$4.00
December 2020
Happy Holidays from all of us at AB&GC!
Orangeine: Quack Medicine Killer Extraordinaire w PAGE 7
Thomas Martindale and the Hunter's Jugs w PAGE 11
A Visit From Old Saint Nick w PAGE 29
A Tilton Dandelion Bitters? w PAGE 36
T h e Ma g a z i n e T h at Ke eps Yo u I n fo r m e d!
Christmastime in a bottle
IN THIS ISSUE:
Seeking quality consignments for our 2021 auction schedule!
American Glass Gallery
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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 quality items and many more, will be included in our upcoming March, 2021 Auction
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 37, #8 • December 2020 FRONT COVER:
Here at AB&GC we have captured the spirit of Christmastime in a bottle. May all of our readers and their families enjoy the peace and tranquility of the Season. Best wishes for a safe and joyous Holiday from all of us at the magazine to all of you across the country and the world.
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 Design, Layout & Production Jake Pluta
Heard it through the Grapevine......................................................... 4 Orangeine: Quack Medicine Killer Extraordinaire........................... 7 Thomas Martindale and the Hunter's Jugs...................................... 11 Merry Christmas Flasks, a Holiday Tradition................................. 14 Fruit Jar Rambles: Pottery Globe Jars.............................................. 17 Crossword Puzzle Answers............................................................... 21 Classified Advertisements................................................................. 22 Show Calendar.................................................................................. 25 Bitters Bottles Supplement 2............................................................ 27 A Visit From Old Saint Nick............................................................ 29 Rare Painted Demijohn is Truly a Dutch Treat............................... 34 A Tilton Dandelion Bitters?............................................................. 36 Henry Edmunds Watts, a Bottler of Beer in S.C............................. 38 Medicine Chest: Rheumatism, Part 2.............................................. 40
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 January: Early Lattice / Quilted Bottles, by Richard Sheaff Nebraska Bottles Are Booming, by Tom Askjem What Are the Odds (A New CD Number?), by Tod von Mechow Fruit Jar Rambles: Mason's (Shield) Union Jars, by Tom Caniff Medicine Chest, by John Panella and Joe Widman And other very cool stuff! December 2020
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LETTERS
to the Editor
Holy Moses Springs Eternal Hi, John, I wish to make a comment about the “Letters to the Editor” in the November issue of AB&GC.
Now that’s a bottle room! The million bottle temple in Thailand.
George Olgesby wrote about a Moses Poland Spring bottle in carnival glass. My father was an automatic machine glass operator at Anchor Hocking for 33 years. In fact, during that time period, he once brought home a ruby glass Borden’s milk bottle that he made. I remember it well. It never went into full production as Borden never accepted it. At that time, however, Anchor did make Canada Dry Bottles and Golden Wedding Whiskey bottles in carnival glass. I have dug both kinds at Lancaster, Ohio. Anchor also had a small blow shop where they would make prototype pieces to try and sell to prospective customers. I suspect this is exactly what George’s Moses bottle is. I have never seen one. My first cousin worked in packing and shipping and never saw one either. One last note: It appears it was intended for an alcohol beverage company because of the “Federal Law Prohibits” embossing.
I Thought I Had a Bottle Room Hi, John, Once I had a discussion with Steve Watson, Dick’s son, and we both agreed that every home should have a bottle room. But this is a little over the edge. In Thailand, a monk and his fellow Buddhists thought it would be a good idea to get some of the trash out of the overall garbage stream, so they decided to have everyone in their province bring them their empty beer bottles.
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
Best regards, The result was that the bottles were used to construct an entire temple built with recycled beer bottles. Over one and a half million empty beer bottles were used to construct Thailand’s Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple. On top of that, the monks used the beer caps to produce art work in the form of mosaics that are exhibited throughout the temple. They’re still collecting empties with ideas of expanding the temple. Bob Strickhart Pennington, N.J.
Gary Beatty North Port, Florida
A Very Lucky Find, Indeed Hello, John, I enjoyed reading John Scarpati’s letter to the editor in the October 2020 issue of Antique Bottle & Glass Collector in response to my article, “The Stoneware Doctor.” John mentioned he had written an article about stoneware repair for your magazine 18 years ago, and he
LETTERS
to the Editor
also asked about the James Van Dyk pottery teapot I dug and that Jim Healy had repaired for me. John had the incredible fortune to buy a complete James Van Dyk teapot in excellent condition for just $1 at flea market many years ago, and is now wondering if his might be a reproduction. My immediate reaction was that it’s unlikely. As delightful as the little teapot is, it just does strike me as an artifact that would not be particularly profitable for a company to reproduce.
Does anyone have information on these old telephone battery jars? Has there ever been an article on these objects? Reader Jerry Paxton would like to learn more about them. Give us a ring.
To make sure, I reached out to Diane Van Dyk, great granddaughter of James. Diane is always on the lookout for any of the little giveaways like the teapot that her ancestor’s company produced, and she said that in all her years of searching for and collecting Van Dyk items, she has not heard anything about any of them ever being reproduced. As stated in my article, these little teapots are scarce and fetch around $200 when they do show up for sale. So John was just very lucky the day he stumbled across this item and got such a great deal! I wish John continued success in his hunting, and encourage him to provide an updated report on his experiences with stoneware repair to your magazine some day. John Savastio Latham, N.Y.
Glass Blower’s Card Hi, John, Just a note to make a comment about Richard Sheaff’s picture of a glass blower’s union card on page 5 of the November issue. I have seen that card on a couple occasions in person. In 1962 I was discharged from the USN and got a job within a week at the Lancaster Colony Glass factory at Lancaster,
Ohio. My father worked at Anchor Hocking Glass across town. I worked in a blow shop. I started out as a carry-in boy, taking the ware to the lehr annealing oven to slowly cool down. A couple of the blowers (Theller and Biggins) showed me their same identical cards as the one Richard shared with us. They were proud of it! In fact, you couldn’t work there as a blower unless you belonged to that association. One more thing. Karl Biggins came to us from south Jersey, as work had slowed down there. Biggins was also an ex-prizefighter and once fought Willy Pep. Best regards to you and to all of my bottle friends. Gary Beatty North Port, Florida
Calling for Information on Telephone Battery Jars Hi, John, Have you ever done an article on glass telephone battery jars? The old crank wooden telephones had as many jars as three. I have a “Western Electric Co.” jar and a “Bell Telephone Co.” jar in my old telephone collection. Old glass telephone mouthpieces were also made so they could be sterilized from flu germs, etc. You couldn't boil a hard rubber phone mouthpiece to sterilize it. Best regards, Jerry Paxton Bend, Oregon December 2020
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Heard it through the
Grapevine Tough Sledding if You are Bidding in Germany for this Antique Carriage Ralph Finch admits to another weakness One of my 8,443 collectible interests is old baby carriages and sleds. Honest. Also honest: I don’t even own one. I don’t know why, but I have always been impressed by classy antique examples. I also try to imagine what kind of wealthy families must have owned them. And while the majority of people of that time lived in poverty or near poverty, did this infant grow up in an upper-class world? Assuming that the various diseases of the period didn’t keep this child from achieving its potential. Anyway, auctioned in Cologne, Germany, was this jewel. Lot 1010, a 19th-century Dutch child’s sled estimated at €2,000-
€3,000 ($2,158-$3,238 U.S.), with an opening bid of €1,500. It was described as (edited), “Polychrome wood with iron mountings and later blue velvet seat cover. Richly carved with foliate ornament in the Baroque style and painted on either side with Dutch city views.” And 63.5 cm (25 inches) high. The condition mentioned “one of the dragon’s head finials missing, some minor breakages.” Well, that’s that. I only collect perfect dragon heads. Boy, I was breathing fire when I learned of the damage. And I was looking for one with the painted word: ROSEBUD.
By Ralph Finch It’s almost Christmas, and time for one of the most popular holiday movies, ever: 1983’s “A Christmas Story.” Little Ralphie (no, not me), at age 9,
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
FYI: Lempertz, specializing in Viennese old masters, says that this year it “celebrates its 175th anniversary!” Hmm. So 99.9 percent of the stuff that Americans collect didn’t even exist when this firm began.
The auction house, Lempertz KG, sold it on May 29 for 2,500 euros (a mere $2,809 U.S.). I didn’t cry like a baby when I didn’t win this, since I didn’t bid. Shipping would have brought me to tears.
wants one thing more than anything else in the world: An an official Red Ryder BB gun. When he mentions it at the dinner table in their Cleveland home, his mother’s immediate reaction is that he’ll shoot his eye out.
Remember Daisy BB Guns?
By the way, how rare is this sled? Rare, but on the internet I found another one, only with a painted scene showing birds.
But here’s the question: Have BB guns gone the way of rotary phones? Maybe, although the Daisy Airgun Museum in Rogers, Arkansas, still aims to hang on. The museum is located at 202 W. Walnut in Rogers. For information call (479) 986-6873, or email Info@DaisyMuseum.com. For great photos, tour the museum on the internet, and if you ever get to Rogers, the museum as 300
guns on display. Haven’t been there? I “Triple Dog Dare You” to go.
r FYI: Daisy began in Plymouth, Mich., and when it was there it had its own museum. The company moved, and the original building burned down.
r FYI: In 2012, the movie was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Heard it through the
Grapevine The Sound of Music? Really? No, the hills are not alive in our bathroom More strange news from Ralph Finch Selling October 30 was a very odd antique offered by Auction Team Breker, selfdescribed as “the Specialists for Technical Antiques & Fine Toys,” and based in Köln, Germany. And for a moment, I thought I had found something that had to be unique. Boy, was I excited. But within a week, I was to relearn a lesson that was not unique: I was wrong! Again. Consider Team Breker’s offer of Lot 0145: “Musical Toilet Paper Holder, c. 1925. Carved wood, with one melody, made in Switzerland probably by Thorens; plays at each use. A most unusual mechanical music instrument.” Estimated value? €250-€350 ($297-$415), and it sold for €140 ($163 in U.S. funds), with a hefty cost to mail it to the States. Was the new owner flush with money? Does the new owner live in Flushing, Michigan? No and no.
composer, but an Austrian would do. Maybe one of Beethoven’s First Movements. Or maybe No. 2? I was hoping to find one with a long title, one that included a colon. And old friend Bob Strickhart, a former New Jersey house painter, reminded me of this bit of wisdom: “You know though, that no job is done until you do the paperwork!” I have old, but witty and strange, friends. I didn’t get the holder from Germany, but also didn’t expect to be offered another, one week later, from an eBay seller in Boyertown, Pa., for only $300. I was, as my English friends would say, gobsmacked. Was this the same one sold in Germany?
Nope. It turns out that this is another example, and even in a slightly different pattern than the German offering. The Pennsylvania seller added, “It came from a very large Victorian mansion built in the late 1800s.” I changed my mind and offered $250 for this one — it was a crap shoot — and the seller agreed. It now resides in a modest home in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
r
FYI: Want to make your own music based on the toilet? On the internet I found a website that claims that “toilet paper roll kazoos are so fun to make and gives toddlers a way to make music using materials around the house.”
