company Ltd.

The odd “A. C. M. Co” bottle, possibly an example of Alex Campbell’s early experimental milk bottle.

Example of a tin-top milk bottle advertising “Pure Orange County Milk.”

A tin-top bottle from the Orange County Milk Association.

A bottle from Pavek Farms, located in Highland Falls, N.Y.

The baby-face milk bottle used by the CFS Milk Company of Newburgh, N.Y. RIGHT: A rare bottle from the Depot Restaurant in Middletown, N.Y.

April 2020

large fruit jar and featured a glass lid that was secured by a metal clamp. The reason for using a glass jar to transport milk, as explained by Lester in his patent, was to protect the milk from the corrosion and contamination of metal cans which, up to this point, were the main form of storing milk. Milk bottle pioneer Hervey Thatcher of Potsdam used a similar rationale when creating his successful milk jar in 1884. While Lester thought of the idea six years prior, his jar had a significant flaw. Between the glass top and the body of the jar, there was no leather or rubber gasket for protection. If the lid was too tightly closed, which was often the case, the glass would easily crack and because of this, the Lester milk jar quickly became unpopular and drifted into history. I am aware of only five examples in existence today.

milk bottles directly to Orange County. According to former historian and milk bottle collector Toni Knipp, Campbell joined with Dr. Reuben R. Stone between1878 and 1881 with the intention of bottling fresh Orange County milk. The result was the New York Dairy Co. Limited, which had offices in Brooklyn and a state-of-the-art creamery in the village of Monroe. The bottle of choice used by Campbell and Stone was the 1880 Warren Milk Jar — the first patented milk bottle that uses the standard milk bottle shape.

Dairies that use the Warren Jar are regarded as being some of the first to enter the milk bottle trade. Given that the jar was most likely patented after the New York Dairy Co. Limited was created, it is very possible that Campbell and Stone were among the first to use this ancestor to the modern milk bottle. The New York Dairy Co. Ltd. did not last long as a partnership and by 1881, Dr. Stone’s New York Milk & Cream Co. was shipping bottled milk in its own bottles manufactured by A.V. Whiteman. Alex Campbell continued his own business

Lester’s revolutionary milk jar has yet to yield any solid ties to Orange County, but the same cannot be said for these next two innovative bottles. At the same time Lester patented his milk jar, Alex Campbell of Brooklyn was leading a prospering milk delivery business that sprouted from a single milk route in 1862. Owner of creameries across Long Island, New Jersey and Orange County, Campbell was said to have introduced an experimental milk bottle on Jan. 11, 1878. Campbell appears to have never patented this bottle. While no verified examples have surfaced, one bottle from my collection might very well be a match. The bottle, which surfaced on eBay a few years ago, is shaped like a pickle jar but features the initials “A.C.M. Co.” embossed in script. Extensive research has led me to conclude that the Alex Campbell Milk Co. was the only business to use this abbreviation and while one may never know the truth behind this bottle, it certainly seems plausible. Following his experimental milk bottle, Alex Campbell’s next business venture connects one of the most important

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

TOP: The construction method used along the New York and Erie railroad in Chester. The trestles, once driven deep into the ground, would be back-filled with gravel and dirt (Warwick Valley Historical Society). BOTTOM: A postcard of the original railroad station in Chester where Thaddeus Selleck worked as an agent starting in 1841 (author’s collection).

for decades, using the New York Dairy Co. name on occasion. The three revolutionary milk bottles discussed began the rise of the milk bottle craze across the United States. While most family farms would not adopt milk bottles until after 1900, bottles made between 1880 and 1900 were popular among the dealers who sold milk in their city stores. The majority of these bottles are known as “tin-tops,” named for the tin closure that kept the milk safe over long journeys. These bottles are among the most desirable by collectors not only for their closures but, in rare cases, their advertising. That’s right, many of these early bottles, especially from Orange County, featured embossing stating “pure Orange County milk” or “Orange County milk and cream” to promote their exceptional product. In an era where modern communications were still conceptual, it is fascinating to see how farmers and dealers alike advertised their goods. Not all tin-top milk bottles featured such advertising, but that certainly does not detract from their desirability for collectors. Such examples include bottles from the Orange County Milk Association, formed in 1844 through the acquisition of Thaddeus Selleck’s pioneering milk shipping business. The new company built a positive reputation among New York City’s elite, which only grew due to more efficient shipment by rail. With prosperity came the use of milk bottles featuring numerous variations of embossings. What they all share in common, however, is the prominent keystone which, when accompanied with the lettering “Orange County Milk Association,” would have made a powerful impact among consumers looking to buy the region’s purest milk. While the tin-top dominated the milk bottle scene in the late 19th century, the innovation of the cardboard milk cap coincided with a drastic increase in milk

bottle use by farmers after 1900. Replacing the cumbersome tin closure with a disposable cardboard cap allowed these bottles to fit more comfortably within households, and with farmers suffering at the hands of greedy and corrupt milk dealers, selling milk in their own bottles became an appealing alternative.