For more on its odd stuff, go to www. Breker.com (or auction@Breker.com). Want to call the firm and you don’t speak German? Don’t worry, they deal in seven languages. (How do I say “Do you have any old toilet paper” in Russian or Japanese? These people will know.) Some of you who have read this far are saying, How Stupid! But if you go on eBay or the internet, there is an impressive number of musical toilet paper roll holders. Honest. And, what music should this toilet roll holder play? My suggestion? Since it was German-made, I opted for a German December 2020
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Our Success is Your Success! We welcome your conversation to discuss consignment options for your singular item, group or entire collection.
Selections for Auction - Spring 2021
Heckler 6
Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
www.hecklerauction.com | 860-974-1634 79 Bradford Corner Road, Woodstock Valley, CT 06282
Is Your Brain Fag Flagging? Then you may need a hit of Orangeine. A dose could put you in the pink of health, but what the heck is it? By Mike Beardsley
I
’ve really been enjoying John Panella’s and Joe Widman’s articles written for “In the Medicine Chest.” I especially get a hoot out of the stories concerning the many quack medicines that plagued the country at the turn of the last century. And the many colorful and skillfully misleading trade cards, labels, etc. are simply fascinating. A while back I picked up a broadside or poster (21 inches by 16) advertising Orangeine at a sale here in Madison County, N.Y. Little did I know that Orangeine was one of the most notorious “killers” of its day, according to The Great American Fraud: Articles on the Nostrum Evil and Quacks by Samuel Hopkins Adams as printed in Collier’s Weekly, December 2, 1905. Packed in a bright orange box and sporting an orange wrapper, Orangeine, of course, contained no oranges at all. Instead it was primarily composed of the deadly drug acetanilid. Orangeine was billed as a headache powder that would cure about anything including “Brain Fag” (Huh?!) It claimed to strengthen the heart and produce better blood. Instead, acetanilid actually thins the blood, depresses the heart, and generally undermines the entire cardiovascular system. Adams proclaimed about Orangeine advertising that “thus far in the patent medicine field I have not seen so direct and specific an inversion of the facts.” Adams even made lists of otherwise
I conducted a pretty thorough search of the internet and I can find no other copies of this rare Orangeine broadside. I must say that the ad’s pitch is pretty compelling. Hey, if you can’t trust a nun, a Grandma, and a little girl who can you trust? They pulled out all the stops.
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LEFT: An image of the top to a can of Orangine that I found on the internet. It is quite informative. ABOVE: On this warning ad Orangeine is shown first on the list. The ad maker certainly wanted everyone to be very wary of using Orangeine.
healthy people who died directly as a result of taking Orangeine. For example, Mary Bispels of Philadelphia, just 18 years old, took two powders for a headache and died three hours later of heart and kidney failure directly related to Orangeine. Adams decried the “wickedness of the fraud.” In 1902 the death rate from sudden heart failure in New York City alone jumped to 1.34 per thousand. That was six times the death rate of typhoid fever. Almost all of the additional deaths were ascribed to overdoses of “headache powders” such as Orangeine. Orangeine encouraged users to “get the habit” (at least they were honest about luring addiction). They suggested taking Orangeine at night, in the morning, and between meals. I conducted a pretty thorough search of the internet and could find no other copies of this broadside. I must say that the ad’s pitch is pretty compelling. Hey, if you can’t trust a nun, a grandma, and a little girl who can you trust? They sure pulled out all the stops.
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
The president of Orangeine was Yale graduate Charles Bartlett. Interestingly, Orangeine was only a secondary interest to Charles. He was the western distributor for the Ivory Soap Co. A major corporate player, he was a highly respected businessman from coast to coast, which gave validity (albeit undeserved) to the Orangeine claims. The largest stakeholder in Orangeine was well-known Connecticut actor and playwright William Hooker Gillette. William was immensely popular for his role as Sherlock Holmes and he even appeared in early silent films. On stage it is said that he’d openly promote the virtues of Orangeine (at intermission, I guess) and he made sure that his playbills always featured ads for this poison. With two well-respected, turn-of-the-century figures promoting Orangeine what could there be to fear?
r
And now, meet Mike Beardsley. Mike explains that “Collecting came naturally to the Beardsley Family. In the early 1960s we discovered New York State
Archaeology and our family spent countless hours slogging through muddy, plowed fields in search of Indian sites and arrowheads. My dad, Leigh Beardsley, never did anything half way. We immersed ourselves in local history and built a very large artifact collection. “Around 1967 Dad decided that he wanted to collect an arrowhead from all fifty states. He ran an ad in Antique Trader stating that we’d trade New York arrowheads for arrowheads from other states. We got a letter (forerunner to email for those not familiar) from a man in Kansas. He had lots of arrowheads but he didn’t want ours. “He said if we sent him antique canning jars then he’d send us arrowheads. Seriously, who would want old fruit jars? We raided my grandmother Beardsley’s basement and sent him a box of jars. By return mail we got an incredible collection of artifacts. The light bulb clicked on. Opportunity was knocking. “Beginning then and there Dad and I put about every spare hour into building a major antique fruit jar dealership. We
LEFT: I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for great jars. I picked up this exceedingly rare Ball Fruit Jar (RB 195-1) earlier this year. It was an attic find from Clinton, N.Y., in excellent condition. I was attracted to the jar because it is one of the few jars that Dad and I never handled, and that’s saying a lot. I had no idea it existed. And Jar Tsar Jerry McCann later commented: “The photo of the BBGMCo. jar is that of a very rare early Ball jar. Only reported in quart size, it is the first and earliest fruit jar to have Ball’s name embossed on it.” “The jar is circa 1883 and it is not until the late 1890s that the Ball Brothers start adding their name to their fruit jars. Value is $3,500 or better.”
I thought your readers might find this ad interesting as a follow-up to Panella’s and Widman’s great work.
The Beardsley Family posing in the “Indian Room” circa 1969. I’m the extremely dorky-looking dude, easy to pick out. Leigh, Mary, Brad, Brenda and yours truly.
ABOVE: In keeping with the collecting bug, Nancy and I have one of the largest and most diverse collections of very scarce Chittenango Pottery pieces. This ill-fated local pottery was in operation only from 1897 to 1904 and burned twice during that period. In this photo are some of their trademark beer mugs and steins. Fun to collect. ABOVE RIGHT: More Chittenango Pottery. Many of these pieces were made for the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo as the company was failing.
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found out about bottle shows. Dad would set up our table and I’d roam the dealers to pick.
LEFT: This lovely dark aqua Ayres & Lewis Baking Powder jar was Mom’s first purchase in what was to become an impressive collection of baking powder jars, advertising, and ephemera. Mom and I bought it at a small antique show in Waterloo, N.Y., about 1968. The collection has gone on for others to appreciate but we kept this piece. It's sentimental.
“I covered the Northeastern shows and Dad covered the Midwest. It was a blast. We collected amazing jars here in the Northeast when jar collecting was in its infancy, and sold them through handtyped lists six times per year all over the U.S., to folks like Alex Kerr, Dick Vanderlaan, George McConnell, Roy Brown, etc. And we had such fond memories of the early Rochester, N.H., and the Rochester, N.Y., shows, Laconia, N.H., Portland, Maine, the two-day Syracuse show at the fairgrounds, St. Louis, Lancaster, Schupp’s Grove, York, etc. The friendships that we built along the way with folks like Ralph Finch were priceless. “Mom (Mary) built a wonderful collection of baking powder jars and ephemera. My sister collected glass infant feeders. I built an impressive collection of colored Mason 1858 jars. Even my wife, Nancy, new to collecting anything, put together a comprehensive collection of horseradish jars. “As Beardsleys, we were driven to find things, from arrowheads to great jars. Today, at nearly seventy, the collecting spirit imparted to me by my folks still drives me to old dusty barns, country auctions, etc. Sadly, Dad is gone, but Mom, who was ninety last October, is still my biggest fan and gets as much thrill from the hunt as I do. “What a wonderful gift they gave that has endured for a lifetime. I still slog across muddy fields looking for arrowheads. I work with the New York State Museum Paleo Archaeology team and I’ve been fortunate to discover a major Paleo (Crowfield) cluster of sites here in Madison County. But, I still have a soft spot in my heart for my roots, the old canning jars and related advertising. Once it is in your blood it never leaves.
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
BELOW: My better half and very patient wife Nancy. She has put up with my collecting habits for 45 years. She has camped at York, slept in our old van outside bottle shows, and generally put up with what some would call clutter but I refer to as “historic treasures.”
BELOW: We took Mom to a nice lunch recently (August 2020) at a restaurant overlooking Cayuga Lake, directly across from legendary Frontenac Island (“the Island of the Dead”) where our family first got hooked on archaeology all those many years ago. Too bad Dad wasn’t there to join us. The beer was good, and cold!
Editor Ralph Finch notes: I knew Mike’s parents, Leigh and Mary, decades ago. I was so impressed by them. And while Leigh didn’t really collect, wow, could he come up with treasures. Fifty or so years ago, I would stand outside the Rochester bottle show, impatiently waiting for the door to open. When it did, I would run, usually with Chicago’s Jerry McCann, past all the other tables to get to Leigh’s. Leigh was a wonderful man. And Mary? I fell in love with her smile fifty years ago, and I doubt that it has changed much. The Beardsley family? They make the hobby really important and worthwhile.
Thomas Martindale
and the Hunter’s Jugs His ‘brave’ life — and epic death — spanned countries By Jack Sullivan FIGURE 1
FIGURE 3
D
uring his lifetime, Thomas Martindale (Figure 1) was esteemed as a big game hunter and civic leader in Philadelphia. He also can be remembered as a merchant whose grocery and liquor company issued three collector-sought American whiskey jugs. The rarest of the ceramics carries the name “Minnehaha - Laughing Waters.” (Figure 2). It bears an elaborate underglaze transfer in cobalt blue of a Indian brave in a canoe with a bow and arrow (Figure 3) attacking some sea serpents (Figure 4). The name “Minnehaha” is derived from the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called “Song of Hiawatha.” It is a long, epic tale about an Indian brave who does many heroic deeds to assist his tribe. Minnehaha was his sweetheart.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 4
The poem was staple reading in American schools for decades and the characters would have been familiar to most people of the 19th and early 20th centuries. We can assume that the Indian shooting the serpent is Hiawatha. This Indian brave frequently was depicted with a bow and arrow, usually hunting deer. Although I have scoured the poem from stem to stern, I cannot find any reference to Hiawatha besting sea serpents. The encounter depicted on the jug appears to have been the concoction of the artist, identity unknown. December 2020
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FIGURE 5
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 9
FIGURE 10
The second jug depicts the winsome Minnehaha sitting near a waterfall. In Dakota Indian language her name can be translated loosely as “Laughing Water.” The ceramic comes in two colors. In one version the title is complete and the illustration is a crisp dark cobalt (Figure 5). Other examples come in a lighter blue and some may lack the words “Laughing
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
Water” or even “Minnehaha.” The basic design also is found in sepia brown on jugs of two different shapes (Figures 6,7). The third Minnehaha jug has nothing to do with Native Americans. It depicts two sparrow-type birds amidst a floral background that are looking intently at the ground. On closer inspection it would seem that the birds are on an elaborate
Victorian stage, illuminated by rows of footlights. The jug comes both in dark brown and cobalt blue (Figures 8,9). Each bears an elaborate M&J monogram at the back (Figure 10). Thomas Martindale, the man responsible for these attractive containers, was born in 1848 to poor parents in England. He emigrated to the United States at the
phrase meaning “I lead.” (Figure 11). “Weardale” was another Martindale proprietary label and also “Minnehaha.” Martindale’s passion was hunting, but not with bow and arrow. He favored shooting expeditions into the Canadian Northwest and Alaska. A photo of his home showed a sample of his trophies (Figure 12) that included caribou antlers, polar bear skins and the fleece of mountain sheep.
FIGURE 11
age of eight with his family. After trying several occupations in his early years, in 1869 he entered the grocery business in an area of Philadelphia known as “Old City.” He bought a half interest in a small store there but in a short time had built it into a leading Philadelphia grocery and eventually bought out his partner. About 1883, Martindale teamed with a local named William Johnston to open a new grocery at 10th and Market streets. Ironically, given his reputed prejudice against such food items as coffee and sugar, Martindale had no compunctions about liquor. His company was listed in business directories as “Importers, Grocers, Wine and Spirits Merchants.” Whiskey was a mainstay. Martindale’s flagship brand was “Dirigo,” a Latin
As Martindale prepared for a 1916 hunting expedition in Northern British Columbia, friends urged him not to go because of signs of bad health. His doctor disagreed, believing that the open air would be good for the businessman. About one month into the trip, however, Martindale was beset with “boils and carbuncles and a facial disorder that his friends believe to have been paralysis.”
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Failing rapidly, Martindale died far from civilization. His body was carried by his companions on a woodland trail to the nearest railroad line. A special train was dispatched that carried him on to Skagway where his body was embalmed and shipped to the U.S. by steamer. Following funeral services in Philadelphia, he was buried in Westminster Cemetery. When Prohibition was imposed in 1920, Martindale alcoholic products disappeared forever. They are remembered still, however, through the fancy ceramic jugs that Thomas Martindale decreed for many of them.
FIGURE 12
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Merry Christmas flask
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 3
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
FIGURE 1
ks, a holiday tradition...
FIGURE 5 FIGURE 4
Continued on next page...
FIGURE 2
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T
hese interesting little flasks typically held rye whiskey or similar distilled spirits, and were utilized as gifts or premiums by saloons, distillers, hotels and druggists alike. In addition to serving as popular giveaways, they were sometimes offered as incentives for customers to order other products, such as a case of whiskey or cigars. The flasks were prevalent from the mid1890s to shortly after the turn of the previous century. Most were embossed or labeled with the standard greeting, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. However, for the purpose of this article, we thought we would feature a few
examples that are a little more unusual, either in terms of their embossing, or what is depicted on their label. Together, these little flasks represent a unique time period and a holiday tradition from more than a century ago that has given today’s collector one more reason to cheer. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your friends at AB&GC! Note: If you have an unusual Christmas flask, we would love to learn about it. Send us a note, or a photo, and perhaps we can include it in next year’s installment of holiday flasks.
From bartenders, to soldiers, and plum trees: FIGURE 1: A colorful label-under-glass piece, depicts a smiling soldier, likely from the SpanishAmerican War, c.1898, that with a black eye, missing front tooth, tattered ear and bandages on his forehead, with the caption below, “But you ought to see the other fellow.” Below the caption is an image of what appears to be Old Man Winter with two pipes in his mouth. FIGURE 2: Another colorful and unusual scene is shown on this label-under-glass flask, with a jolly old bartender holding a bottle marked, “1891 RYE,” and the message below, “CORKING GOOD STUFF.” This particular example also has a small proprietor label below the scroll, “Compliments of / M.J. MILLER’S SONS / Wholesale and Retail / Liquor Dealers, / Westernport, Md.” These flasks can be found with and without the private proprietor labels. FIGURE 3: A paper label flask with a most unusual Christmas scene with an image of a bearded Santa looking back over his shoulder at a large, twomasted sailing ship sinking in the ocean. Below the scene, in a frame: “A / Merry Christmas / And / A Happy / New Year”, and the proprietor, “JOS. HORTER, ZANESVILLE, O.” It is hard to imagine why this would be depicted as a Christmas scene. The only guesses that we have had is that it somehow pertains to the Spanish-American War.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 4: Someone had a sense of humor creating this label, which shows a young boy, a dog by his side, peeing the words in cursive, “A Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.” Below, is printed the proprietor’s name and city, “DAN LONGBRAKE, LAKE VIEW, OHIO.” FIGURE 5: A clear pumpkinseed flask embossed “MERRY CHRISTMAS” / (image of a plum tree) / “SHAKE THE PLUM TREE.” Apparently, “Shake the Plum Tree” was a slang term in reference to taking advantage of, especially as it relates to political favors. It would seem to have a hidden meaning on a Christmas flask. FIGURE 6: Another fun little flask, this one is embossed “MERRY CHRISTMAS / EVERY DRINK / MAKES THINGS / LOOK DIFFERENT.” Probably no truer words have been said. At least you cannot accuse them of false advertising. FIGURE 7: A cousin of the Christmas flask, the little stoneware mini-jugs stenciled “Merry Christmas And Happy New Year” were also very popular giveaways. As with the glass flasks, the vast majority of these mini-jugs, as one would suspect, held whiskey or other spirits. However, this one is unusual as it contained “TOILET CREAM.” Not something that you would expect, either in this type of container or as a Christmas giveaway.
16
Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
Fruit Jar Rambles Extra By Tom Caniff — Photos by Deena Caniff
POTTERY GLOBE JARS The big cream or white glazed stoneware jar in Photo 1 has sat for many years on a shelf in our kitchen. The one-gallon jar stands approximately 9 1/2” tall to the top of the unmarked, top-seal, pottery lid, which is 5 7/8” in diameter. The jar’s base is 7 1/4” in diameter, its wire bail is seated in two dimples on the sides, and the wooden-handled bail is looped through two projecting ears on the jar’s shoulder. My thought when I first came across this jar was surprise that it had what appeared to be a GLOBE fruit jar closure. That’s still my opinion, although I don’t think I’ve ever seen it described as such by any jar collectors. It does, however, conform to the patent description that applies to Hemingray’s GLOBE jar. Everything’s the same, except for having a top-seal jar finish rather than a straddle-lip top-seal finish like the GLOBE jar, but no mention is made in the patent description stipulating one over the other. Neither does the patent specify the material, glass or stoneware, of which the jars and lids were to have been made. Overall, I’ve always considered myself a “jar collector,” attracted to all types of jars, including glass, stoneware, metal, commercial-product, or home-canning fruit jars. But many collectors are more distinguishing, as is their right (I suspect that all collectors are just a bit nuts, but we don’t all have to be nuts in just the same way). Just as collectors of glass fruit jars might not care a whit for stoneware cousins of their glass jars using the same closures, many stoneware collectors couldn’t care less about the glass counterparts to their stoneware containers. On May 25, 1886, Robert Hemingray, of Covington, Kentucky, was granted his patent #342,602 for a “Fastener For
Jar-Tops,” which covered the glass lid and metal levered-ball clamp that was applied to the GLOBE fruit jars made by the Hemingray Glass Company. The patent relates to “Improvements in Fasteners for Glass-Jar Tops,” stating that the jar cover fits on the elastic gasket “in the usual manner.” Next comes a lid with a central elevation terminating in a “concave” depression, into which a metal ball, “having a fixed handle” and pivoting on the wire yoke, is seated in the concave depression of the lid. The bottom of the lid being seated upon the jar gasket on the jar’s flat lip, “the ball” is adjusted in the depression, and the ball-handle is “brought down until it rests on the lid,” locking the lid into place. Part of Hemingray’s patent drawing is shown in Figure A. Figure 1 depicts the concave depression in the top of the jar lid, while Figure 2 illustrates the lid with the levered-ball seated within the depression and the lever down in the locked position. Photo 2 is of a glass quart GLOBE jar, with its glass lid that was embossed either PAT. APPLD. FOR or PATENTED MAY 25 1886. Seventeen years ago, stoneware collector Marv Juel, of Plainfield, Illinois, shared with us Photo 3, which shows his “four one-gallon ball-lock jars.” The first jar in the upper left is cream colored, with the upper tapered section in dark brown. It bears a shipping label for “Reed’s Bazaar ... Jasper Avenue Telephone ... Edmonton, Alberta.” It is unclear just what was handwritten on the label. PHOTO 1: One-gallon stoneware Globe-closure jar. FIGURE A: The patent drawing for Hemingray's 1886 jar closure. PHOTO 2: Glass quart GLOBE fruit jar.
December 2020
17
Fruit Jar Rambles Extra By Tom Caniff — Photos by Deena Caniff
Reed’s Bazaar reportedly opened on Jasper Avenue in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in November 1905, dealing in tea, coffee, candy, and household supplies. This first location was destroyed by fire in 1912, and upon reopening, its name was changed to Reed’s China and Gift Shop. In 1985, Reed’s marked its 80th anniversary, at that time the second oldest continuing retail business in the city of Edmonton. This crock, says Marv, was made in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, by Medalta Potteries. Medalta was one of Canada’s largest pottery manufacturers, producing water coolers, storage crocks, butter churns, and other wares. The next all cream colored crock, upper right, is identified in the lower center of the jar by Medalta’s oval stamp in black: MEDALTA POTTERIES LTD. MEDICINE HAT ALBERTA. The stoneware jar at lower left, cream colored with a light golden amber glazed top, appears to be unmarked and unlabeled, but Marv affirms that this, too, is a Medalta product. And the cream and brown, ball-lock jar on the lower right, which Marv says was made by Red Wing, carries an oval label for “Dyson’s Red Cross (Red Cross) Pickles The Dyson Co. Winnipeg.”
David J. Dyson in 1887. The WINNIPEG TRIBUNE, of Sept. 25, 1915, carried an article on “The Dyson Company Limited,” in which it was stated that Dyson was “the largest pickle and vinegar factory in the Dominion of Canada, bar none. This enviable position has been reached and maintained by The Dyson Company, whose Red Cross brand of pickles are known intimately in every house from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Coast.” Dyson’s Red Cross trademark was later discontinued by the company to accommodate the International Red Cross Association. Figure C depicts a clear pint jar, 7 1/2” tall, embossed RED CROSS (Cross) PICKLES THE DYSON CO. WINNIPEG. The jar takes a clear glass lid and a Dunkley-style flat metal clamp. (From Edward H. Murray’s CANADIAN FRUIT JAR COLLECTOR newsletter, No.6, November 1975.) The Dyson Co. used a number of other embossed jars and stenciled Weir jars, too. This certainly doesn’t define the whole story of the GLOBE-type, ball-leverclosure crocks. There are several questions about them still outstanding. But it may simply be that these pottery companies decided to take advantage of Hemingray’s patented closure style after his patent rights had expired in May 1900. Or it may be, as has been suggested, the Ball-lever closure was William S. Weir’s improvement on his patented April 16,1901 “Fruit-Jar Cover,” No. 672,049. Whatever the answer may be, they’re an interesting cousin, at least, to Hemingray’s “ball” fastener.