Rare pyroglazed bottles used by Albert W. Smith of Highland Mills, N.Y., and Henry L. Nielsen of Warwick, N.Y.

It is important to recognize the vast number of farms in Orange County during this point, with more than 4,000 farms estimated to be in operation during the turn of the 20th century. While this is the total number of all farms, local dairymen estimate that at least half of these produced milk and a large majority owned personalized milk bottles. On average, each town in Orange County had fifteen to twenty dairies that used milk bottles, and larger cities such as Middletown or Newburgh exceeded fifty. Due to the similarities in milk bottles, it is often the intimate stories that give them an extra level of interest and character.

One such example from my collection is a bottle from Pavek Farms, which once operated in the village of Highland Falls, N.Y. The bottle resembles most other average milk bottles, but the story behind it is far more captivating for me. Six years ago, one of my teachers in public school was Ms. Anne Pavek. She is the granddaughter of the farm’s owner, Frank Pavek, and mentioned to me that although she once had a bottle from the farm, it had been damaged. I immediately reached out to the National Association of Milk Bottle Collectors and a few weeks later, I received a package from my good friend Roger Cook Thomas. Inside was a pint-size Pavek Farms bottle that I was able to give to Anne later that school year. I had the honor to find my own bottle a year later, but having that intimate and personal connection to local history through those who helped to shape it continues to bring me great pleasure. The personal stories that these bottles tell are rare, unique, and priceless. Most milk bottles shared a consistent shape from 1900 to 1960, with a few variations. One exception was the creamtop style, where an extra bulge was added at the neck of the bottle where the rich cream would collect above the milk. This addition gave Frank Pecora of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, an idea whereby adding the rendition of a baby’s face onto the bulged portion, the bottle would grab the attention of young parents who served milk to their children. In 1936, Pecora patented the “baby-face” milk bottle and the design soon gained much popularity. Pecora sent salesmen across the country to advertise this new bottle, with one traveling to the Orange County city of Newburgh. Here, the CFS dairy company, organized by dairymen Harry B. Cooley, Charles A. Flynn, and John J. Schwer ten years earlier, filed for an order of these unique bottles and became only one of two dairies in Orange County to use them. Even Mr. Herman Crowley, of the large Crowley’s milk company in BingApril 2020

hamton, was “peeved that we gave the bottle to his competitor in Newburgh.” This company was most certainly the CFS milk company and shows the ferocious popularity of this unique milk bottle right here in Orange County. This next example hardly resembles any common milk bottle, yet has become one of the most sought after from the region. The New York, Ontario and Western Railroad (NYO&W) was one of the largest shippers of Orange County milk. The city of Middletown was its home and the railroad built an opulent station there. The NYO&W was quite successful during the early 20th century, yet it never had the means to purchase railroad dining cars for its passengers. Instead, the railroad installed buffet-style restaurants inside its larger stations. The restaurant at its Middletown station was operated by the Seeholzer brothers and here one finds the origins of this unique bottle. It is a half-pint bottle, with a tall shape and a slug plate that reads Depot Restaurant, Middletown, N.Y., with the railroad’s logo prominently placed in the center. The exact use of the bottle continues to be debated. For years, it has been regarded as a milk bottle, yet oddly enough, no pictures have surfaced of an O&W bottle in use by a passenger. There is one picture that shows the “milk boy,” a young Middletown man named William Hehn, serving milk to passengers in paper cups. The bottles, however, are authentic, period artifacts that were most certainly used by the railroad. Many sources support this statement, but the primary evidence is that many bottle TOP: The Middletown Milk and Cream Company of Slate Hill, N.Y., was one of a few dairies in Orange County that used war slogans on their bottles during World War II. MIDDLE: An impressive and colorful collection of local milk bottles. BOTTOM: With many local family-operated dairy farms vanishing across the country, the art of collecting milk bottles keeps their rich history and contributions alive for generations. The author, Alex Prizgintas, shown with research material and bottles from Orange County, New York.