Figure B shows two of the “Ball Lever Self-Sealing Jars” from a circa 1930 poster ad from the Red Wing Union Stoneware Company, Red Wing, Minnesota. The brown and white glazed jar on the left was available in one-half and one-gallon sizes, while the all white glazed jar, with the Red Wing trademark on the front was available in two-, three-, and fivegallon sizes.
PHOTO 3: Four stoneware jars with Globe-style closures.
Dyson’s was a well-known manufacturer of pickles and vinegar, established by
FIGURE C: A Dyson's RED CROSS PICKLES jar.
18
Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
FIGURE B: Two Red Wing "Ball Lever" jars from a circa 1930 ad.
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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
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WANTED: Clarke’s Vegetable Sherry Wine Bitters, Sharon, Mass. All bottle sizes & variants…pontil/smooth base. Also, ANY ephemera..newspaper ads, invoices, letterhead, etc.
THANK YOU. Charlie Martin Jr. 781-248-8620, or cemartinjr@comcast.net
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For Sale d FOR SALE: Books printed and bound, "A History of the DesMoines Potteries, With additional information on Boonesboro, Carlisle, Hartford and Palmyra", 214 pages, 65 color. Cost: $23 plus shipping. Media mail, add $4.50, Priority Mail, add $8.00. MARK C. WISEMAN, 515-344-8333, 3505 Sheridan Ave, DesMoines, IA 50310. 12/20 FOR SALE: The updated Poison Bottle Workbook and Price Guide by Rudy Kuhn. $50.00 plus $7.00 media mail USA. JOAN CABANISS, jjcab@b2xonline.com, Phone: 540-297-4498. 1/21
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FELLOW COLLECTORS/DEALERS: Please, if at all possible, include a name and phone number with your advertisements. Not everyone has a computer, and a physical address does help to make sure that all of our readers can reach you. 12/21 FOR SALE: Green 3 3/4 The Watrous Drug Co, Enid, Oklahoma $125. Green 3 3/4 Harry L. Elwood, Ellenburg, Wash $150. Cobalt 5 1/2 Marsh & Burke, Princeton, NJ $35. chipped lip, 6 7/8 Amber The Dennet Drug Store, Saco, Maine $25. Green 5 3/4 Horton & Converse Pharmacist, $35. BILL SIMON, mtsheller@yahoo.com, 719-239-1923, 534 N. Mission Rd. Wichita, KS 67206. 12/20
FOR SALE: Ferro Quina Kidney & Liver Bitters $300. WANTED: St. Louis Bitters - F.W. Plass & Co - C. Moller Catawba - Hellmans Congress - Crittendes - H.Dieckhoff-Lang & Bernecker Eagle Bitters - Carnharth Kelly - Clark & Stuyvesant Imperial - Landsberg The Adler Co Lange & Bernecker - Magnolia Bitters O.H. Peckham Co. ROBERT McGRAW, 636-671-4064 (8am to 9pm). 12/20 FELLOW COLLECTORS/DEALERS: Please, if at all possible, include a name and phone number with your advertisements. Not everyone has a computer, and a physical address does help to make sure that all of our readers can reach you. Thank you for your consideration. 12/21
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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. 7/21
ANTIQUES ON FIRST - 919 FIRST ST. BENICIA, CA. When visiting the S.F. Bay Area or Napa Wine Country, be sure to stop in nearby historic downtown Benicia; a nationally designated small town “Main Street” with shops, restaurants and magnificent Bay views. Also location of the Gold Rush era brick State Capitol museum, Civil War Camel Barns military/ local museum, and legendary former waterfront Bottle Digging bonanza of the West (“Benicia Glass”, Balto torpedoes, cathedrals, sodas, bitters, pontiles). ANTIQUES ON FIRST has a rotating selection of locally dug Bottles, Clocks, Militaria, Railroadiana, Art, Advertising and more. Open Wed thru Sun 12:00 (often earlier) to 5:30. 9/21
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
"CMK's" booth at the Stone Soup Antiques Gallery in Ballston Spa, N.Y. offers a very large selection of high quality 19th century bottles including: flasks, medicines, bitters, inks, canning jars, and a dedicated cabinet of Saratoga N.Y. mineral waters. Associated wood crates for medicines, sodas and mineral water also available. The majority come from my extensive personal collection. 12/20
Wanted d WANTED: Connecticut drug store, pharmacy or apothecary bottles. Embossed or labeled. We collect, research and document Connecticut drug stores. STEVE POULIOT, 860-608-7208, steve@ctbottleman.com 12/20 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
WANTED: Waite Farm Baldwinville Mass Early tin-top Milk bottle. LINDA HIETALA, jlhietala@comcast.net, Phone: 978-632-1976. 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: 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: PHILADELPHIA STRAPSIDED or Seamed Whiskey Flasks. I collect and catalog these and also have an interest in Thomas H. Dillon (TD) Philadelphia mineral water bottles. Please contact me if you have any in your collection or wish to sell. ART MIRON, 215-248-4612. jestar484@verizon.net 4/21 WANTED: BUYING Pre-Pro etched & amp; embossed beer brewery glasses; whiskey shot glasses; pre-pro brewery mugs, steins including souvenir steins mugs; souvenir china; old advertising material: signs, trays, mirrors, saloon material; back bar whiskey bottles; other early American bottles, flasks, bitters, especially from Kentucky. PAUL VanVACTOR, Phone: 502-533-2693, email: pvanvactor@aol.com P.O. Box 221171, Louisville, KY 40252-1171. WANTED: George Ohr Pottery Cabins. Or Cabin Inks. BOB TERRY, 303-5692502, llterryualusa@yahoo.com 9/21 WANTED: Will pay a fair price for these Hutchinson Bottles - 1. E.B. Co. / Evansville / Ind. 10 sided panels2, P.G. Stephen / Buffalo / NY 8 sided panels3. E.L. Winans / Buffalo / NY 12 sided panels. ZANG WOOD, Zapa33-51@msn.com, 505-3271316, 1612 Camino Rio Farmington, NM 87401. 12/20 December 2020
23
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WANTED: Collecting York County Penna. and surrounding areas. All early forms. 717862-1040. 12/20 WANTED: Looking for a few milk bottles: "L.H.Cooley" - St. Johnsville, NY, "Mamrosh Dairy" - Salisbury Center, NY and "McCarthy Dairy" - Little Falls, NY. rjpeets721@gmail.com, 315-429-9952. 12/20 WANTED: In search of Olive Green Paul Jones Blob-Seal Gin Bottle. I saw one for sale and didn't buy it 40 years ago, so I know at least one existed. Also, always looking for good Kilmer Bottles and ephemera. JOHN GOLLEY, Bygolley@msn.com, 315-4157989. 12/20 WANTED: Salt & Pepper Shakers from Fairway Dairy, No. Billerica Mass, Milk Bottles from Billerica Mass (embossed & pyros) and just pyro milks from Lowell Mass. TOM PASKIEWICZ, tomp342@comcast. net, 978-337-9919. 12/20 WANTED: Brooklyn slug plate strap flasks. Long Island script & stencil jugs. Long Island and Brooklyn stoneware. MARK SMITH, libottle@optonline.net, 631-589-9027, 90 Holmes Court Sayville, NY 11782. 12/20 WANTED: Rare pontiled meds. Shnapps, spirits, bitters, especially Southern Pa and Ohio. Will trade also. 941-220-9123, mmorgandive@gmail.com 12/20 WANTED: Almost anything marked "Colorado Territory" ... bottles, hard goods, billheads, trade cards, other paper ephemera, Colorado Territory maps, etc. No reproductions, please. Thank you. donfritschel@gmail.com 2/21 WANTED: DRUG BOTTLES - Embossed Only, Name/Must have City, State. When retire in 2022, create team to compile all drug bottles in all 50 states. Offer to public on E-bay, etc. -- reactivate interest in collecting through ancestry/genealogy. I cannot be active until 6/22. WILL, kanza1859@gmail. com. 1/21
24
Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
FELLOW COLLECTORS/DEALERS: Please, if at all possible, include a name and phone number with your advertisements. Not everyone has a computer, and a physical address does help to make sure that all of our readers can reach you. 12/20 WANTED: Amber CT Strapside Flasks. Conn Sodas, Iron Pontil Medicines, Small Stoneware Jugs. BILL, 203-314-4765. 12/20 WANTED: Georgia small town bottles, collections, anything Royal Crown, Nehi, Chero Cola. ROSCOE GOOGE, r.googe46@gmail.com, 770-335-4861. Marietta, Georgia. 12/20 WANTED: I'm still looking to buy any rare Gallia County, Ohio milk bottles. Rio Grande Dairy, Butler Dairy, Sprigel Dairy and The RARE Brinkman Dairy - Rodney Ohio. Also old marbles in Gallia County, Ohio. Will pay top dollar on rare bottles. ERIN MESHELL, peroe53@gmail.com, 740-441-1236. 12/20 WANTED: Bottles, Boxes, Advertisements from Litchfield Illinois Creamery Bottles, Sodas, etc. Especially want materials from live Maple Saloon, Litchfield Illinois AND Manhattan Beer Bottles from Litchfield. Also Macoupin County bottles! BRAD SANDERS, 618-402-4420. 12/20 WANTED: AMERICAN CASE GINS, Pre-1880, Embossed, Labeled or Sealed. actiques@aol.com, 845-564-4130. 12/20 WANTED: S.O. Richardson's Bitters So. Reading in Flint Glass. To complete my collection. Please leave message. DAN, 339-440-0383. 12/20 WANTED: Hoffheimer Bros. Bavarian Bitters, Prepro, out of Cincinnati OH or labels with above. Looking for any adverts, labels, etc. MARCIA HOFFHEIMER, MHoffheimer@gmail.com 12/20 WANTED: Bottles with ROTH on them. Also bottles from Norway - Sweden & Denmark. Bimal please. JAMES ROTH, digger@far.midco.net, 701-541-7097. 12/20
WANTED: Veazey & Forbes, Wheeling, WV Fruit Jar. Stone Beer Bottle from: National Brewing Co, Baltimore, MD. J.W.Hunter, Wheeling WV Fruit Jar. Fridley & Cornman's Patent Oct. 25th 1859 Ladies Choice Qt. Chas. Miller Blob Beer Bridgeport, Ohio. TOM CHICKERY, 740-296-9430. 12/20 WANTED: Medicinal Tonics. MARTY, roadrunner@centurylink.net, Phone: 260367-2400. 1/21 WANTED: Citrate of Magnesia Bottles, all kinds. Stump of the World Bottle. Advertising cards and books on Citrate of Magnesia Bottles. Milk Bottles & Books. (Advertising cards of all kinds, mostly Citrate of Magnesia). THE STUMP, 134 Felton Ave, Sharron Hill PA 19079. 12/20 WANTED: Better Albany N.Y. bottles and flasks, L.Q.C. Wisharts in rare colors / all variants. Guilderland, N.Y. Stoneware. DON KELLY, dmebottles@aol.com, Phone: 518365-3783. 12/21 WANTED: 1970's milk glass Mason's 1858 1/2 gallon fruit jar. LOREN ACKERMAN, 360-736-7138. 12/20 WANTED: Any bottles or glassware from Howard Beach or Ozone Park. JOHN SCARPATI, jmed91@gmail.com 1/21 WANTED: Historic flasks So. NH Glass Houses, NE Mineral Waters, Sodas, Saratogas, Ashburnham Winchendon (Mass) Meds, Dairies, Sodas or Stoneware, Related Paraphernalia, Auction Price Reports, Dig Articles (Author), Tumblers Dig Sights. Buddy, Uncle Joe got me into this! LANE, 603-513-9669. 12/20 WANTED: Canal Dover, Ohio and early Dover Ohio items. Top prices paid for the unique and unusual! Hi Smitty & R.I.P. Dennis - Ohio Bottle Club #1. STEVE, 330-364-3302. 12/20 WANTED: Old Marbles. Will pay top $$$$! BOB GEIS, rhgeis@me.com, Phone: 410299-2800. 3/21
Show CALENDAR JANUARY 10, 2021
FEBRUARY 7
MARCH 14
TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS
MANVILLE, NEW JERSEY
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
The Little Rhody Bottle Club Annual Show & Sale, (9:00 AM to 3 PM, early buyers 8:00 AM, $15), at the Holiday Inn, 700 Myles Standish Blvd., Taunton, MA (off Exit 9, Rt. 495). Adm. $3. Info: BILL or LINDA ROSE, PH: 508.880.4929; or Email: sierramadre@comcast.net
New Jersey Antique Bottle Club (NJABC), 25th Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM) at the V.F.W. of Manville, New Jersey, 600 Washington Ave, Manville, NJ 08835. Admission $3, no early buyers. Info: KEVIN KYLE, 230 Cedarville Rd, East Windsor, NJ 08520. Email: bottlediggerkev@aol.com PH. 609.209.4034 or JOHN LAWREY, 908.813.2334.
The Baltimore Antique Bottle Club's 41st Annual Show & Sale, (8 AM to 3 PM), at the Physical Education Center, CCBC-Essex, 7201 Rossville Blvd. (I-695,Exit 34). Info: Show Chairman RICK LEASE, 410-458-9405 or email: finksburg21@comcast.net For contracts, call: ANDY AGNEW, 410-527-1707 or e-mail: medbotls@comcast.net Website: baltimorebottleclub.org
FEBRUARY 14
MARCH 21
COLUMBUS, OHIO
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
The Central Ohio Antique Bottle Club's 51st Annual Show & Sale, (Sunday, 9 AM to 2 PM; early buyers 7:00 AM - 9 AM, $20), at the Doubletree Inn, 175 Hutchinson Ave., Columbus (I-270 & Rt. 23). Adm. $3. Info: ROJER MOODY, PH: 740.703.4913, Email: rtmoody@juno.com; or: BRAD FUNK, Email: bradfunk@yahoo.com or PH: 614.264.7846.
The St. Louis Antique Bottle Collectors Assoc. is pleased to present their 51st Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2 PM), at Orlando Gardens, 4300 Hoffmeister (off Union Road), St. Louis. Adm. $3, children free. Info: PAT JETT, 71 Outlook Drive, Hillsboro, MO 63050; PH: 314.570.6917; email: patsy_jett@ yahoo.com
FEBRUARY 27
KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN
GRAND RAPIDS, 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.
JANUARY 23 JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI
Mississippi Antique Bottle Club presents their 35th Annual Show and Sale, (Sat. 9 AM to 4 PM, Free admission; Dealer Set-up and Early Buyers, Friday, 22nd, 12 Noon to 7 PM, $20.00, and Sat. 7 AM - 9 AM), at the Mississippi Fairgrounds, 1207 Mississippi St, Jackson, in the East Bay of the Trade Mart Building. Info: CHERYL COMANS, PH: 601.218.3505. FEBRUARY 6 DeFUNIAK SPRINGS, FLORIDA
The Emerald Coast Bottle Collector's Inc, 20th Annual Show & Sale, (8:00 AM to 2:00 PM), at the DeFuniak Springs Community Center, 361 N. 10th Street, DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433. Free Adm., Free Appraisals. Info: RICHARD K, P.O. Box 241, Pensacola, FL 32591. Call or Text: 850.435.5425; Email: shards@bellsouth.net
The West Michigan Antique Bottle Club presents its 30th Annual Show & Sale (10AM - 2PM) at the Fonger American Legion Post, 2327 Wilson, S.W., Grand Rapids, MI. Entry donation $3, children free. Info: STEVE DEBOODE, 616.667.0214; Email: thebottleguy@ comcast.net or; ROGER DENSLOW, Email: rogerdcoger@gmail.com or Phone: 616.447.9156.
APRIL 10
December 2020
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Show CALENDAR APRIL 17
JULY 18
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA
ROTTERDAM JUNCTION, NEW YORK
New date, Larger and better Location! The South Carolina Antique Bottle Club's 48th Annual Show & Sale, (9 AM to 4:30 PM; dealer set-up 7:30 AM to 9 AM), at the Jamil Shrine Temple, 206 Jamil Road, Columbia, SC. Info: MARTY VOLLMER, PH 803.629.8553, email: martyvollmer@aol.com, or ERIC WARREN, PH: 803.960.7814, email: scbottles@aol.com
New date, New location! The Capital Region Antique Bottle Club outdoor Show & Sale, at the Historic Mabee Farm along the Mohawk River, 1100 Main Street, Rotterdam, NY (exit 1, Rt. 5S off 890). Info: ADAM STODDARD, PH: 518.256.7663; Email: acstoddard63@gmail.com, or: PHIL BERNNARD, PH: 518.429.7641; Email: explomar@hotmail.com
JUNE 6
AUGUST 6 & 7
BALLSTON SPA, NEW YORK
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK
The National Bottle Museum presents the Annual Saratoga Springs Show & Sale, (9 AM to 2:30 PM; early adm. 8 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; Email: info@nationalbottlemuseum.org.
FOHBC 2021 National Antique Bottle Show, OnCenter Civic Center, Syracuse, N.Y. View and download info. packet & contract at fohbc.org. Additional info: JIM & VAL BERRY, Email: jhberry10@ yahoo.com, or: JIM BENDER, Email: jbender@millservicesinc.com. FOHBC National Show – Eastern Region.
JUNE 19 JOHNSTON, IOWA
Rescheduled from October 10, 2020. The Iowa Antique Bottleers 51st Annual Show and Sale, (8 AM to 2 PM), at the Johnston Lions Club, 64th Place and Merle Hay Road, Johnston, IA. Adm. $2, children free. Info: MARK C. WISEMAN, 3505 Sheridan Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310-4557, Email: markcwiseman@msn.com, PH: 515.344.8333, or JOYCE JESSEN, 515.979.5216.
JULY 28 - AUGUST 1, 2022 RENO, NEVADA
FOHBC 2022 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.
Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
Antique Bottle & Glass Collector is looking for great digging stories! Do you have an interesting digging (or diving), story that you would like to share with your fellow readers? Let us know, as we would love to include recent finds and funny stories in one of our upcoming issues. And don’t forget about the Antique Bottle & Glass Collector Writer’s Contest: you may also win a great bottle! Send articles (and don’t forget to include plenty of good images) to:
Remember: Advertising doesn’t cost,
IT PAYS! A display ad this size costs only $30.00 for one month. What are you waiting for? Call us today!
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Publisher’s Note:
Antique Bottle & Glass Collector Attn: Editor P.O. Box 227 New Hudson, MI 48165 Phone: 248.486.0530 Email: jpastor@americanglassgallery.com
Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 Soon to Print Close to 500 pages of new and updated material! By Bill Ham
W
hen Bitters Bottles was published in 1998, I thought that it probably included essentially all the various bitters bottles. I was rather surprised when several unlisted bitters bottles were brought into the Antique Bottle and Glass Collector Extravaganza Show at Valley Forge Labor Day weekend in 1998, when the book was released. Collecting information for a supplement was started that weekend, and the first Bitters Bottles Supplement was published in 2004. Since that publication, many more bottles have been discovered, and much more information has become available. This Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 has resulted from that additional cataloging. Collectors are deeply indebted to all those who have worked on this ongoing project of cataloging bitters bottles, going back to Van Rensselaer’s original publications. The cataloging of bitters as a separate category began with J. H. Thompson’s Bitters Bottles, published in 1947, which was followed by Works of Art, by Jewell Umberger and Ed Bartholomew. The work of Richard Watson in Bitters Bottles, published in 1965, was the first to include accurate drawings of the bottles with their embossing. Western Bitters, published by Bill and Betty Wilson, combined the cataloging of Western brands with historical information on the producers and agents for the products. December 2020
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The work of Carlyn Ring in For Bitters Only, illustrated by Diane Wheaton, published in 1980, combined accurate drawings of the bottles with their embossing with related material and introduced a measurement system for the bottles. Her publication helped bitters become one of the most prized and collected categories of antique bottles. Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 continues building on all the previously published information.
1. Introductory Material
The earlier publications listed primarily bottles with the word ‘Bitters’ embossed on the glass. Later books began listing label bottles with the word ‘Bitters’ in advertisements and ephemera.
8. Index (includes all three Bitters Bottles books)
The system of cataloging started by Carlyn Ring was to put the bottles in alphabetical order based on the first word on the panel that had the word ‘Bitters’ embossed. Then, as numbers were given to label only or ephemera identified brands, when bottles of the brand were later found with ‘Bitters’ embossed, the previous system of listing with first word on side with ‘Bitters’ embossed often became inconsistent with that of the previous cataloging. Therefore, one should look for a brand not only by the alphabetized first word on the side with ‘Bitters’ embossed but also by the manufacturer or proprietor or any way the brand might be listed. The index for Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 includes both the Bitters Bottles and the Bitters Bottles Supplement material. With Bitters Bottles Supplement 2, all the previously cataloged material is included in the index, and it also includes much more extensive indexing of the material in the previous books.
r Information in Bitters Bottles Supplement 2 has been divided and placed in sections as follows. The top collections in each instance have been accessed for inclusion.