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

collectors have dug shards and even intact bottles along the NYO&W right-of-way in Middletown not far from the station. Although other explanations have been offered for the bottle’s use, milk continues to be the most plausible argument, demonstrating the partnership of Orange County’s valuable commodity to larger businesses like the NYO&W. Dairies struggled in the face of growing threats in the mid-20th century by corrupt dealers that continued to give farmers little freedom over the fair price of milk. Starting in the 1930s, pyroglazing offered bright colors to the stark embossing of traditional milk bottles. While these bottles were not as durable as their embossed counterparts due to the deterioration and wear of the ink, they certainly were more successful at capturing the public’s attention. Most pyroglazed milk bottles are found in red or orange, but other colors commonly include green, black, maroon, yellow and brown. In the village of Highland Mills, Albert W. Smith took a bold step of choosing blue pyroglazed bottles — one of a select few farms in Orange County to do so. Additionally, his bottles feature a rendition of an Ayrshire cow on either side, showcasing the common trait of including illustrations among pyroglazed milk bottles. In Warwick, Henry L. Nielsen used a two-tone pyroglazed bottle featuring black and orange. Nielsen’s bottles are only one of two dairies from Orange County to use this two-tone technique and are among the most valuable from the region. The colors of pyroglazed milk bottles certainly caught the buying public’s attention, but it’s often the slogan on the back side that makes these bottle unique. Most slogans revolve around the nutritious value of milk, especially for infants. However, the onset of World War II gave way to using milk bottles as a form of propaganda. Slogans once used to advertise milk’s benefits were now used to promote the sale of war bonds and uplift wartime morale.

In Orange County, the Middletown Milk and Cream company of Slate Hill was one of a few dairies in Orange County to use these “war bottles,” with one from my collection emphasizing the need to preserve vitamins when cooking food since “food fights too” in a war. These artifacts might just be the most unique form of war propaganda and exemplify the versatility of pyroglazed milk bottles in an era where advertising was rapidly evolving. For years, glass milk bottles were the mainstay of milk transportation and storage for families across the world. Today, glass milk bottles and the future of dairy farming in general is grim. Orange County has less than 40 dairy farms left, a steep decline from its highest recorded total of approximately 2,900. Those that remain are concentrated in the heartland, with the southeastern and western regions now practically devoid of any milk production. Glass milk bottles are long gone, as is home delivery. Even the larger corporations are feeling the strain of

• • •

this transition, with the once strong milk giant Borden’s having recently declared bankruptcy in 2020. With more and more farms closing each year, dairy production continues to dwindle, both in Orange County and the surrounding region. While milk’s growing unpopularity has only become largely noticeable in recent years, the decline of dairy farming has been slow and steady. As early as 1962, the milk producers Borden’s and Sheffield abandoned local deliveries, citing “controversies over the effects of certain organic molecules in milk on the human body such as cholesterol and strontium 90.” According to present-day data from the USDA, Americans drink nearly 37 percent less milk today than they did 50 years ago. Among many factors, the primary reason for this plummet is the replacement of milk with other beverages. Vitamin D and calcium, two important components of milk that benefit the human body, can be found today in various forms from pills to nutritional bars. In addition, a global

shift away from fat-based liquids and the development of products suitable for individuals who are lactose intolerant hurt the sale of milk. Orange County’s remaining dairy farms face insurmountable difficulties, but their legacy is far from forgotten. The hobby of collecting these milk bottles preserves how this dying art was once a major facet of Orange County’s economy. Like other genres of bottles, milk bottles have developed a great following that has led to the creation of societies such as the National Association of Milk Bottle Collectors. However, I think one of the most important aspects of these artifacts is the history they share. This often overlooked group of bottles shows us, on a local level, the importance of Orange County in the dairy industry and, on a larger field, its effective use as a tool of advertising. Ultimately, bottles are not artifacts, but rather evidence of the hands, hearts and hard work of those who preceded us.

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By John Panella and Joe Widman

PERUNA - KING OF THE BRACERS THE BOOZIEST STUFF IN TOWN After discussing Lash’s Bitters and other Lash’s products in a past Medicine Chest, we discussed the thin line between a product and its relationship with the user as a “medicinal preparation,” “cure,” “remedy,” or just a distraction from illness. Some were just plain oldfashioned boozy alcoholic stimulants created to intoxicate and addict the user. Booze medicines consisted of alcoholic preparations sold under proprietary names. These nostrums pretended to be medicinal products and were common prior to federal and state regulation. These compounds and preparations became known by the Internal Revenue Department for taxation purposes as “Bracers.” These products contained medicinal agents in amounts so insignificant that they were forbidden to be sold by druggists as medicine. It was illegal for a druggist to sell these “medicines” classed as “compound liquors” by the Internal Revenue unless he had paid a special tax as a retail liquor dealer. In this article we wish to discuss Peruna, one of the most notorious patent medicines of all time.