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
2. New and Updated Cataloging 3. Color Plates (Bitters Bottles) 4. Color Plates (Bitters Postal Covers) 5. Color Plates (Bitters Covers) 6. Color Plates (Facsimile Currency) 7. Color Plates (Shell Cards & Tokens)
A work of this nature cannot be complete. Just as previous researchers stopped at some point and presented their work, we believe that the additional information found in this book justifies its now being presented to collectors. There will be additional discoveries, which we leave for future publications. Digital files have already been started for Bitters Bottles Supplement 3. This massive document has voluminous quantities of highly detailed information. Although it was submitted to extensive review and editing, there undoubtedly will be errors and omissions. Future information and discoveries should now be sent to Ferdinand Meyer V, who will continue the cataloging of bitters bottles and related material for possible future publications. I am very indebted to Ferdinand, who has encouraged me in the preparation of this book and made the information on his Peachridge Glass website available for inclusion. He has assisted me with this publication including providing information, research, and editing of the text, and he produced the final layout for publication. Ferdinand also thoroughly indexed all three Bitters Bottles books. Without his help, this book would still be in draft. Available this Fall! Please reserve your copy now. Thank you.
ATTENTION READERS: Due to COVID-19 precautions, a number of upcoming bottle shows have been postponed or cancelled. Please check with local show chairperson to see if your favorite shows are affected. We will have further updates in future issues as new information becomes available. Thanks.
Remember: Advertising doesn’t cost,
IT PAYS!
A display ad this size costs only $30.00 for one month. What are you waiting for? Call us today!
A Visit from Old Saint Nick We all need a little Christmas, right this very minute
I
t’s been a tough year. In many ways, which I will not remind us all of, it’s been a really difficult year. However, it’s the Christmas season and even if you are not a Christian celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, my wish for you is that you may enjoy this end-of-the-year season when hopefully we can all experience a little bit of the spirit of “peace on earth and good will toward all.” If I may for a few moments, I would like to take you back to a time when things were, at least for me, so much more simpler. When I was a youngster, we looked forward to Christmas with great enthusiasm. I’d get a break from school, there would be cousins and other family to visit with, and, of course, there would be the gifts under the tree. Dad actually got the day off, and because he was my best friend, that was very, very cool. The tree in our house always had bubble lights and tinsel, and my Lionel trains ran underneath. We weren’t rich, but my Dad always made sure we had nice gifts. For me, one of those gifts always included something new for the train layout. There was a late November ritual, you would always get a new Lionel catalog from the hardware store and then you would dream. I think my Dad somehow listened to those dreams very carefully as it seemed he always knew what it was I dreamt most of. How could he possibly know that the Tie Jector Car and the Bosco car were at the top of the list? But he did.
"Yup, that's your author and his best friend in the world at Christmas with Lionel Trains under the tree."
We weren’t rich, but we were happy. I know now how lucky I was to be brought up in that kind of world. To make that world even better, we lived upstairs from Uncle Herman, because that’s what you did in those days, you sort of kept things in the family. In a previous article, I mentioned my Uncle Herman, who lived downstairs with Aunt Elsa. He was really a great uncle by blood, and we spent many days together in my youth. Uncle Herman was, in fact, a true sailor from Germany, and one of my heroes. He started his long sailing career as a cabin boy to the captain on an early sailing vessel. That deal was struck, I was
later told, because his family could not afford to keep him at an early age. Many years later, when the ship was in port in New York City, Uncle Herman, now a veteran sailor, decided it was time to go ashore and start that part of our family tree here in New Jersey. Tales of going around the Horn and of far away exotic ports were among the wonderful stories Uncle Herman would explain in great detail to me, and I thought they were great adventures. And so now, to tie this all together, let me explain that it was at the Christmas season that first I heard the name and learned about Sinterklaas from my Uncle Herman. December 2020
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In the 4th Century, Nicholas of Myra became a bishop. He became the patron saint of many, including Russia and Greece. Most importantly to Uncle Herman, Nicholas was also the patron saint of sailors. His kind acts were well known and led to legends of miracles performed for the poor and needy. When researching St. Nicholas, one miracle I found included restoring life to three boys who had been cut up by a butcher and thrown into a vat of brine. Good Grief!
Oh! Forgive me! I’m supposed to be writing about bitters bottles! Too easy, right? In the spirit of old St. Nicholas, let’s take a look at one of the neatest-shaped bitters bottles around.
Further research shows he was also the patron saint of children and unmarried girls. He reportedly once paid the way for three young girls out of poverty who would have been forced into prostitution.
S 16 f // ST ( sd ) / NICHOLAS ( sd ) / STOMACH ( sd ) / BITTERS (sd ) // f // IMPORTED ( sd ) / BY ( sd ) / GENTRY ( sd ) / & OTIS, (sd ) / N.Y. ( sd) //
Many churches were named for St. Nicholas, but his popularity waned throughout Europe after the period of time known as the Reformation, except in Holland, where his reputation as a generous miracle worker persisted. Sinterklaas was the Dutch version of St. Nicholas, and it was the Dutch immigrants who brought his legend with them when they settled New Amsterdam, or as we call it today, New York City. Sinterklaas morphed into Santa Claus, a jolly old fellow who rewarded youngsters with gifts for good behavior.
Tapered rectangular, amber, LTC, applied mouth, rough pontil mark and metallic pontil mark, extremely rare.
Actually, the fable also speaks of punishing bad children and even today we talk about getting coal in your stocking. My three kids always got one piece of coal in their stocking yearly to remind them that at times they weren’t, let us say, angels! Uncle Herman spoke of leaving shoes out at night and finding gifts in them the following morning at Christmas. Now, I’m not sure if all that is completely accurate, but there’s still a part of me that wants to believe in Santa thanks to Uncle Herman. LEFT: An early ad for St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters depicting a labeled bottle.
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
There are, in fact, two sizes of the St. Nicholas Bitters. While both are very, very scarce, one is even more rare than the other. Bitters Bottles Supplement #1 by Carlyn Ring and Bill Ham list the two as follows:
9 3/8 x 3 3/8 x 3 (7 3/8) 5/16
TMS 388, WIL 19cMed p80 S 16 is larger and much rarer than the smaller S 17 bottle. Most S 16 examples are heavily etched and damaged. An example was found in an estate in Texas, and examples were dug in New Orleans. S 17 f // ST ( sd ) / NICHOLAS ( sd ) / STOMACH ( sd ) / BITTERS (sd ) // f // IMPORTED ( sd ) / BY ( sd ) / GENTRY ( sd ) / & OTIS, (sd ) / N.Y. ( sd) // 7 1/2 x 2 3/4 x 2 1/2 (5 3/4) 3/8 Tapered rectangular, amber, LTC, rough pontil mark and metallic pontil mark, very rare. A number of examples were dug in San Jose, California. Example found in Lake Tahoe. By now, if you’re reading carefully, you’re wondering where in the world was this bitters made. I was able to find an advertisement dated Nov. 10, 1858 in a Texas newspaper, but the same Gentry and
Otis combination shows up as wholesale grocers in New York City, also in 1858. The bottles themselves, with their wild pontils and that “early amber” coloration, bear truth to that timeline as pre-Civil War bottles. When you read carefully the notes in Bitters Bottles, it speaks of bottles being found in California, Texas and New Orleans. Furthermore, I have personal knowledge of an example of this bottle being dug in, of all places, lower Jersey City, N.J., my hometown just across the river from the Big Apple. Let us not forget that the bottle is embossed N.Y. as well. At any rate, you be the judge. The bottom line is that it is truly a wonderful early bottle. The first time I ever handled this bottle in person was at the FOHBC Expo in Toledo. If my memory serves me correctly it was under dome-shaped glass on the table of friends of mine, Dian and Wes from New England. What a crude, early thing it was, and I remembered how I thought it would be so cool to own one someday. Later on, when I produced my price guide in the late 1980s through the 2010 period, I realized how difficult a quest it was, as only one sale of the S 16 large size St. Nicholas was recorded. Even the more available smaller S 17 only had five recorded auction sales during that period. For the record, the S 16 brought $9,360 in March of 2010 and had been in the Greer collection. While damaged examples of the S 16 realize a bit short of $1,000, a cleaned but perfect example realized over $3,400 in 1998 and a nice example with a possibly buffed corner reached $2,223 in 2010. Private sales aside, this is a bottle you just don’t get many chances at. I have to tell you that I know I am one of the luckiest guys in the world to be able to have both sizes in undamaged condition
Advertisement from Galveston, Texas, for St. Nicholas Stomach Bitters.
on my shelf. The larger S 16 has a wild open pontil and I think is more towards the yellow end of the color wheel. These wedge-shaped beauties are really top shelf for me. With the help of a post in Peachridge, as well as Jim Schmidt, who once wrote for this magazine, and Ralph Finch, ex-newsman extraordinaire, I was able to come up with and share with you now an ad which was actually the label for this bottle. Yes, it really does show Sinterklaas on his way down the chimney with his sack which contains, yes, you guessed it, a bottle of St. Nicholas Bitters. But this is Christmas and, if I may, I’d like to ask you to read carefully the poem on the following page, which I heard for many years as a child around the Christmas Yuletide Season. I so clearly remember my mom had a Perry Como album
with this poem fit in between many Christmas standards on a 33 1/3 longplaying album. I still play it yearly, but in CD form. You have heard the poem before but it is important for you to read it again, this time letting the feeling of peace and better times soak into you. You know the poem, it was written in 1822 by an anonymous author. A friend of that author who wished to remain in the shadows sent the poem to the New York Sentinel, who first published it two days before Christmas in 1823. It was a big hit! It wasn’t until 1844 that Clement Clark Moore stepped forward and took the rightful credit for his work. Interestingly enough, he changed our perception of St. Nicholas, as before this poem Santa had never been associated with a sleigh with reindeers. To all of you, my dear bottle family, Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night. December 2020
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Twas the Night Before Christmas
or, A Visit from St. Nicholas By Clement Clarke Moore Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there. The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads. And mama in her kerchief and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winters nap.
"Guess who that is with old St. Nicholas?" asks Bob Strickhart.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer With a little old driver, so lively and quick I knew in a moment it must be Saint Nick More rapid than eagles his courses they came And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name
His eyes - how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His drool little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now Dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly, dThat shook when he left like a bowlful of jelly
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky So up to the house top the coursers they flew With a sleigh full of toys, and Saint Nicholas too.
He was chubby and plump. a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself! A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney Saint Nicholas came with a bound
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk. And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!
He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot A bundle of toys he had flung on his back And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight, “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
This image shows the opposite sides of the two St. Nicholas Bitters.
RIGHT: Close up of the larger R/H #S16 example. Both examples, the large S-16, as well as the smaller S-17, have the unique wedge design. LEFT: Both St. Nicholas Bitters decked out for Christmas.
December 2020
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Rare Painted Demijohn is Truly a Dutch Treat By Ralph Finch
A
mong the dozen (two dozen?) things we like to collect are rare museum-quality painted demijohns. How rare? Over the last ten years we have amassed only fourteen, purchased from most of the important U.S. glass dealers, and a pair from an auction house in Belgium which both survived being shipped across the ocean.
Two years ago we were willing to go up to $14,000 for an absolutely awesome and very large demijohn with several ships in full battle, cannons firing, with two ships aflame. With a $14,000 budget, we thought maybe we had a chance, until we asked Jim Hagenbuch how much he was willing to bid. His answer, “Until I got it!” But it got worse. We already knew it had a crack, but before the auction was over, it looked like someone at the Chicago firm had tried to bounce a brick off it, almost shattering one side. Sigh. But, in late October, at an antiques website called “1stdibs.com,” a firm located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, offered the 17-inch high demijohn shown here. The description said: “Beautiful Dutch Demijohn. Hand-blown; with naval battle scene. Portrait of Dutch admiral *Maarten Tromp, ‘The bravest and most skillful enemy then known to the English navy.’ Rare museum quality, circa 1750-90. Origin: Holland.” At the end it added, “Make an offer.” Since even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in awhile, we Finch nuts thought we would offer $4,000. How did we do?
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
The antique firm replied with $20,000! Hmmmm. Close but … Anyone got a painted demijohn at a waaaaay lower price? Just email rfinch@twmi.rr.com.
r
FYI: Wikipedia added (edited): *Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp (also written as Maerten Tromp; April 23, 1598 to August 10 1653, (killed in the Battle of Scheveningen). He was a Dutch army general and admiral in the Dutch navy. “Born in Brill, Tromp was the oldest son of Harpert Maertensz, a naval officer and captain of the frigate Olifantstromp (“Elephant Trunk”). The name Tromp most probably derives from the name of the ship; it first appeared in 1607. “His mother supplemented the family’s income as a washerwoman. At the age of nine, Tromp went to sea with his father, and he was present in a squadron covering the Dutch main fleet fighting the Battle of Gibraltar in 1607. “In 1610, after his father’s discharge because of a navy reorganization, the Tromps were on their way to Guinea on their merchantman when they were attacked by a squadron of seven ships under command of English pirate Peter Easton. During the fight, Tromp’s father was slain by a cannonball. According to legend, the 12-year-old boy rallied the crew with the cry, “Won’t you avenge my father’s death?” The pirates seized him and sold him on the slave market of Salé. Two years later, Easton was moved by pity and ordered his redemption.
The renowned 17th century Dutch admiral Maerten Tromp, ‘The bravest and most skillful enemy then known to the English navy.’
“Tromp went to sea again at 19, briefly working for the navy, but he was captured again in 1621 after having rejoined the merchant fleet, this time by Barbary corsairs off Tunis. He was kept as a slave until the age of 24. “During the First Anglo-Dutch War of 1652-53, Tromp commanded the Dutch fleet in the battles of Dover, Dungeness, Portland, the Gabbard and Scheveningen. In the latter, he was killed by a sharpshooter in the rigging of William Penn’s ship.” (Penn? Yep, the very same founder of Pennsylvania.) Now that I’ve learned all that history, $20,000 for the demijohn does seem to be a fair price.
RIGHT: A close look of one of the ships involved in the battle.
FOREGROUND: THE $20,000 demijohn offered by the antiques website 1stdibs.com. BACKGROUND: WIlliam Penn aboard his ship WELCOME with settlers on the way to America.
December 2020
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Courtesy of Joe Gourd, this trade card is the cat’s meow.
A Tilton Dandelion Bitters? You’re my *huckleberry if you have one of these
R
alph Finch recently came across this auction item and writes: It is different, unusual, and of modest size … wait, that’s what Janet thinks about me. A Cazenovia, N.Y., auction house, Wm. Morford, described it as Lot 91, 11.75 inches high, “a nice, early wicker-wrapped amber medicine bottle featuring beautiful label under glass advertising label for Tilton’s Dandelion Bitters. Label is clean and displays very well w/ minor haziness in outer background; w/ a little scattered wicker loss to outer protective wrap.” In late August the Finches tried to soar, but we were an underbidder. It sold for $2,100 plus an 18 percent buyer’s premium. No, I’m not a bitters collector, but found it attractive. I also found only a modest amount of information about it, and most of what follows is courtesy of Ed and Kathy Gray of DuBois, Pa., Ferd Meyer of Peachridge Glass, and Carlyn Ring and W.C. Ham.
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
One example is from GreatAntiqueBottles.com (Ed and Kathy Gray’s website), which described the bottle (previously sold privately) as: “TILTON’S DANDELION BITTERS on multicolored label under glass, cylindrical, amber, covered with wicker, 11 3/8” high, applied top, original metal stopper. Near perfect condition, a great example of this extremely rare bottle. Ex-Gardner collection Lot 2165, America circa 1870-80.”
“$935 in 1991 and $825 in 1993, respectively. I personally like the bottle and think it’s great. I’m not a label guy but this is nice. To me, the wicker makes it very cool.”
The Ring/Ham listing is as follows: T 30 L … Tilton’s Dandelion Bitters
Label is reverse painted on glass. Drug catalogs: 1876-7, 1880 and 1885.
On his Peachridge website, Ferd Meyer wrote: “I could not find any references to a Tilton’s Dandelion Bitters, but there are references to a Dr. J.C. Tilton’s Indian Balm Pills and Indian Balm Medicated Toilet Soap from Pittsburg (Pittsburgh). Dr. Tilton was also selling a D. Karsner’s Catarrh Remedy. I wonder if J. C. is our man? Interesting to note that Ed Gray is from the Pittsburgh area.”
Bitters expert Bob Strickhart of New Jersey did a little research and reported that two times the bottle has sold, for
Later, in 2015, www.peachridgeglass.com added: “Found the correct Tilton; this labeled example tells us: DR. TILTON’S
/ s // PATENT / b / DYOTTVILLE GLASWORKS PHILA 5 0 11 3/8 x 3 1/8 (6 3/8). Round, amber, LTCR, body is covered in wicker.
“It’s a great bottle; really rare,” said Ed Gray. “Until I heard of the Morford example, that’s the only one for years.” (See: E. Mishler Wild Cherry Bitters, a very similar bottle.)
DANDELION BITTERS. ‘prepared under the supervison of J.A. Tilton, MD, Newburyport, Mass.’ and ‘entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by James A. Tilton, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts’.”
The reverse of the card shown on the previous page advertises Richardson’s Cough Drops.
*And, courtesy of Wikipedia: In the movie Tombstone, “One of the most iconic parts of the entire film is the line ‘I’m your huckleberry,’ which is, of course, said by Doc Holliday. It’s likely that the line means ‘I’m your man,’ in reference to a challenge. It might also be a reference to Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. He is the sidekick to Tom Sawyer.” Trade card king Joe Gourd of Winfield, Ill., offered: “This is what I have for Ham/Ring T 28 Tilton’s Bitters. Can’t say for certain that this is made by the same company that put out Ham/Ring T 30 Tilton’s Dandelion Bitters. Main one says Dr. Tilton and the other doesn’t. Neither my trade card nor Tilton’s Dandelion Bitters mention where they where manufactured to help us with identification. There is also a Dr. Tilton’s Ham/ Ring T 28 Compound Dandelion Bitters prepared by James A. Tilton, M.D. of Newburyport, Mass. Hope your research helps to clear up some of the confusion associated with these bitters. “My trade card is a die cut. The reverse carries an additional advertisement for C.H. Richardson’s Cough Drops. This matches Ham/Ring T 28 Compound Dandelion Bitters prepared by James A. Tilton, M.D., and Ham/Ring T 29.5 Dr. Tilton’s Bitters / C.H. Richardson / Newbury POT (Pottery). My guess is that they are all made by the same company.” Another Dandelion Bitters is from the Beggs Manufacturing Co., which put out a wide variety of medicines and remedies such as Beggs Hair Renewer, Beggs Blood Purifier & Blood Maker, Beggs Soothing Syrup, Beggs Cherry Cough Syrup, Beggs Tropical Oil, Beggs Vegetable Liver Pills, Beggs German Salve, Beggs Diarrhea Balsam, Beggs Royal Tooth Soap, and Beggs’ Dandelion Bitters.
LEFT: Ed and Kathy Gray’s example has the original stopper. Lot 2165 sold for $275 at Bob Skinner’s 1975 auction of the Charles Gardner auction. The 2870 sticker on the stopper refers to Charles’s number. ABOVE: Close-up of the Tilton's label. BOTTOM: Beggs' Dandelion Bitters ad.
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Henry Edmunds Watts, a Bottler of Beer in Columbia, South Carolina from 1897-1907 By Joe Brock
T
here is no information during the pre-1860s on beer producers or breweries in Columbia, South Carolina. This would indicate that beer producers had to rely on kegs, pottery, or other means to distribute their product. In the early 1880s the City Directory of Columbia lists Pat Meehan as a local agent and distributor for Budweiser, but there have been no bottles found with Meehan’s name or address. When you compare bottles designed to contain beer, they are easily distinguished from soda bottles by their shape and size. The typical beer bottle from the late 1880s to the present displayed a bulge in the neck similar to a lady’s leg bitters bottle, only shorter. Beer held approximately twelve ounces, whereas the soda bottle was typically blown with a straight neck and held only six ounces. Henry Edmunds Watts is first listed in the 1895 City Directory of Columbia, as a worker in the state liquor dispensary that was located on 1209 and extended to 1213 Main Street. Henry’s residence was listed as 2025 Marion Street. F.M. Mixson was commissioner of the state dispensary. The total population of Columbia at this time was 18,405 people. Columbia was described as a “beautiful and healthful city” built on a sandy loam plain which is very porous and affords excellent drainage. The streets were a hundred feet wide and lined with beautiful shade trees and lighted by electricity. The city also had an efficient street car system that ran through the principle streets and out to the suburban village of Shandon on the east side of the city.
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Columbia was also portrayed as “a city free of epidemics which made it unnecessary to ever declare a quarantine and as a health resort, the city is unsurpassed in the South.” The projected construction of one or more winter inns for Northern tourists was intended to make the city vie with Florida for those seeking an escape from the colder climate. From 1897 to 1898, Henry is listed as a clerk at the state dispensary and still resided at the same 2025 Marion Street address. By 1899, the City Directory continues to list him as a clerk at the state dispensary but his residence changed to 3d on Main Street, beyond the city limits. From 1901 to 1903, Henry was promoted as a dispenser at the State Dispensary Number 1 on 1314 Main Street in Columbia and maintained his residence on North Main Street. He also was married to Jessie B. at this time. By 1904 through 1905 the State Dispensary became the County Dispensary No. 1 and he maintained his position as a dispenser. However, his residency changed to 1037 Elmwood Ave. By 1906, Henry took over the Louis L. Bultman wholesale beer dispensary and bottling works located on 1117 Blanding Street (see The Story of L.L. Bultman Bottler, Columbia, South Carolina in the August 2020 issue of AB&GC). He resigned his position as a dispenser at the County Dispensary No. 1 and his residence also changed to1107 Elmwood Ave. Burr D. Hughes, whose residence was at Edgewood, became the manager of the bottling works. Henry employed Jacob
Capers, Henry Morgan, and Joseph Sumter as workers at the bottling works but their addresses were not listed in the directory. From 1907 to 1908 he is no longer a beer dispensary nor engaged in a bottling works. He is now listed as Henry E. Watts proprietor of the Palace Ice Cream Parlor located on 1204 Main Street but still maintains his residency at 1107 Elmwood Ave. By 1910, Henry went into a joint business with his former manager, Burr D. Hughes of the bottling works, as proprietors of the Eagle Grocery Company, located on 1400 Whaley in Columbia. Henry and Jessie continued to maintain their residence at 1107 Elmwood Ave, while Burr Hughes moved to 710 Main Street. The following year the business failed and was not listed in the 1911 directory. Henry then became employed as a health inspector until 1912, then later that year, he became a dispenser at County Dispensary No 7 located at 930 Gervais. By 1913, Henry changed vocations again, and became the manager of the County Beer Bottling Works located at 1117 Blanding with 1598 as the listed phone number. He and his wife continued to live at their longtime 1107 Elmwood Ave residence. He changed his employment again in 1914 to become the dispenser at the County Dispensary No 11 located at 1126 College, and remained there through 1915. After 1915, neither he nor his wife Jessie is listed in the 1916 or any other subsequent city directories.