Peruna Arrives on the Scene Peruna was a well-known patent medicine sold from the late 19th- to mid-20th century. It was patented by Samuel Brubaker Hartman, and endorsed by hundreds of politicians. Peruna at one time released advertising that had fifty United States congressmen endorsing it as an invaluable household remedy. Its advertising campaigns were big and splashy, and no expense was spared on

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promotion. It went on the shelves on July 29, 1885, as a cure for catarrh. Its inventor, Dr. Hartman, went to school in Cincinnati and apprenticed his medical training with Dr. Shackelford from Medway, Ohio. A graduate of the Medical School of Cleveland, he married, and by 1890 had moved to Columbus, Ohio. At this point, Hartman abandoned his practice of medicine to manufacture remedies. He manufactured one named “La-cu-pia,” a blood thinner, and one called “Ma-na-lin” for biliousness. His invention of “Pe-ru-na” was his greatest accomplishment, as it supposedly cured catarrh. The product literature will suggest its value as a tonic and preventative of lassitude. What is catarrh? Dr. Hartman had a broad definition of catarrh. It was “Whatever ails you.” No matter what bothered you, one will be greatly compelled by Dr. Hartman’s Peruna publication “The Ills of Life.” It served to diagnose your illness as catarrh and make you realize that Peruna alone will save you. Peruna bottles carried wrap-around labels, and were further wrapped in Peruna advertising as an outer layer. I’ve photographed these labels so you can get a full story of what Peruna cured, which was everything! It would be remiss for me to list the diseases here, but there’s not enough room in this text. It was claimed that Peruna could be used any length of time without acquiring a drug habit and nobody could get drunk on the prescribed doses. There was so much exaggeration here, and the words on the label and in his book are confusing to say the least. It is stated that the prescribed dose would be 3 wineglassfuls in 45 minutes. If you think about that, the amount would even temporarily alter a prohibitionist’s look on life. Peruna was

profitable to the maker and a curse on the community at large. The fact is that this minimum dose first ceases to satisfy, then users moved on to the moderate dose, and finally the maximum dose. The unsuspecting patron who began taking it as a medicine goes on to use it as a beverage, and finally be enslaved by it as a habit. At its peak, Hartman was earning $100,000 a day from the Peruna sales. It was a wildly popular nostrum, so popular that babies were being named after it.

It’s Good for You? Peruna can be easily made. Before discussing that formula, here is a statement from the company made prior to the passage of the Pure Food & Drug Act of 1906. The makers of Peruna press release said: “That Peruna is simply a bitters containing whiskey as an ingredient is entirely false, and must be made by people either with no knowledge of its composition or by those who deliberately intend to deceive the public. Peruna contains no whisky, wine, rum, gin or brandy and, when used as directed on the label of the bottle or according to our literature, it cannot possibly do anyone any harm or cause any degree of inebriation no matter how long or continuously taken. We regard the whole matter of negative publicity as one of the unavoidable unpleasant incidents which will arise in consequence of the partial or absolute prohibition of the sale of alcoholic stimulus.”

From The Great American Fraud by Samuel Hopkins Adams “Anyone wishing to make Peruna for home consumption may do so by mixing half a pint of cologne spirits (190 proof pure alcohol), with a pint and a half of water, adding thereto a little cubebs

By John Panella and Joe Widman

LEFT: Close-up of an early PE-RU-NA bottle with label. ABOVE: Colorful Peruna advertising card showing an attractive woman with an enormous bottle of PE-RU-NA.