During the one year Henry Edmunds Watts was in business, only one style of bottle has surfaced to date with his name embossed on a bottle. The bottle is a clear crown-top that maintains the typical beer bottle shape with the mold seam stopping just below the crown top. It measures 9 ¼ inches tall and 2 ½ inches across the base. The round slug plate is embossed H.E. WATTS / BOTTLER / COLUMBIA, S.C. The Carolina Glass Company was located on 531 Wayne in Columbia as a bottle manufacturer at this time. However, there are no marks on the bottle that would substantiate if the bottle was produced in Columbia.
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By John Panella and Joe Widman
RHEUMATISM PART 2: Radium, God’s gift to good health, became a new cure for a healthy glow With the discovery of radium, scientists all over the world were looking to experiment with many medical and scientific applications. Some thought of it as an alternative to invasive surgery, others felt that harnessing the radioactivity contained in radium could possibly produce profound feats of rejuvenation. During early days of radioactive therapy, physicians utilized the high energy beta and gamma emissions of radium to fight cancer-infested tissue. One person interested in radium therapy was William Bailey. Originally from Boston, a Harvard dropout and a noted scam artist, he pursued new lines of radioactive patent medicines for over a decade of his life. He claimed that endocrine disfunction was the root of many ailments people faced, including anemia, cancer, depression and an assortment of other diseases. With the power of radium’s alpha particles, these problems would vanish. Bailey developed several products over the next few years. Radithor was the product that was his panacea, and it was wildly successful as well. Radithor was advertised as a radioactive mineral water that contained a secret mixture of radium and mesothorium. Analysis of his product indicated that each one dollar half-ounce bottle contained one uCi each of radium 228 and radium 226. Strong advertising campaigns went into effect. Pamphlets emphasized its powers as a sexual stimulant and aphrodisiac. Radithor became an overnight hit around the world. It was advertised as a legitimate drug, claiming over 150 diseases it could
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
treat. Its description as a sexual stimulant stated: “There is no doubt due to the stimulation of the adrenals, thyroid, and pituitary, as well as the gonads. By this method of treatment of sexual weakness, impotency, frigidity, decreased libido, and other sex aberrations.” There was so much momentum, as well as the lack of formal investigations of him at the time, that there was no stopping him! Full speed ahead with Radithor production and sales! Until … Along came a young man, by the name of Eben MacBurney Byers, who at that time during the 1920s was a well-known millionaire, an internationally-known industrialist, sportsman and chairman of the A.M. Byers iron foundry of Pittsburgh and New York City. In 1927, after he injured an arm, Byers began experiencing pain and a lower level of stamina. After contacting Charles Clinton Moyar, a well-known Pittsburg physiotherapist, he began consuming Radithor, drinking at the rate of several half-ounce bottles a day. He claimed to have felt much better and was recommending it to his friends left and right. After a two-year period during which he had consumed close to 1,400 bottles of Radithor, he started to lose weight, and experience more headaches and toothaches. Radiologist Joseph Steiner examined Byer’s radiographs, and with the help of Fredric B. Flinn, a prominent radium expert from Columbia University, confirmed that Byers’ body was slowly decomposing as a result of massive radium intoxication from Radithor. In the meantime, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) was investigating this case in detail. They had concluded that Radithor contained a significantly high level of radioactivity. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also filed a
TOP: Alexander's Rheumatic Malarial Remedy. Photo courtesy of Gordon Hugi BOTTOM: Early trade card for Warner's Safe Rheumatic Cure. Image courtesy of Brian Commerton
AN ARRAY OF RHEUMATISM REMEDIES PHOTOS (clockwise from top left): Labeled Donnell's Rheumatic Liniment. Photo courtesy of Gordon Hugi Labeled Dr. A.C. Daniels' / Liniment / Oster Cocus / Bone, Nerve / And Muscle Oil. Photo courtesy of Gordon Hugi A rare Zollickoffer's - Anti Rheumatic / Cordial pontiled medicine. A choice colored pontiled rheumatic bottle from Philadelphia. Abbot Bros Rheumatic Cure, Chicago. Image courtesy of Brian Commerton Warner's Safe Rheumatic Cure bottle. Image courtesy of Brian Commerton. Embossed Donnell's Rheumatic Liniment Bottle.
December 2020
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By John Panella and Joe Widman
motion accusing Bailey Radium Laboratories of false advertising backing up their curative claims. Since Byers was too sick to testify, a court-appointed attorney was sent to take his testimony, describing him in gruesome detail: “Young in years and mentally alert, he could hardly speak. His head was swathed in bandages, he had undergone two successive jaw operations and his whole upper jaw, excepting two front teeth, and most of his lower jaw had been removed. All the remaining bone tissue of his body was slowly disintegrating, and holes were actually forming in his skull.” As they found later, Byers had suffered from necrosis of the jaw, a swollen kidney cortex, and many other severe medical conditions. In addition, his breath and bones were found to be highly radioactive. Later on, a systematic study was done to show the levels of radiation due to drinking Radithor far exceeded toxic to lethal levels of ingestion. The FTC issued a cease-and-desist order in 1931, halting Bailey Radium Laboratories from producing one drop more of its famous Radithor. Every bottle was removed from store counters and its sale absolutely forbidden. Stores were given pamphlets warning the public of the dangers of radium. RADIUM RADIA - THE KNOCKOFF NOSTRUM As with most patent medicines, there was fraud perpetrated by copying the name, curative effects, and even the packaging and bottle size and shape in order to deceive the consumer. In this case the theft of the word radium and its curative claims unfortunately did not destroy this line of products. In time its comparison to the element radium did, but ironically, no action was needed.
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Antique Bottle & Glass Collector
Before I state the case I’d like to quote the misleading advertising. Knockoffs were and are a big part of our society. With each bottle came the following directions for use. Shake well the bottle each time before using and: FOR RHEUMATISM, GOUT, LUMBAGO, SCIATICA, RHEUMATIC FEVER, INFLAMMATORY RHEUMATISM, SPRAINS, BACKACHE, STIFF JOINTS, AND OTHER BODILY PAINS — Apply and rub well with hand the parts affected for ten to fifteen minutes, three times a day in severe cases, and twice a day in light cases, morning and evening. HEADACHE AND NEURALGIA — Rub well into forehead and temples, behind the ears EARACHE — Put a few drops on cotton, wool or lint, and place in the ear. TOOTHACHE — Apply, and rub on cheek on outside, near the toothache. COUGHS AND COLDS ON CHEST — Apply and rub well chest with the hand twice a day, morning & evening. SORE THROAT — Rub throat well three times a day. CRAMPS AND INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS — Apply, and rub bowels well with the hand for 10-15 minutes. SWELLINGS & DISLOCATIONS — Rub well the parts affected, twice a day. TO PREVENT COLDS DURING INCLEMENT WEATHER — Rub chest well before exposure to the weather and again in the evening. FOR EXTERNAL USE ONLY Care should be taken that the remedy does not come in contact with abrasions or cuts, or the eyes.
RADIUM RADIA COMPANY LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 13 West 26th STREET, NEW YORK CITY Radium Radia was produced between 1904 and about 1910. The testimonials, on a sheet of paper in the box, were dated 1904-05, but a few appeared later. Advertising to the public took place in 1905-06. Although the consumer could be forgiven for imagining the product contained radium, it did not and the slick manufacturers never, ever hinted that it did, if you ignore the name, that is. The company described Radium Radia as “The World’s Premier Conqueror of Pain.” When radium was a new discovery, its radioactivity had a profound effect on our society. Medically it was later harnessed to do great good, although through bad medical incidents and experimentation it had destroyed a lot of lives. Early on it was misunderstood and became complete medical quackery. Man learned the hard way, as usual, through many bad experiences. The cycle continues in today’s world. So we emphasize those overstated but truthful words: BUYER BEWARE!
r Editor’s Note: In addition to his duties as AB&GC Medicine Chest Columnist, John Panella also has a Facebook group titled “Antique Medicine Trade Cards & Advertising, Medical Quackery.” John also helps to administer the Facebook group, “Patent Medicine of the 19th Century.” Feel free to reach out to John regarding this column, or either of the above Facebook groups.
D
MORE RHEUMATISM REMEDIES PHOTOS (clockwise from top left): Labeled Pratt's Liniment / For Man / Or Beast. Image courtesy of Gordon Hugi Embossing on Pratt's Veterinary Liniment bottle. Image courtesy of Gordon Hugi Embossed Brown's / Instant Relief bottle from Norway, Maine. Image courtesy of Gordon Hugi McGurn's Improved Celery Compound - Buffalo New York, a coca containing rheumatic cure. It is very unusual to see rheumatism advertised on a medicinal celery bottle. From the collection of the author, formerly in the Dennis Smith collection Chamberlain's Pain Balm Bottle. Label indicates for external use only and a cure for Rheumatism. Photo courtesy of Gordon Hugi Brown's / Instant / Relief / For Pain", Norway, Maine. Label indicates "A Speedy Cure" for rheumatism (along with numerous other ailments). Image courtesy of Gordon Hugi
December 2020
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FOHBC.org
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December 2020
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WANTED!
Irresponsible collector willing to pay reasonable prices for: Attractive, bubble-filled snu f jars, pretty snuff jars, or unusual snuff jars Ralph & Janet Finch, 34007 Hillside Ct., Farmington Hills, Mich. 48335 or e-mail rfinch@twmi.r .com, or janloik@yahoo.com.
Christmas is just around the corner! Buy that Special Bottle Collector on your list a great gift and help the National Bottle Museum with their Holiday Fund Raising Goals. The National Bottle Museum is offering some great books as a fund raiser for the Museum. They would make a perfect gift for that favorite bottle collector in your life.
A sample of some of the great books available: • Two Hundred Years of American Blown Glass, Helen and George S. McKearin • American Bottles & Flasks and Their Ancestry, McKearin and Wilson • Ink bottles and inkwells, by William E. Covill Jr. • Bitters Bottles, Vol. 1 &2, by Richard Watson • Pill Rollers, by Richardson • And many more! Call to inquire.
Please contact the National Bottle Museum for availability and pricing of individual books.
National Bottle Museum 76 Milton Avenue Ballston Spa, NY 12020 Phone: (518) 885-7589 Email: info@nationalbottlemuseum.org
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