April 2020

By John Panella and Joe Widman

for flavor and a little burned sugar for color. Manufactured in bulk, so a former Peruna agent estimates, its cost including bottle and wrapper is between fifteen and eighteen cents per bottle. Its cost (for consumers) is $1. Because of this handsome margin of profit, and by way of making hay in the stolen sunshine of Peruna advertising, many imitations have sprung up to harass the proprietors of the alcohol and water product. There are many self-confessed imitations. From what the Peruna people tell me they are dangerous and damnable frauds, and they cure nothing.” Samuel Hopkins Adams was about to throw a monkey wrench into the works of the Peruna profit making machine, publishing eleven articles to expose the public health consequences in Colliers magazine. He later published The Great American Fraud exposing Peruna and many other dangerous and habit-forming nostrums to the medical establishment and the public. The Colliers article and the book prompted the passage of the Pure Food & Drug Act of 1906. This act drastically changed the way patent medicine companies could market their goods and which ingredients they could include in their previously secret formulas. Peruna was in the spotlight, and it was ordered by the government that they could no longer use the vague term “cure” and must adopt the term “remedy.” They also set requirements that medicines must contain effective amounts of medicinal ingredients. The Internal Revenue authorities made it mandatory for Dr. Hartman to comply with their dictates or he would have to remove his medicine from the market and sell it as a liquor. Being a temperance advocate, he chose to change the formula of Peruna. He was required to add substan-

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An interesting government report exposing the alcohol content of several popular turn-of-the-century patent medicines, including Peruna, and comparing them to liquor, claret, and beer.

By John Panella and Joe Widman

tial amounts of senna and blackthorn bark, both cathartics, and reduce the alcohol content of Peruna from 28 to 18 percent. This alteration was great enough to change the character of this drink, and received negative feedback from all across America. Sales plummeted and this enterprise was suddenly looking at bankruptcy. Dr. Hartman and his partner Schumacher knew they needed to revive the old formula and market it as an alcoholic beverage to save the enterprise. The new product was named Ka-Tar-No-Tonic. It sold in bars and liquor stores, but was not a success, as the name recognition of Peruna was too great. On Dec. 11, 1914, the New York Tribune called out for a law to curb quack cures, specifically naming Peruna. On Jan. 6, 1915, Samuel Hopkins Adams calls out Peruna, stating that advertisements cannot sell health.

TOP: An early testimonial claiming, "I am Healthy and Happy Once More" after consuming a bottle of Peruna. LEFT: A later advertisement referring to Peruna as a "Remedy."

In later years Dr. Hartman’s son-in-law took over the operation, with his partner Fred Schumacher being elected president of the City Board of Trade. Under his son-in-law’s leadership the nostrum never regained the popularity of the original product. On Feb. 1, 1918, Dr. Samuel Hartman, age 82, dies of acute pneumonia at his apartment in the Hartman Hotel. Then came Prohibition. States going dry started to rely again on the “new” Peruna, and extensive media and radio advertising took the reins of promotion and sales. During national Prohibition, Peruna came to be known as “Prohibition Tonic.” All along Peruna was endorsed by heavy advertising over the airwaves and endorsements from temperance advocates and clergy. Sales were brisk again, but never as good as in early ventures. With repeal of Prohibition, Peruna started to crash and burn. Even with formula changes, new themes and slogans, as well April 2020

By John Panella and Joe Widman

as new curative boasts, it was withdrawn from the market during the 1940s. It was a good run, but the writing was on the wall for Peruna.

r Credits: This article was composed using material from a variety of sources including the internet. Texts and references were gathered from The Great American Fraud (1905) by Samuel Adams Hopkins; Bottles and Extras Magazine; The Peruna Story: Strumming That Old Catarrh, May-June 2007, by Jack Sullivan; Toadstool Millionaires by James Harvey Young (1961); The Golden Age Of Quackery by Stewart H. Holbrook (1959); and Nostrums & Quackery Vols. 1-3, AMA/ Crabbe, Dr. Dennis G. Pappas Sr. M.D., Dr. George D. Oetting, ex-Director of Education for the Medical Association of Alabama, Dr. Robert Kravetz M.D., FACP, MACG, University of Arizona.

An early Peruna crate with curative claims.

r I thank all for their help, guidance and inspiration through the years.

At its peak, Hartman was earning $100,000 a day from the Peruna sales. It was a wildly popular nostrum, so popular that babies were being named after it. 44

Antique Bottle & Glass Collector

Revised PERUNA crate after Pure Food & Drug Act of 1906. Eighteen Percent Alcohol had to be listed.

April 2020

FOR SALE! Emerald green Dr. Soule's Bitters Beautiful, bright emerald coloration with thousands of seed bubbles. Just a small flash otherwise excellent condition. Originally sold in Glass Works for $4,400 Sale price: $3,750! Exquisite amethyst vertical Greeley's Barrel Bitters Ex. Dr. Burton Spiller collection Featured in the Ketchum book Price: $6,500 Info: Jonathan Melnick 941.374.7214

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Medicine Chest: Peruna - King of the Bracers

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